African Brindavana Saranga
(Vieux Parka Toure)
How different cultures and countries across the world use various ragams has always fascinated me. I had earlier posted about how Mohanam in available almost throughout the world and also about Azebaijani Todi. Yesterday late at night, my twitter friend Vipin Nair (@MusicAloud) sent me a clip of African music asking me if the ragam played was Madhyamavathi, Sree Ragam or Brindavana Saranga. (Vipin had got that clip from his friend @aiyerravi) When I heard the clip, I was amazed by the playing of the guitarist (Vieux Parka Toure). The playing was crisp and every note sounded so clear. And very importantly, I heard a lovely Brindavana Saranga. This was a revelation to me. I have heard Madhyamavathi in various settings but Brindavana Saranga, to me, has been confined to Carnatic and Hindustani music.
Following some threads from the youtube clip, I came upon some Algerian music. In this I could hear Madhyamavathi. Ragas like Suddha Saveri, Suddha Dhanyasi, Madhyamavathi, not be mention Mohanam, form the pentatonic group of ragas and are heard in music of various countries. What interested me about this song was that it reminded me of a song Illayaraja had composed for a Malayalam film called 'Man of the Match'. The song 'kathirum kothi' is also in Madhyamavathi and the structure seems matching this Algerian song. Here is the Algerian song:
Here is Illayaraja's 'kathirum kothi', an outstanding number.
http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=18604&mode=100&rand=0.11704419686621004
Staying in Africa, this Ethiopian music sounds like Madhyamavathi to me. Do give it a listen.
Thanks to Vipin, this was Sunday morning well spent listening to music from across the globe. Hope you enjoyed it was well.
Comments
Beautiful Finding.... Guitar.. Brindhavnana saranga.. Mesmerising.
Thank u Suresh...........
With Love,
Usha Sankar.
The first one has the contours of Brindavani.
The second one more or less follows the Madhyamavati scale while the third one has a Sri Ragam flavour.
Music is Universal..Right?
Thanks for sharing!
Raj,
True that musical notes are universal. Atleast the pentatonic seems to be universal :)
Not only these . u can find similar ragas of carnatic from ethiopian music. just try to listen more ethiopian . when i listen i almost feel home.
Gopi
The 2nd one, peppy and that groovy bassline!!
I like the Ilaiyaraaja song anyway.
Good find!
Heard the guitarist of the first piece, Toure, is coming to India to perform.
My friend from US will probably get me some world music when he comes down to India. Will share it with you.
Thanks. Yes, nowadays it is much easier to listen to music from across the world. (I somehow don't like the World Music tag. It is as if western music is actually music and rest of it is 'World Music') So we are lucky in that sense.
BTW, what songs of Naushad and Rajeshwar Rao would you recommend?
Brindavan Sarang is similar to Megh Malhar. I suggest Naushad's 'Sawan aaye na aaye' from Dil diya dard liya, Rajeshwara Rao's 'Parugulu tiyyaali' from Malleshwari. Naushad's Mother India song 'dukh bhare din beete re bhayya' is doubtful. May fit into Madhumad sarang (Madhyamavati). Two more fantastic songs worth listenable- 'Rang rang ki chunari pyaari' from Vasant Desai's Jhanak--baaje and 'Jhananan jhan baje paayaliya' from S N Tripathi's Rani Roopmati. Salilda's 'dayyare dayyaa- dar gaye paapi' - will it fit here?
You are absolutely right! Naushad explored this raaga a lot during his initial days. There are many songs in this raaga by him, right from his Ratan and Anmol Ghadi days. Even his "Jhoole mein pawan ke Aayi Bahaar" from Baiju Baawara is this raaga I guess - which briefly enters into a Malhar aalaap when they sing "Chede hum tum malhar".
And you are bang on about "Dukh Bhare Din Beete re bhaiyya" song. It is in Madhumad saarang. It is one of the greatest examples to show how yesteryear legends used Indian classical music and folk music to give melodies. Naushad used UP folk style in that film/song and wrapped it in Madhumad Saarang. Not just that, the way the song is structured with chorus work is amazing. It follows a very mathematical format:
1. Singer 1 sings
2. Singer 2 sings
3. Singer 1&2 sings along with chorus
4. Then Singer 3 sings
5. Singer 4 sings
6. Singer 3&4 sings with Chrous
7. All singers sing with chorus
I loved the symmetrical structure he gave to the song. Nice idea. And they still had beautiful voices, fantastic melody and great lyrics! what more can we ask?
Jhanak Jhank Paayal Baaje song is Brindavani saarang. Not sure about Salilda's song. But i read somewhere that another Salilda song "Hariyaala Saawan dhol bajaatha" is based on this raaga.
R.D.Burman also gave a beautiful "Gori Tori Painjaniya" (Mannada) from film Mehbooba.
Any idea if "Jhooti Mooti Mitwa" from Rudaali is Brindavani Saarang or Madhumad Saarang? It is one of the most underrated compositions. Bhupen Hazarika, who passed away recently, composed this gem.
Thanks Ramki. As far as discoveries go I can only quote the famous Beatles song: "I get along with a little help from my friends" :)
Thanks for the comment.
Unfortunately I haven't hear V.Narasimhan's works. I have heard some good reviews of them but somehow missed them till now. Will correct it soon.
Enjoyed listening to all links
I woke up this morning with ali farka toure playing in my head.. the tune in my head was distinctly hamsanadham.. and i was weaving it seemlessly with kalyana rama and bantutreethi kolu.. all this was in my head, of course, so no words were uttered..
on my way to work, i created a playlist with ali farka toure, baba maal and issa bagayego and decided today was going to be my 'west african music' day.. You have to understand, that being from that part of the world, I am subconsciously drawn to anything african..
I had also watched a travel documentry on Mali and Senegal about a year ago and had heard a refrain of what i thought was distinctly brindhavana saaranga being played on the kora in tha background..
while listening to my music today, i realised that i heared notes of brindavana saaranga in all of ali farka toure's songs.. not just the one i had remembered from earlier..
I spoent most of my day trying to find some sort of page.. and gave up after a cursory search.. came back home and decided to give it another shot and, viola! i found this!!! brilliant!!