Indian Slide Guitar | Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya | Raag Shuddh Sarang | Music of India

#darbarfestival | Debashish Bhattacharya slides around Shuddh Sarang on his self-designed chaturangi, a 23-string blend of guitar, sitar, sarod, violin, and rudra veena.
► Join our newsletter at http://www.darbar.org/newsletter for the finest in Indian classical music and dance, and watch full length exclusive concerts in pristine HD on the Darbar Player: http://www.darbar.org/darbarplayer

———————————————————————
Learn more about the music:

Debashish Bhattacharya is both a radical and a traditionalist. He traces his family back through 76 generations of artists, writers, and Sanskrit teachers, and established himself early. He played on All India Radio at the age of four, won competitions at seven, and invented his first slide guitar at fifteen. But just as his career was taking off he left his home in Kolkata to study with the late guitar pioneer Brij Bhushan Kabra for an intense apprenticeship of ten years.

Today, his style draws on a multitude of influences – he learned sitar, sarod, and vocal music in his youth, as well as picking up Hawaiian and European influences. He plays a self-designed ‘Trinity of Guitars’ – the chaturangui, a 23-string amalgamation of sitar, sarod, violin, and rudra veena, the gandharvi, which blends the 12-string guitar with veena, santoor, and sarangi, and the anandi, a 4-string slide ukulele. To learn more read Darbar’s exclusive interview with him, covering reincarnation, the hidden harmony in ragas, and drawing inspiration from nature:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/debashish-bhattacharya-stay-close-to-the-music-itself-however-you-can

Shuddh Sarang is a popular early afternoon raga from the Sarang family, a group of ragas often said to evoke different forms of sringara [attraction, romantic love]. It draws on Kalyan thaat, but omits Ga and takes both a tivra [raised] and a shuddha [natural] Ma in avroh [descent]. Re is the vadi [king note]. Hear more superb performances of Shuddh Sarang here:
-Kaushiki Chakraborty (khayal) | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzCZomuHVVQ
-Irshad Khan (sitar) | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_2WJONkbl8

“Imperfection is your walk in the path of perfection. This is a lifelong journey, which will eventually end with you and start with someone else…I’m a student, and my drive is to learn new things and refine my actions. That’s the best way to live the rest of my life – I’m just the adventurous raga-guitar wala.” (Debashish Bhattacharya)

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2013, at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall
-Debashish Bhattacharya (chaturangi)
-Yogesh Samsi (tabla)

Darbar believes in the power of Indian classical arts to stir, thrill and inspire. Through shared experiences and digital connectivity we ensure that one of the world’s finest art forms reaches the widest possible audience. Founded in 2006, we deliver premium quality live events, music education, broadcasts and online engagement through promoting artistic innovation and creative technology. We are also committed to providing a platform for new talent from India and the UK.