Crossover and Global music fans may know Aditya from his jazz-infused Karnatik blend on his Aditya Prakash Ensemble releases such as Diaspora Kid or from his concerts on National Public Radio, tours in Europe, the Near East and Asia as the vocalist with choreographer Akram Khan and musicians Ravi Shankar, Karsh Kale, Anoushka Shankar and Tigran Hamasyan. But as adventurous and “crossover” as Aditya’s successes may be, they have always been firmly anchored in the classical Karnatik musical tradition of South India. We initially planned to record in Chennai, India, the ancient and modern hub of Karnatik music. To our chagrin, we learned that most of the concert halls in India are designed for amplification, such that the natural acoustics Yarlung prizes would be difficult to achieve. Aditya had only worked in a “modern multi-mic” recording environment before, and for this album Aditya wanted the real Yarlung sound. Thankfully, were able to make this recording using the beautiful natural acoustics in Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. These ragas express Aditya’s roots as learned at the feet of his many illustrious gurus. These are not the roots of the Karnatik tradition in general. To Global Music lovers familiar with today’s greatest artists, our recording may sound ancient and archaic, traditionalist to a fault. But to an arch traditionalist, Aditya’s recording may sound modern and experimental, with Karnatik “flavor.” And as Aditya’s teacher Mr. Krishna elaborates, the static lineage of Karnatik music over thousands of years turns out to be a myth. Aditya explains “The Karnatik concert as practiced today is a very structured entity, in which lyrically dense compositions are the main focus, while improvisation occurs in the spaces between the compositions and in subtle ways during the composition itself. Although this practice is today considered a ‘traditional’ Karnatik concert, it is relatively new in the larger history of Karnatik music. So let us explore this tradition together and pay attention to the ways in which our hearts respond more than worrying about this too much in our heads.” Aditya and musicians perform seven ragas for you on this album. A raga is a melody (a collection of pitches), sometimes ancient, which often comes with a traditionally associated mood or temperament, and sometimes with a time of day for optimum performance. We used an AKG C24 microphone previously owned by Frank Sinatra, and Yarlung vacuum tube microphone amplification.
