1 00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:01,670 The following content is provided 2 00:00:01,670 --> 00:00:03,810 under a Creative Commons license. 3 00:00:03,810 --> 00:00:06,540 Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue 4 00:00:06,540 --> 00:00:10,120 to offer high quality educational resources for free. 5 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,700 To make a donation or to view additional materials 6 00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:16,603 from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 7 00:00:16,603 --> 00:00:17,565 at ocw.mit.edu. 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,800 PROFESSOR: The artists tonight-- this afternoon-- are of course, 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,460 we'll start off with Phil Scarff, Natraj, 10 00:00:33,460 --> 00:00:37,000 who plays all these saxes in front of us. 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,590 Phil is a stalwart of this area who plays in jazz ensembles 12 00:00:42,590 --> 00:00:47,815 and also tours India with his gifts as an Indian musician, 13 00:00:47,815 --> 00:00:50,570 and has just come back from India, as a matter of fact. 14 00:00:50,570 --> 00:00:56,430 And his CD-- his Indian CD-- is up on the table there. 15 00:00:56,430 --> 00:00:58,570 Mike Rivard, you probably know Mike 16 00:00:58,570 --> 00:01:00,810 from several different ensembles, especially 17 00:01:00,810 --> 00:01:02,040 Club d'Elf. 18 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,600 He's playing bass. 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,120 Jerry Leake, white pants over there, plays tabla 20 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,270 and he also plays the various hand percussion. 21 00:01:10,270 --> 00:01:17,060 He is a member of the Cubist Ensemble as well as Natraj. 22 00:01:17,060 --> 00:01:19,775 Bertrand Lehman plays the trap sets 23 00:01:19,775 --> 00:01:21,455 and other percussion over in the corner. 24 00:01:24,030 --> 00:01:26,180 They're going to open the program today, 25 00:01:26,180 --> 00:01:30,060 but Ravikiranji-- Sangeet [? Samrat ?] Chitravina N 26 00:01:30,060 --> 00:01:33,240 Ravikiran, to be more exact-- is going 27 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,550 to join them on the second item. 28 00:01:35,550 --> 00:01:40,620 And I hope you'll give him round of applause when he appears. 29 00:01:40,620 --> 00:01:45,450 The program today will be in two parts, roughly an hour long 30 00:01:45,450 --> 00:01:47,500 each, with a very short intermission between, 31 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:50,225 which will give you a chance to go and look at the many CDs 32 00:01:50,225 --> 00:01:52,270 that the artists have brought from all phases 33 00:01:52,270 --> 00:01:53,520 of their careers. 34 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:58,330 So without further ado, Natraj. 35 00:01:58,330 --> 00:02:13,799 [APPLAUSE] 36 00:02:13,799 --> 00:02:16,294 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "AVA DE SE"] 37 00:14:42,308 --> 00:14:49,325 [APPLAUSE] 38 00:14:49,325 --> 00:14:50,700 PHIL SCARFF: Thank you very much. 39 00:14:50,700 --> 00:14:54,080 And we opened our program this afternoon 40 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,240 with a traditional West African piece 41 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:02,960 called "Ava De Se" from the southern Ghanaian 42 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,640 tradition of the Ewe people. 43 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:08,890 Once again, Jerry Leake. 