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monday, October 23, 1978
page 8
daily nebraskan
arts and entertainment
Classical Indian sitar music fascinates UNL audience
By Mary Jane Winquest
More than 700 people crowded into the
Nebraska Union Ballroom Friday night
intent on an unusual musical experience in
the form of Indian sitarist Nikhil Banerjee.
'This is the only country in the world
where there is so much interest in Indian
music, any music. There is a lot of cultural
integration here," Banerjee said after the
concert.
The overflow crowd that sat around the
stage in front and stood in back seemed to
attest to his statement. Not only did most
stay to the completion of the two and one
half hour improvised concert, but the au
dience's enthusiasm was demonstrated by
several spontaneous rounds of applause
during the performance.
Although entertaining, Indian classical
music is probably most fascinating because
of its marked departure from western
musical form and philosophy.
Tonal sound
Unlike western music, Indian music
produces tones from many sounds, and is
kept in time through cycles rather than
beats. There are also certain pivotal tones
around which the piece revolves. Unlike
our twelve-tone scale, Indian music utilizes
22 microtones.
Rather than a preset program, the raga,
or melodic theme where certain notes
dominate, is subject to improvisation ac
cording to the performers mood.
"You just sit and concentrate and let
the raga develop," Banerjee said.
Although the raga has a definite des
cending and ascending fixed structure, the
note sequence is not fixed. Its progression
rests solely with the artist.
"There is improvisation done, but under
very strict rules and discipline, Banerjee
explained.
"Like each person has a different
personality, approach to life, each raga has
a different mood," he added. "The devel
opment of the mood and structure of the
raga is foremost," according to Banerjee.
He said the whole piece continues from
the mood set at the beginning. Banerjee
announced before the concert that the first
piece depicted serenity and loneliness.
Self realization
"The classical raga is used for self re
alization, not to entertain people. Indian
music has some connections with Indian
culture," Banerjee said.
"As we are part of that supreme soul,
the ultimate aim is to meet the supreme
truth. This is the basis of Indian music,"
he added.
All artistic endeavors should lift man up
from materialism toward the origins of
creation, he said, adding that this emotion
in western music dying.
"Roots should be toward the spiritual
world. If there is not that touch then the
effort (musical) is useless. "Through notes
you express emotion, this emotion is
dying," he said.
The improvisational characteristic of In
dian classical music was also an intriguing
ingredient in Friday's concert. Sitting with
legs crossed on a raised platform Banerjee
and Anindo Chaterjee, the tabla player
(two hand drums), improvised for one hour
and a half, combining two types of pieces,
the Alap and Gat.
Banerjee 's fingers raced up and down
the sitar's seven strings only to be out
matched by his counterpart's rapid, almost
unseeable finger movements on the tabla.
The raga is always developed in the alap,
or first portion of a concert. Banerjee said
it would have taken him a minimum of two
and one-half hours to develop all of the
alap's 18 different segments.
Banerjee described the alap as a "cry for
the supreme soul." The concluding portion
of the concert was the most rhythmic,
traditionally called a thumri.
During the concert when building
toward a climax Banerjee and Chaterjee
seemed to be communicating through
nods. The -tabla playing would become
louder and more intense as the accents
between the tabla and sitar become one. It
was these dramatic moments that continu
ally elicited the crowd response.
Two minds together
Banerjee described the communication
as "two minds working together".
"While you are developing the note
structures the other mind is counting the
beats," he said. "When he improvises, I
keep the beat, when I improvise he keeps
the beat," Banerjee explained.
"And sometimes we try to trick eacn
other," he added. .
Chaterjee said he has practiced with
Banerjee since his childhood but has been
performing with him for the last five
years.
"He is like my teacher," Chaterjee said
of Banerjee. Chaterjee also attributed his
fame as a solo tabla player to his associa
tion with Banerjee.
The two Indian artists were also as
sisted Friday night by Tambura player
Tom Tidball of Lincoln.
"I'm very pleased the crowd like my
tabla," Chaterjee said.
Banerjee was also pleased with the en
thusiastic reception and noted that interest
in Indian music has increased during the
eleven years he has performed in the
United States.
Playing for 40 years
Banerjee, who lives in Calcutta but
teaches summer school in Berkeley, Calif.,
has been playing the sitar for 40 years.
"When I come to this coutnry I feel free
and very nice," Banerjee said.
