Zakir Hussain & Masters of Percussion 1998-04-05
Mainstage Theater of COD Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL
Set 1
1-2. Tuning. Zakir introduces the music, the players. We will be hearing raga and tala explored simultaneously: Rag Puriya-Kalyan and Tal Tintal. A jerk laughing near the mics. Also some kids making noises. Applause, tuning, request to turn off beeping. (4:37 & 2:39)3. The sarangi begins the rag: Ustad Sultan Khan. (6:16)
4. Zakir first comes in on tabla. Throughout this segment there is a lot of tuning, and the soundman is asked to turn up the sarangi. It doesn't happen.
Zakir and Sultan Khan duo. Faisal takes over on tabla & Zakir stops. Zakir takes over. The tapping of a tuning hammer is audible. Laughter & taps, then another complaint from Zakir complaining about people coming in late. More clapping. More laughter talking. (11:35)
5. Zakir until clapping (about 3.5 minutes into the track) then Faisal. Zakir takes over after Faisal works up to a mini-climax, with applause (about 6 minutes into track). You can tell the two apart because Zakir?s tabla are tuned lower and are louder. Zakir plays faster and faster with right hand until he makes the sound of a spaceship taking off with his left hand. Applause. Faisal gets cooking after spaceship is applauded. Back to Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (loud)-> Faisal->Zakir->...etc. (Again, tone tells you who is who.)
Faisal & Zakir together--this is the FIRST time during the concert that they are playing simultaneously (at about 10 minutes into the track). (10:10)
6. Big applause, after which the crowd is noisy, e.g. a kid's voice. At first it?s Sultan Khan with Zakir accompanying him. Zakir gets laughs trying to get Sultan Khan turned up. Now Zakir is backed up by Sultan Khan. Another sound complaint from Zakir, then he orders the monitors turned off.
Faisal is playing, the sound gets quieter for a second, and Zakir gives orders. Finally he tells the sound guy to leave it alone.
Sultan Khan is accompanied by Zakir->Faisal->Zakir->Faisal->Zakir. (15:51)
7. Zakir gives info about kaida (improvisation on a theme, theme and variation, increasing in complexity but always true to the theme that started it), which they have been playing and continue to play. They trade off: Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (sneeze in crowd)->Faisal->Zakir (claps)->Faisal-> Zakir->Faisal (squeal in crowd)->Zakir... Faisal & Zakir trade off MANY times, building in volume and quieting down. A baby cries.
Zakir and Faisal play simultaneously, the audience responds, and they continue to build until a large burst of applause. Talk in the audience increases. (7:56)8. Zakir accompanies Sultan Khan. Applause interrupts twice. (5:14)9. Sultan Khan quiets down, and Zakir's playing is on top. There are a few isolated claps. Zakir plays for several minutes mainly on the smaller drum (right hand), before doing much with the larger one. He plays all over the head, to the edge of the head, over the edge, and so on, demonstrating the tabla's tonal variability. (4:20)10. Zakir says that the rhythm he's been playing is derived from the rhythm of a horse. More dumb laughter close to the left mic. Faisal plays and tunes with the hammer. Zakir holds imaginary reins as if riding and gets laughs. Zakir takes over->Faisal->Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (getting loud)->applause. (5:36)
11. Faisal is playing, then Zakir, and then both together. The distinct, clear, ringing notes are Zakir. The two of them build to a big climax, and the audience applauds loud and long, while Zakir introduces his fellow musicians again. (1:54)12. Zakir thanks the audience, explains that so far they have played two of four main tabla parts, the peshkar and kaida, and that they will play others in the second set. He also notes that Sivamani will be out in the second set and points to the huge array of percussion at the left side of the stage (dozens and dozens of instruments, ranging from toys to trap drums to gongs. (1:13)
4. Zakir first comes in on tabla. Throughout this segment there is a lot of tuning, and the soundman is asked to turn up the sarangi. It doesn't happen.
Zakir and Sultan Khan duo. Faisal takes over on tabla & Zakir stops. Zakir takes over. The tapping of a tuning hammer is audible. Laughter & taps, then another complaint from Zakir complaining about people coming in late. More clapping. More laughter talking. (11:35)
5. Zakir until clapping (about 3.5 minutes into the track) then Faisal. Zakir takes over after Faisal works up to a mini-climax, with applause (about 6 minutes into track). You can tell the two apart because Zakir?s tabla are tuned lower and are louder. Zakir plays faster and faster with right hand until he makes the sound of a spaceship taking off with his left hand. Applause. Faisal gets cooking after spaceship is applauded. Back to Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (loud)-> Faisal->Zakir->...etc. (Again, tone tells you who is who.)