44 00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:10,985 On that piece he was playing [INAUDIBLE]. 45 00:15:10,985 --> 00:15:12,235 Let's hear it for Jerry Leake. 46 00:15:12,235 --> 00:15:12,856 [APPLAUSE] 47 00:15:12,856 --> 00:15:15,230 PHIL SCARFF: And on drums and percussion, Bertram Lehman. 48 00:15:15,230 --> 00:15:17,777 [APPLAUSE] 49 00:15:17,777 --> 00:15:19,610 PHIL SCARFF: And on string bass Mike Rivard. 50 00:15:19,610 --> 00:15:22,432 [APPLAUSE] 51 00:15:22,432 --> 00:15:24,390 PHIL SCARFF: And I'm Phil Scarff on saxophones. 52 00:15:24,390 --> 00:15:26,949 Thank you. 53 00:15:26,949 --> 00:15:28,490 Now we'd like to welcome to the stage 54 00:15:28,490 --> 00:15:31,800 our special guest for this evening's program, Sangeet 55 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:33,820 [? Samrat ?] Chitravina N Ravikiran. 56 00:15:33,820 --> 00:15:40,195 [APPLAUSE] 57 00:15:40,195 --> 00:15:41,820 PHIL SCARFF: So we're going to continue 58 00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:46,050 with an original composition by Ravikiran. 59 00:15:46,050 --> 00:15:48,870 This is a piece called "River," and it's 60 00:15:48,870 --> 00:15:50,770 based on the Carnatic rag [? Saraswati. ?] 61 00:15:59,252 --> 00:16:01,240 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "RIVER"] 62 00:27:15,325 --> 00:27:31,720 [APPLAUSE] 63 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,290 PHIL SCARFF: Thank you very much. 64 00:27:34,290 --> 00:27:37,440 Once again, that was the composition "River" 65 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:42,610 by Ravikiran, arranged by both Ravikiran 66 00:27:42,610 --> 00:27:45,970 and me for this program. 67 00:27:45,970 --> 00:27:50,710 And next we'd like to move to a different tradition, 68 00:27:50,710 --> 00:27:52,980 and we're going to move to the jazz tradition-- 69 00:27:52,980 --> 00:27:56,000 contemporary jazz tradition-- and play 70 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:02,620 a piece by the great saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman. 71 00:28:02,620 --> 00:28:09,620 And this is his classic piece "Lonely Woman," which was first 72 00:28:09,620 --> 00:28:15,180 released on-- I believe-- Shape of Jazz to Come back in 1959, 73 00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:16,380 I think. 74 00:28:16,380 --> 00:28:22,220 And so we thought we'd give this a little different treatment 75 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:23,035 today. 76 00:28:23,035 --> 00:28:29,281 This is Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman." 77 00:28:29,281 --> 00:28:31,277 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "LONELY WOMAN"] 78 00:41:47,530 --> 00:42:06,157 [APPLAUSE] 79 00:42:06,157 --> 00:42:07,240 RAVIKIRAN: Good afternoon. 80 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:19,370 And I'd like to introduce the next composition. 81 00:42:19,370 --> 00:42:22,800 It's titled "Red Swan." 82 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,210 It's actually based on a traditional composition 83 00:42:25,210 --> 00:42:32,000 of Carnatic music, and based on a very popular mode of raga 84 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,820 called Hamsandani, which is well known in both North Indian 85 00:42:35,820 --> 00:42:38,360 and South Indian classical music, 86 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:42,100 but the composition has been set for arrangement 87 00:42:42,100 --> 00:42:46,610 with this group, Natraj, [INAUDIBLE] 88 00:42:46,610 --> 00:42:48,630 It's a great pleasure for me to play with each 89 00:42:48,630 --> 00:42:52,260 and every one of my friends here, 90 00:42:52,260 --> 00:42:56,560 and to play at MIT for MITHAS. 