He said the 20 tour stops to come in
Europe will find a more formal, stiff audi
ence than those in the United States. But
before Europe, Banerjee and Chaterjee will
perform in Chicago and Boston.
The cyclical and improvisational char
acteristics of Indian music is not oniy
foreign to American audiences. After
the concert an Indian woman who had just
noved to Lincoln said, "Its the sound, rhy
thm that appeals to us. We don't know too
much about the technical aspects either."
But most were pleased with the eve
ning's music, as demonstrated by a lot of
tapping fingers and toes.
Indian atmosphere
The white native Indian dress of the
performers, Banerjee's colored vest, and
burning incense seemed to add to the au
dience's enthrallment.
"But the outside things aie not very im
portant," Banerjee said of the incense. He
said what comes from within is the
importance.
It is this spiritual quality of Indian
classical music that makes it so fascinating,
so intriguing to American audiences. The
purity of an artist searching for spiritual
roots is certainly an uncommon but re
freshing change from our daily musical
thoroughfare.
Friday's free concert was sponsored by
the Asian Studies Committee, The Uni
versity Research Council of UNL, the Ne
braska Arts Council, the Universal Arts and
Education Association, the University of
Nebraska School of Music and Marc Gold
Concert Management of New York.
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Anindo Chaterjee, Tom Tidball and Nikhil Banerjee performed Classical Indian sitar music Friday in the Nebraska Union.
Latest Yes album may renew critical faith in band's ability
By Jeff Taebel
During the early seventies, Yes became
popular as a result of its creativity and so
phistication. They were able to combine
unique lyrics, vocals and grandiose musical
themes with a degree of virtuosity paral
leled by very few rock performers.
However, Yes had the misfortune of re
cording one of the best continuous-theme
LP's in the history of rock, Close To The
Edge, too early in its career.
After Close To The Edge, Yes experi
enced the same dilemma faced by Pete
Townshend and The Who after the success
of Tommy: how do you follow an enor
mously successful concept album?
Unfortunately, when a band releases a
record that sets new standards in a musical
field, its subsequent work is critically
judged by those standards as well, creating
a paradoxical system that is more reward
ing to an artist that has a merely consistent
career than to one that shows occasional
flashes of brilliance.
While Yes's recent albums have been
well executed, none of them seem to have
been inspired by the same spirit of creative
album review
intensity that propelled Close To The
Edge.
Greener pastures
Yes also suffered from the temporary
departure of keyboardsynthesizer wizard,
Rick Wakeman, who left the fold for a
while to seek out the green pastures of a
solo career.
In Wakeman's absence, many fans
turned to fusion music or one of many Yes
imitators, such as Starcastle, which sprang
up at the peak of Yes's popularity.
Fortunately, for everyone concerned,
Yes's latest release, Tomerato, is certainly
one of its best works to date and shmilH
win it renewed respect from critics and
early fans alike.
Wakeman seems to be comfortable play
ing with Yes again and his keyboard work,
if not as flashy, is more tasteful than it
ever has been.
Jon Anderson's vocals haven't changed
much over the years and he turns in a
stellar performance throughout Tomerato.
Anderson's high-pitched crooning can
sound cloying and abrasive when he's
working with sub-par material, but this
problem does not arise on Tomerato. An
derson's melodies are lively and intriguing
and his voice kicks the band into over
drive as well as any of the instrumentalists.
Explosive playing
Often underrated as a guitarist Steve
Howe fills the band's sound out wan some
of his most explosive playing ever Howe
strikes a perfect balance between raw
edged and precision playing, making his
work always interesting to listen to
Wakeman, Anderson and Howe are sup
ported in fine fashion by the powerful rhy
thm section of Chris Squire and Allan
White, on bass and drums, respectively.
Tomerato is highlighted by "Release,
Release," which closes side one. This song
proves that Yes can play gut-wrenching
rock 'n' roll when they want to.
"Release, Release" moves along at
breakneck speed and features some scintil
lating runs by Howe and Wakeman. Ander
son sings some fiery multi-tracked vocals
to top the song off, making the ensemble
sound rather like Crosby, Stills and Nash
run amuck.
Other high points of Tomerato include
"Arriving UFO" and a captivating slow
number called "Onward," both on side
two.
Tomerato seems to be an indication that
the members of Yes are getting back to the
basics of what made them a great band in
the past and will carry them to new heights
in the future.
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