Faisal & Zakir together--this is the FIRST time during the concert that they are playing simultaneously (at about 10 minutes into the track). (10:10)
6. Big applause, after which the crowd is noisy, e.g. a kid's voice. At first it?s Sultan Khan with Zakir accompanying him. Zakir gets laughs trying to get Sultan Khan turned up. Now Zakir is backed up by Sultan Khan. Another sound complaint from Zakir, then he orders the monitors turned off.
Faisal is playing, the sound gets quieter for a second, and Zakir gives orders. Finally he tells the sound guy to leave it alone.
Sultan Khan is accompanied by Zakir->Faisal->Zakir->Faisal->Zakir. (15:51)
7. Zakir gives info about kaida (improvisation on a theme, theme and variation, increasing in complexity but always true to the theme that started it), which they have been playing and continue to play. They trade off: Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (sneeze in crowd)->Faisal->Zakir (claps)->Faisal-> Zakir->Faisal (squeal in crowd)->Zakir... Faisal & Zakir trade off MANY times, building in volume and quieting down. A baby cries.
Zakir and Faisal play simultaneously, the audience responds, and they continue to build until a large burst of applause. Talk in the audience increases. (7:56)8. Zakir accompanies Sultan Khan. Applause interrupts twice. (5:14)9. Sultan Khan quiets down, and Zakir's playing is on top. There are a few isolated claps. Zakir plays for several minutes mainly on the smaller drum (right hand), before doing much with the larger one. He plays all over the head, to the edge of the head, over the edge, and so on, demonstrating the tabla's tonal variability. (4:20)10. Zakir says that the rhythm he's been playing is derived from the rhythm of a horse. More dumb laughter close to the left mic. Faisal plays and tunes with the hammer. Zakir holds imaginary reins as if riding and gets laughs. Zakir takes over->Faisal->Zakir->Faisal->Zakir (getting loud)->applause. (5:36)
11. Faisal is playing, then Zakir, and then both together. The distinct, clear, ringing notes are Zakir. The two of them build to a big climax, and the audience applauds loud and long, while Zakir introduces his fellow musicians again. (1:54)12. Zakir thanks the audience, explains that so far they have played two of four main tabla parts, the peshkar and kaida, and that they will play others in the second set. He also notes that Sivamani will be out in the second set and points to the huge array of percussion at the left side of the stage (dozens and dozens of instruments, ranging from toys to trap drums to gongs. (1:13)
Set 2
1. Sivamani solo, standing and moving around within his array of objects: gong, 2 plastic tubes that whistle when swung overhead (available at toy stores), brass horn with rubber squeeze ball, rubber duck, drums (played with sticks), bells, whistles, etc. Someone crinkles paper. The others come onstage after about 20 minutes of Sivamani solo. Zakir begins to play a bit at about 25 minutes, some clapping, and the sarangi comes in quietly. (29:13)2. Zakir: "Sivamani!" He, Faisal, Sultan Khan & Sivamani take turns & play together. (2:55)3. After Sivamani shakes some bells, Zakir and Sultan Khan play together. Sivamani comes in with the hihat, briefly. Zakir backs Sultan Khan, then really takes off. Sultan Khan along with Zakir->Faisal->Zakir->Faisal. Clapping, a cymbal from Sivamani. Zakir continues. (8:38)4. Zakir: "Rela...is in the house." (Rela is very fast manipulation of a structure.) He explains how tabla can sound like various things (trains, rain, lightning, thunder, motorcycles, steam engines). Zakir demonstrates, solo except for Sultan Khan. The Harley impression gets laughs, and is very accurate, as is the steam engine if volume is turned up enough to hear nuances. Remember: This is just 1 person and 2 small drums. Applause. (4:42)5. Rela continues with Faisal then Zakir. Zakir starts quietly, but fast and steady. High notes are thrown in without pausing. He's still playing solo. Faisal joins in and takes over, does a couple of UFO sounds with his left hand (the larger, deeper drum), then Zakir takes it, does another, louder, UFO sound. Faisal takes over, they trade off many times (overlapping for a second here & there). Keys jingled by a jerk nearby. Zakir's playing gets massive, then Faisal takes it and his does too. Sivamani hits a cymbal at the climax. Applause. (7:26)
6. Zakir trades off with Sultan Khan. (6:11)
7. Zakir demonstrates a method of chanting rhythm, which is then played. He uses hand motions to act out meeting someone and greeting them, then acts out a conversation, all the while singing the rhythm. Zakir plays, then Faisal. Whistling from the audience. (Zakir calls the whistler a dog and gets laughs. You can hear a guy translating for his friend.) Zakir and Faisal play together. At the end of this track is a tihai representing a deer, which jumps 3 times. A tihai is a cadence repeated 3 times. (2:53)8. Zakir explains tihai and demonstrates a rabbit, a deer, and a lion (both Zakir and Faisal play on these). The high notes are the deer's jumps. Zakir jokes around; he also uses his hand to mimic a rabbit jumping. Applause.