91 00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:58,920 So this is going to be "Red Swan." 92 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,370 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "RED SWAN"] 93 00:57:51,584 --> 00:58:00,230 JERRY LEAKE: [SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] 94 00:58:00,230 --> 00:58:02,260 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "RED SWAN" CONTINUES] 95 01:08:39,611 --> 01:08:50,170 [APPLAUSE] 96 01:08:50,170 --> 01:08:51,836 PHIL SCARFF: Kiran, thank you very much. 97 01:08:51,836 --> 01:08:53,084 Thank you. 98 01:08:53,084 --> 01:08:57,240 That was "Red Swan," recomposed, decomposed, 99 01:08:57,240 --> 01:09:01,010 by Chitravina Ravikiran, arranged by Ravikiran 100 01:09:01,010 --> 01:09:03,207 and me for this performance. 101 01:09:03,207 --> 01:09:04,040 Thank you very much. 102 01:09:04,040 --> 01:09:05,790 So you've been listening to Bertam Lehmann 103 01:09:05,790 --> 01:09:06,830 on drums and percussion. 104 01:09:06,830 --> 01:09:07,913 Let's hear it for Bertram. 105 01:09:07,913 --> 01:09:12,802 [APPLAUSE] 106 01:09:12,802 --> 01:09:15,010 PHIL SCARFF: Jerry Leake, tabla and multi-percussion. 107 01:09:15,010 --> 01:09:15,669 Jerry Leake. 108 01:09:15,669 --> 01:09:19,560 [APPLAUSE] 109 01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:21,420 PHIL SCARFF: Mike Rivard on string bass. 110 01:09:21,420 --> 01:09:22,322 Mike Rivard. 111 01:09:22,322 --> 01:09:25,606 [APPLAUSE] 112 01:09:25,606 --> 01:09:27,439 PHIL SCARFF: And of course our special guest 113 01:09:27,439 --> 01:09:30,880 for this performance, on chitravina we have Sangeet 114 01:09:30,880 --> 01:09:33,050 [? Samrat ?] Chitravina N Ravikiran. 115 01:09:33,050 --> 01:09:37,216 [APPLAUSE] 116 01:09:37,216 --> 01:09:39,174 PHIL SCARFF: And I'm Phil Scarff on saxophones. 117 01:09:39,174 --> 01:09:39,914 Thank you. 118 01:09:39,914 --> 01:09:42,560 [APPLAUSE] 119 01:09:42,560 --> 01:09:44,460 PHIL SCARFF: And of course we are Natraj. 120 01:09:44,460 --> 01:09:45,740 Thank you for coming out. 121 01:09:45,740 --> 01:09:47,489 We are going to take a short intermission. 122 01:09:57,710 --> 01:10:00,040 And we're going to begin our second set 123 01:10:00,040 --> 01:10:02,360 with a piece from West Africa. 124 01:10:02,360 --> 01:10:08,230 This is from the Dagomba people of northern Ghana, 125 01:10:08,230 --> 01:10:11,970 as distinct from the Ewe people of southern Ghana. 126 01:10:11,970 --> 01:10:15,260 The opening piece was a West African piece, "Awa De Se." 127 01:10:15,260 --> 01:10:20,070 That is from the Ewe people of southern Ghana and also Togo. 128 01:10:20,070 --> 01:10:23,950 And this is from the Dagomba tradition of northern Ghana, 129 01:10:23,950 --> 01:10:28,110 and it's based on the-- I would call it the-- rhythm called 130 01:10:28,110 --> 01:10:31,000 Damba [? So ?] [? Chandi, ?] and there are two compositions. 131 01:10:31,000 --> 01:10:40,364 One is called "Wolenboli" and the other one is "Bandanya." 132 01:10:40,364 --> 01:10:42,844 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "WOLENBOLI/BANDANYA"] 133 01:24:07,210 --> 01:24:17,565 [APPLAUSE] 134 01:24:17,565 --> 01:24:18,940 PHIL SCARFF: Thank you very much. 135 01:24:18,940 --> 01:24:19,773 Thank you very much. 136 01:24:19,773 --> 01:24:25,930 That was Damba So Chandi, "Wolenboli" and "Bandanya." 137 01:24:25,930 --> 01:24:29,130 Turn it over to Ravikiran. 138 01:24:29,130 --> 01:24:32,380 RAVIKIRAN: I've been requested to play a short solo piece. 139 01:24:32,380 --> 01:24:35,940 This is going to be a composition which 140 01:24:35,940 --> 01:24:40,420 I'll be playing on the tabla, just me and the tabla. 