Evening Ragas from Benares - The Living Tradition
produced and recorded by Deben Bhattacharya in Benares in 1967
Academy Sound & Vision - ALM 4002 - P.1981
Side 1
A1 Raga Puriya Kalyan
Debendra Krishna Chattopadhyay,sitar
Surendra Mohan Mishra, tabla
Side 2
B1 Raga Pilu
Amiya Bhattacharya, surbahar
Narayan Chakravorty, tambura
B2 Raga Darbari
Narayan Chakravorty, vichitra vina
Here is an album produced by Deben Bhattachariya in the eighties of classical music for the stringed instruments Sitar, Surbahar and Vichitra Vina. The recordings are made much earlier some in private gatherings "mehfils" and in the homes of the musicians and like Deben Bhattachariya says in the liner notes you here and there hear: "the sounds of passing travellers and the cries of the vegetable salesman in the street outside combining to bring the atmosphere of India to the listener. As none of the musicians on this record are well known because they never recorded commercially, I highly recommend reading the liner notes (this time in english) as they not only reveal some valuable information on the performers, like that Debendra Krishna Chattopadhyay had his first musical training from his father, a highly respected Dhrupad singer professionally known as Panubabu for instance, but also gives a little glimpse into the philosophy of Deben's way of recording and what he wanted to preserve and transmit beside the well trodden path of commercialism. Hope you enjoy "being there".
Deben Bhattacharya • 1921 - 2001