He explains that musical language originates with the damaru (a two-headed drum with cords attached in the middle so that when the drum is spun back and forth, the knots at the ends of the cords hit the heads very fast) of Lord Shiva, then Lord Ganesha and then the tabla. He uses the tabla to say the names of gods and other words. Krishna's mischief with Radha. Last, he sings a rhythm then plays it. Note the triple repetition. Applause. (4:48)9. Sivamani comes back in on snare, then many other drums & hihat. Faisal follows. (:50)10. At the deep boooooom Zakir is playing the kanjira, a small (maybe 8 inches across) flat drum held vertically in one hand and played with the fingers of other hand. It has metal disks in the rim like a tambourine, which are slightly audible. It has a very variable pitch, which the drummer gets by applying more or less pressure on the head with the fingers of the hand that is holding the drum. Zakir gets more sounds from it than the others get from more instruments when they start trading off. Pink Panther tease. (Kanjira sounds a bit muffled--may be the drum itself, or how he?s holding it relative to the mic, or maybe the PA.)
They take turns: Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir with a funky beat->Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir-> Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir->Sivamani...and so on.
All 3 of them play as 1 continuous series, each answering the previous rhythm.
All three of them are playing at once when the hihat comes in at about 5 minutes. (7:20)11. Big applause, Zakir introduces the musicians. (1:33)
6. Zakir trades off with Sultan Khan. (6:11)
7. Zakir demonstrates a method of chanting rhythm, which is then played. He uses hand motions to act out meeting someone and greeting them, then acts out a conversation, all the while singing the rhythm. Zakir plays, then Faisal. Whistling from the audience. (Zakir calls the whistler a dog and gets laughs. You can hear a guy translating for his friend.) Zakir and Faisal play together. At the end of this track is a tihai representing a deer, which jumps 3 times. A tihai is a cadence repeated 3 times. (2:53)8. Zakir explains tihai and demonstrates a rabbit, a deer, and a lion (both Zakir and Faisal play on these). The high notes are the deer's jumps. Zakir jokes around; he also uses his hand to mimic a rabbit jumping. Applause.
He explains that musical language originates with the damaru (a two-headed drum with cords attached in the middle so that when the drum is spun back and forth, the knots at the ends of the cords hit the heads very fast) of Lord Shiva, then Lord Ganesha and then the tabla. He uses the tabla to say the names of gods and other words. Krishna's mischief with Radha. Last, he sings a rhythm then plays it. Note the triple repetition. Applause. (4:48)9. Sivamani comes back in on snare, then many other drums & hihat. Faisal follows. (:50)10. At the deep boooooom Zakir is playing the kanjira, a small (maybe 8 inches across) flat drum held vertically in one hand and played with the fingers of other hand. It has metal disks in the rim like a tambourine, which are slightly audible. It has a very variable pitch, which the drummer gets by applying more or less pressure on the head with the fingers of the hand that is holding the drum. Zakir gets more sounds from it than the others get from more instruments when they start trading off. Pink Panther tease. (Kanjira sounds a bit muffled--may be the drum itself, or how he?s holding it relative to the mic, or maybe the PA.)
They take turns: Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir with a funky beat->Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir-> Sivamani->Faisal->Zakir->Sivamani...and so on.
All 3 of them play as 1 continuous series, each answering the previous rhythm.
All three of them are playing at once when the hihat comes in at about 5 minutes. (7:20)11. Big applause, Zakir introduces the musicians. (1:33)
Set 3
Comment
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Created At
Tue Jul 31 2007 22:53:16 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Sun Feb 12 2006 21:35:56 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
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