141 01:24:40,420 --> 01:24:46,560 So it's going to be a composition in seven beats, 142 01:24:46,560 --> 01:24:50,450 a time cycle of seven counts known as [INAUDIBLE]. 143 01:24:53,490 --> 01:24:56,840 The composer of this is a traditional composer 144 01:24:56,840 --> 01:24:59,510 in Carnatic music, Shyama Shastri, 145 01:24:59,510 --> 01:25:10,880 who lived between 1762 and 1827. 146 01:25:10,880 --> 01:25:15,090 And the raga is ananda bhairavi. 147 01:25:15,090 --> 01:25:16,620 It is somewhat like a minor scale. 148 01:25:19,248 --> 01:25:35,719 [MUSIC PLAYING] 149 01:25:35,719 --> 01:25:38,650 RAVIKIRAN: I would like more of this and less 150 01:25:38,650 --> 01:25:40,390 of the [INAUDIBLE], please. 151 01:25:44,810 --> 01:25:55,590 [TUNING INSTRUMENT] 152 01:25:55,590 --> 01:25:57,198 [MUSIC - RAVIKIRAN, "MARIVERE GATI"] 153 01:28:13,604 --> 01:28:18,930 RAVIKIRAN: Can you please reduce the high ends somewhat? 154 01:28:18,930 --> 01:28:21,840 It's like-- 155 01:28:21,840 --> 01:28:33,900 [MUSIC - RAVIKIRAN, "MARIVERE GATI" CONTINUES] 156 01:34:49,602 --> 01:35:15,784 [APPLAUSE] 157 01:35:15,784 --> 01:35:19,260 PHIL SCARFF: Next we'd like to play 158 01:35:19,260 --> 01:35:21,740 another original composition by Ravikiran. 159 01:35:21,740 --> 01:35:26,000 This one is called "No Nonsense Fives," 160 01:35:26,000 --> 01:35:27,380 and it's in rag janaranjani. 161 01:35:34,954 --> 01:35:36,370 RAVIKIRAN: This piece was actually 162 01:35:36,370 --> 01:35:42,896 born out of the-- against the background 163 01:35:42,896 --> 01:35:48,160 that all my other pieces in five had so much nonsense before it. 164 01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:50,590 So I thought, OK, at least let me attempt something 165 01:35:50,590 --> 01:35:52,330 with no nonsense in fives. 166 01:35:55,880 --> 01:35:59,680 The concept behind some of these compositions-- some of these 167 01:35:59,680 --> 01:36:02,540 are actually arranged for Western classical symphony 168 01:36:02,540 --> 01:36:04,350 orchestras as well. 169 01:36:04,350 --> 01:36:08,580 We have a different arrangement for the jazz groups like this. 170 01:36:08,580 --> 01:36:12,150 Some of them are even arranged for quartets or quintets 171 01:36:12,150 --> 01:36:15,240 and chamber orchestras. 172 01:36:15,240 --> 01:36:18,630 The concept of this is melharmony Basically, 173 01:36:18,630 --> 01:36:23,990 melharmony is harmony with an emphasis 174 01:36:23,990 --> 01:36:29,570 on the melodic rules of evolved melodic systems. 175 01:36:29,570 --> 01:36:32,910 For instance, the Indian raga system 176 01:36:32,910 --> 01:36:36,170 is a very highly evolved melodic system of music. 177 01:36:36,170 --> 01:36:39,140 So we do create harmony in this-- you will actually 178 01:36:39,140 --> 01:36:42,820 notice it more when we have symphonic arrangements 179 01:36:42,820 --> 01:36:46,210 presented by orchestras-- but in this kind of thing 180 01:36:46,210 --> 01:36:48,390 you'll probably be able to see some glimpses 181 01:36:48,390 --> 01:36:51,410 of meloharmonic principles. 182 01:36:51,410 --> 01:36:54,280 And in this we are just going to start off 183 01:36:54,280 --> 01:36:56,210 with a very short prelude by me, and then 184 01:36:56,210 --> 01:36:57,418 follow it by the composition. 185 01:37:01,881 --> 01:38:22,382 [MUSIC PLAYING] 186 01:38:22,382 --> 01:38:25,400 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "NO NONSENSE FIVES"] 187 01:44:07,794 --> 01:44:17,754 [APPLAUSE] 188 01:44:17,754 --> 01:45:05,444 [TUNING INSTRUMENTS] 189 01:45:05,444 --> 01:45:06,110 PHIL SCARFF: OK. 190 01:45:06,110 --> 01:45:07,140 Thank you very much. 191 01:45:07,140 --> 01:45:10,610 That last piece was, again, "No Nonsense Fives." 