David Dalle
Thursday September 19th, 2024 with David Dalle
Farewell to Mangey Khan; Kala Ramnath; 30 for 30 with Keith Jarrett
Mangey Khan was an extremely talented singer and harmonium player from the Manganiyar community in Rajasthan. This community is famous for its virtuostic and brilliant folk music. From Ashutosh Sharma, one of the co-founders of Amarrass records:
"We first met Manga in 2010, when we had gone to Ramsar village in Barmer, Rajasthan, to record Rukma Bai — the 1st female Manganiyar singer to perform in public.
She crawled out of her hut (she had polio in both her legs and was widowed at an early age) and then called out, “Mangia”, her neighbour, to accompany her on the harmonium.
It was late evening and we recorded three songs.. and as we were packing up, Manga told us he also sings and asked if we would record him.
We said sure, “Just come and sing into the two mics”. He did, and when he started to sing we were blown away with his voice and style of singing. That evening we recorded our first two songs with Manga — Challa Challa and Pir Jalani...
We were so impressed with the quality and range of his voice that we decided it needs a band. A year later Manga and his band made their debut at Amarrass Desert Music Festival 2011, at Delhi’s Siri Fort, with musicians from the Thar deserts and Africa (Vieux Farka Toure, Madou Diabate). It was only on Day 2 of the festival that we finalised the band’s name and Barmer Boys were introduced to the world.
The rest, as they say, is history. Barmer Boys became global ambassadors of Rajasthani contemporary folk music."
Over the past decade, Mangey Khan and the Barmer Boys extensively toured Europe, the US, and made an appearance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Tragically, Mangey Khan's life ended far too early, after he died from complications from heart surgery only 48 years old (the same age as Nusrat). It is hard to take in. Today we will hear some music from his short but illustrious career including the song from that initial night in December 2010 in his home village of Ramsar.
| Before we hear from Mangey Khan, we hear the songs from Rukma Bai whose serendipitous invitation to her neighbour Mangey, launched him to fame in India and beyond. Sadly, Rukma Bai died not long after these recordings. |
| Introduction Rukma Bai - Banko Ghodo - Amarrass Records |
| Banko Ghodo Rukma Bai - Banko Ghodo - Amarrass Records |
| Dhoma Ladhi Rukma Bai - Banko Ghodo - Amarrass Records |
| Challa Challa (Sindhi Sehra) Mangey Khan - Banko Ghodo - Amarrass Records |
| Pir Murshid Haiyad Ka Kalaam Barmer Boys - Live At Amarrass Desert Music Festival 2011 - Amarrass Records |
| Amarrass Records is an independent music and production company founded by two childhood friends Ashutosh Sharma and Ankur Malhotra, it was founded in 2009 when they both saw a need to promote the music from India's vast rural lands.
https://www.amarrass.com/ |
| Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath will be appearing in Ottawa tomorrow with the NAC Orchestra to perform the "Hindustani Violin Concerto" composed by American composer Reena Emsail. I have only seen her perform Hindustani classical concerts, so I am excited to hear this work fusing Hindustani and European classical music!
One night only! https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/36124 |
| Rag Alihya Bilawal Kala Ramnath & Vijay Ghate - Singing Violin - Neelam |
| Continuing the celebration of my 30 years on-air at CKCU with 30 of the most significant albums in my musical evolution, we hear this week an album by Keith Jarrett. No, not "The Koln Concert"! For quite a few years in the 90's, there were several people in my musical circle at CKCU and Carleton University Music school suggesting I listen to Keith Jarrett, and one even lent me "The Koln Concert", which I didn't get around to listening to... A couple of years later, I picked up a used copy of the "Vienna Concert". I brought it home and listened to it and was changed for life! This was some of the greatest piano playing I have ever heard! This, as far as I'm concerned, was also Sufi music at the piano (see my broad thoughts on Sufism and music from this year's Nusrat show https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/66506.html). It is also perhaps no accident that Keith Jarrett has studied Sufism. After my encounter with the "Vienna Concert", I snatched up every Keith Jarrett solo piano recording I could, and later expanded to his other albums with duos, trios, quartets, his classical and other projects so that now I have nearly the complete Keith Jarrett discography. "The Koln Concert" is incredible, but the "Vienna Concert" remains first among equals for me. I do recall reading that it is Keith Jarrett's favourite of his live recordings too, but I have not been able to confirm that. He does write in the liner notes for the album: "I have courted the fire for a very long time, and many sparks have flown in the past, but the music on this recording speaks, finally, the language of the flame itself."
The "Vienna Concert" was recorded in the Vienna State Opera in 1991. |
| Vienna, Part I Keith Jarrett - Vienna Concert - ECM |
| Vienna, Part II Keith Jarrett - Vienna Concert - ECM |
| Quizas, quizas Ruben Gonzalez - Chanchullo - World Circuit |
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Looking forward to this edition, David. If you have time by the end of the show, would you please post the info for the CKCU event next Tuesday, Sept 24 that Chris White has put together. I was in my car and could not capture the info on Doug's show. Many thanks........and now..back to the show !!!!!!!
2:05 PM, September 19th, 2024