Raga Puriya

This music is not for fun and game crowd. This is a piece of music fast disappearing from the Indian stage. It was not meant for commercial success or number of CDs sold. Raga Puriya rendered here is unlikely to be sung or played in this fashion by anyone else. Shamsuddin Khan's playing is true to the character of the Raga and unconcerned about entertaining or pleasing his audience. His technique is also a thing of the past and unconcerned about blending in new tricks to embellish his music. In fifty more years, there will be no such music to be heard as commercial success takes over as the only criteria. Only other musician I heard play like this was his father, Mohammed Khan Faridi, when I heard him at the age of ten!

The Rudra Vina is one of the most intimate of Indian Classical Music instruments. It has a long tubular body made of wood or bamboo with raised frets. The strings are pulled with the fingers to produce elegant sliding melismatic shapes with a deep and meditative sound. Shamsuddhin Faridi Desai comes from a long lineage which includes the great 19th century master, Mian Bande Ali Khan. He is both traditional and surprising and if you are looking for music that has the majesty of the ancient Drupad style as experienced through the lens of a New Delhi Sufi, this is for you.First of all this record is not for those who are looking for "knock your socks off" virtuosity that is the rage among today's Indian music fans. It has a high degree of virtuositybut it is so highly nuanced that you have to be willing to wait patiently for it to unfold and it is the kind of experience that grows on repeated listenings. This recording is highly "transportive" and can arouse deep feelings of spirituality, and there is no living been kar master, in my opinion, that can take you on a "trip" as profoundly moving as Shamsuddhin Faridi Desai. Raga Purya is a pentatonic raga of the deep night and has the sustained stillness of a Rothko painting. This CD is among the most cherished of my collection. Although Faridi Desai is not so internationally famous as someof the other living Been Kars, he is a rare jewel waiting to be discovered by those of you who might be so inclined to seek out hidden musical treasures.

It took a decade for this music to be finally edited and released.This is the culmination of a really extraordinary sequence of events.Shamsuddin Faridi is not another run -of - the- mill musician trying to make a mark in the music scene and it is quite likely that he would never have been recorded were it not for the foresight of true connoisseurs like Lyle Wachovsky of India Archives.Shamsuddin is a Sufi who spends most of his time with the fakirs and dervishes at the Dargahs (mausolems, tombs) of medieval Indian Sufi saints like Shaik Kalimuddin and Baba Qutubuddin Bhaktiar Kaki in Delhi.This music is not being played for entertainment. This is a personal meditation session to which the listener is invited. The Raga Puriya is presented at its purest form but in a context which is very far removed from any kind of Hindustani instrumental music in vogue today. This is the Rudra Veena played in the style of Bande Ali Khan the legendary Beenkar of Indore.Do not look for complicated phraseology in this music. The Alap is based on sounds. The number of different kind of sounds which this Beenkar is able to coax from the Been is mind blowing. It is like a craft which has been heard about and believed to be lost but has been found again. The jhala transcends most of the standards set by any recorded Hindustani musican dead or alive.Shamsuddin is extremely moody and his music depends crucially on his state of mind. This is a recording from a session when he was completely switched on !! Technically this is a marvel, the sound is fierce and captivating. If you want your mind to be blown apart - this is the music for you.

A shard of pottery from Mesopotamia is more valuable than the most expensive Wedgewood! How can we determine if Shamsuddin is following a tradition or is simply on his own. In todays Age of Information, fortunately, this is easy to determine. Shamsuddin's Puriya may be compared with short recordings of his father Muhammad Khan Faridi (also in Puriya). The resemblance is obvious. Another beenkar who plays in this style is Pandit Hindraj Divekar of Pune. To declare that one needs to listen to alaps by "real masters" like Asad Ali and Baha ud Din is to simply make a great show of one's ignorance. Baha ud din was not even born or probably was a toddler when Shamsuddin was in his prime. A comparison with old recordings of Sadiq Ali Khan (Asad Ali's father) shows that there is absolutely no resemblance between Asad Ali's playing and his father's. It is Asad Ali who is the maverick! You may or may not like one style or another, these are personal preferences after all, but you cannot declare a piece of traditional music to be untraditional simply because you were not exposed to the relevant tradition in the first place!!Therefore...give me a single "boing" and I will give you the complete recorded works of all other living Beenkars! Warning: this music is NOT for beginners and you need a REALLY open mind for this. Some say that if we heard Tansen today maybe we will find his singing strange and unbearable.

Encore un style différent de musique de veena, très ressenti et très virtuose. Décidément j'aime cet instrument si ancien et si beau, peut-être le plus beau parmi les nombreux instruments de musique de l'Inde.