192 01:45:10,610 --> 01:45:13,440 We'd like to conclude our concert this evening 193 01:45:13,440 --> 01:45:17,500 with a composition by Purandara Dasa. 194 01:45:17,500 --> 01:45:20,600 And this one is in rag sindhu bhairavi, 195 01:45:20,600 --> 01:45:23,180 and it's called "Tamburi Meetidava." 196 01:45:23,180 --> 01:45:26,560 And we've arranged this in such a way of-- we've 197 01:45:26,560 --> 01:45:30,410 set this to more of a West African feel. 198 01:45:30,410 --> 01:45:34,300 "Tamburi Meetidava." 199 01:45:34,300 --> 01:45:37,150 RAVIKIRAN: Just for information, Purandara Dasa 200 01:45:37,150 --> 01:45:41,114 lived from 1484 to 1564. 201 01:45:41,114 --> 01:45:47,300 Many of his compositions, they are traditional tunes, 202 01:45:47,300 --> 01:45:49,670 but some of it has also been tuned by other people 203 01:45:49,670 --> 01:45:51,750 because some of the original have been lost. 204 01:45:51,750 --> 01:45:55,590 But he's hailed as the father of Carnatic music. 205 01:45:55,590 --> 01:45:59,222 He's had a lot of students' lessons as well. 206 01:46:08,490 --> 01:46:10,292 [MUSIC - NATRAJ, "TAMBURI MEETIDAVA"] 207 01:56:27,060 --> 01:56:34,575 [APPLAUSE] 208 01:56:34,575 --> 01:56:35,950 PHIL SCARFF: Thank you very much. 209 01:56:35,950 --> 01:56:36,874 Thank you. 210 01:56:36,874 --> 01:56:41,040 That was "Tamburi Meetidava." 211 01:56:41,040 --> 01:56:42,167 Thank you once again. 212 01:56:42,167 --> 01:56:44,000 And you've been listening to Bertram Lehmann 213 01:56:44,000 --> 01:56:44,920 on drums and percussion. 214 01:56:44,920 --> 01:56:47,170 Let's hear it for Bertram Lehmann over there on drums. 215 01:56:47,170 --> 01:56:50,072 [APPLAUSE] 216 01:56:50,072 --> 01:56:51,030 PHIL SCARFF: All right. 217 01:56:51,030 --> 01:56:52,863 Laying it down on tabla and multi-percussion 218 01:56:52,863 --> 01:56:53,970 we have Jerry Leake. 219 01:56:53,970 --> 01:56:54,820 Jerry Leake. 220 01:56:54,820 --> 01:57:01,522 [APPLAUSE] 221 01:57:01,522 --> 01:57:03,230 PHIL SCARFF: And back here on string bass 222 01:57:03,230 --> 01:57:04,440 we have Mr. Mike Rivard. 223 01:57:04,440 --> 01:57:05,833 Mike Rivard on string bass. 224 01:57:05,833 --> 01:57:06,580 [APPLAUSE] 225 01:57:06,580 --> 01:57:09,452 PHIL SCARFF: Yeah, Mike Rivard. 226 01:57:09,452 --> 01:57:11,410 And of course our special guest of the evening, 227 01:57:11,410 --> 01:57:13,770 Sangeet [? Samrat ?] Chitravina N Ravikiran. 228 01:57:13,770 --> 01:57:15,174 Let's hear it for Ravikiran. 229 01:57:15,174 --> 01:57:17,352 [APPLAUSE] 230 01:57:17,352 --> 01:57:19,310 PHIL SCARFF: And I'm Phil Scarff on saxophones. 231 01:57:19,310 --> 01:57:19,810 Thank you. 232 01:57:19,810 --> 01:57:22,415 [APPLAUSE] 233 01:57:22,415 --> 01:57:23,790 PHIL SCARFF: Thank you very much. 234 01:57:23,790 --> 01:57:25,760 And of course we are Natraj. 235 01:57:25,760 --> 01:57:28,910 Thank you so much for coming out this evening to the concert 236 01:57:28,910 --> 01:57:32,890 and thanks so much for MITHAS and also Art of the Improvisers 237 01:57:32,890 --> 01:57:36,100 and Mark Harvey for organizing this program today. 238 01:57:36,100 --> 01:57:38,320 And we hope to see you again. 239 01:57:38,320 --> 01:57:41,176 Please check us out on the web, natrajmusic.com, 240 01:57:41,176 --> 01:57:43,919 check ou our Facebook page and like us on Facebook. 241 01:57:43,919 --> 01:57:46,460 Check out the recordings on the way out and the mailing list, 242 01:57:46,460 --> 01:57:47,830 and we look forward to seeing you next time. 243 01:57:47,830 --> 01:57:48,330 Thank you. 244 01:57:48,330 --> 01:57:49,800 Good night.