Jnan Prakash Ghosh

Drums of India

Vols. 1 & 2

2CD reissue / classic albums of 1968 & 1979

format: 2 slim-line CDs in slip-casecat.no: 
CDNFD 1507089
 

These two CDs are special. The first was recorded in 1968 when, as a member of the studio team wryly put it, “we were in the process of learning proper stereo recording, which you will observe from the sticker (on the original album): ‘This recording may also be played safely on most modern monophonic equipment.’”

But learn it they certainly did, and the results reveal a creativity and willingness to experiment that can sometimes seem only too rare today. Traditional and classical Indian percussion instruments are played solo, duo or ensemble, in quite startling arrangements with clear stereo and a sonorous, rich timbre.

Eleven years later they did it again. Quite why the ‘Gramophone Company Of India’ (as Saregama was then known) waited so long, or indeed why it’s taken a further twenty-eight years before the present release, is no doubt a conundrum of inter-departmental memos. But finally, here they are: beautifully re-mastered, restored to their original sequence, at full-length and with copies of the original notes and album covers.

Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, the inspirational force behind these recordings, died in 1997 aged 85. He was a star tabla-player of his time and accompanied all the greats, including a young Ravi Shankar. Later working as a teacher and producer on All India Radio, he assembled a crack team of percussionists from within the various disciplines of Indian music to help him interpret the unique vision found on these recordings.  

• 2CDs of classic albums: remastered and restored to their original sequence and length

• Packaging includes original notes and copies of the original covers

• previously cannibalised, crudely cut or released un-credited, this presentation unites the recordings in their original form for the first time in 28 years

CD1: Drums of India (1968)

• 1. Pakhawaj

• 2. Khol

• 3. Tabla

• 4. Mridangam

• 5. Khol and Khanjari

• 6. Dholak and Nakara

• 7. Bengal Dhol and Madal

• 8. Khamak and Huruk

• 9. Ensemble

• 10. Bayan

CD2: Drums Of India, Volume II (1979)

• 1. Tabla Ensemble

• 2. Dhak

• 3. Sree Khole

• 4. Dholak

• 5. Manipuri Khole

• 6. Dhole

• 7. Tasha