Colors of the Mind: Raga Music for Sarode and Tabla

The ragas and talas (melodic and rhythmic forms) from India are a profound system developed to reflect the natural cycles of the day and season. As artists we draw from our lifetime of guidance and practice in these forms to create new pieces of music just for this occasion and place and for the people who have come to experience it. 

A performance of Hindustani music for sarode with tabla accompaniment is a sonic journey taken together by the artists and the audience. The music is improvised, composed on the spot, but arises from the deep well of knowledge, study and musical craft that reaches back, through the tradition, and connects it to the current moment. 

Each performance is unique to its time and place, the engagement of the performer and the audience at that moment, and cannot be repeated. The art form draws upon melodic archetypes, the ragas, passed in oral tradition from teacher to student, guru to disciple, changing in aspects of outward form/presentation as the cultural context changes, but retaining the essence of emotional content that colors the mind of the listener. 

A performance begins with a meditative section for solo sarode, an exploration in pure melodic imagery. This is followed by a series of dynamic melodic and rhythmic interactions of sarode and tabla in different rhythm cycles and ragas.