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Chords & Notes

SAADGI

T Series, Rs.160

Some of the songs in this album can surely slow down your steps. Some can really connect with your inner self. The first number, “Mujhe Khabar Thi”, written by Farat Shahzad, brilliantly brings out a lover’s helplessness. Add to thi s Lata Mangeshkar’s golden voice and you know you can only get a gem. Javed Akhtar’s “Ishq Ki Baatein” is good to the ears, not for any great poetry but for hummable lyrics, but the next number, “Raat Hai” surely doesn’t strike you with its prose. To make things more impoverished, young composer Mayuresh Pai begins the song with a tune that sounds so much like the theme song of the Hollywood film, “Titanic”. “Main Kahan Ab Jism Hoon”, by Chandrashekhar Sanekar, and “Phir Kahin Door Se”, by Meraj Faizabadi, sound the same for similar music. Yet another Javed Akhtar song, “Chand Ke Pyale Se” has a Bollywood whiff to it with Pai trying to squeeze in a bit of Beethoven kind of symphony in between. Though that doesn’t help much. But the best bet of the album is “Andhe Khwabon Ko”. Written by Faizabadi, its words are worth listening to repeatedly, and Lataji’s lilting rendition adds extra finery to it. Pai too should get a pat for it.

POWER & GRACE

Times Music, Rs.65

This album is made from a live recording of Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s performance at the Saptak Festival in Ahmedabad. A midnight performance, it begins with raga Durga, performed by the maestro as his “aradhana” to the new day. After a prolonged alap he is joined by the redoubtable Bhawani Shankar on the pakhawaj. He then turns to raga Malkauns, in which, after the alap, he launches into a Jhap tala composition, this time with tabla accompaniment by Anindo Chatterjee. Both the renditions are characterised by his quiet, exploratory approach. The alaps sound as if he is having an impromptu chat with the instrument and the raga, getting to know them and introducing them to each other. Live recordings from festivals do bring alive the enthusiastic atmosphere of such events, and one gets to hear the maestro addressing his audience . But it also seems a painless way for record companies to bring out an album. If the artistes are adequately compensated with fees and royalties, one cannot complain though.

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