Search - Ustad Sabri Khan :: Indian Sarangi Recitals

Lacklustre CD Looked Good on Paper

02/25/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Sabri Khan is an outstanding musician, one of the best sarangiyas in the world easily, and this disc looked so good on paper. 53 minutes of raga "Saugandh"* (is this a classic or what? ;), recorded live with an Indian audience, which can be heard cheering him on the Indian way: "vah"; "wah!" If you've heard such classics as Begum Akthar live in Bombay 1957, you know the kind of feeling such recordings can pack, when the performer delivers the goods and the audience goes wild and fills the air with sounds of appreciation. Unfortunately, Khansaheb seems to have had a rather uninspired day this time, and the audience finds few twists and turns to cheer at. The same label has another recording of Sabri Khan, Art of the Indian Sarangi, which is better, I think, where he plays raga Jog. *) In all fairness, there is also a 16-minute thumri filler piece."