This recording was done in Stanford, California at Kresge Hall in Stanford University in the mid-90s and was the first concert out of 30 throughout the United States. The presenting organization was Basant Bahar, a very well-known Indian classical music organization. It was the first concert of that particular tour and for myself, it was a very exhilarating experience. In the beginning of the recording Shujaat introduces to the audience, Ustad Kamal Sabri who is a legendary Sarangi player also touring the U.S. at the time. It was very kind of him to come and hear us play and Shujaat was very much touched by his presence.
We are presenting the first part of the concert in this release and will, hopefully, bring you the second part next year. The first part consists of raga, Yaman Kalyan; a raga created by the great Hazrat Amir Khusrau. Shujaat plays an extended Aalap, Jor and Jhala which is included on the first disc and moves on to play a Gat in Madhyalaya and Drut Teental.
The concert was recorded with a Tascam DAT machine directly from the mixing console and remastered completely recently for this release. No compression was used and only equalization and some background noise cancelling software used so you are pretty much hearing the recording as it was captured.
On behalf of AIREC, Ustad Shujaat Khan and myself, would like to thank Koushik from Black Groove Music for taking up this monumental task of releasing one of our live concerts done in the 90s on vinyl. Increasingly companies way too often only care about the profitability of products rather than its merits. Koushik and Black Groove music has consistently strived to bring all music lovers a well-made product without thinking about its profitability. Both Shujaat and I are extremely happy that they have decided to release a live concert of ours in vinyl format. The vinyl that you are about to listen is a masterpiece in itself. So close your eyes and entrench yourself listening to the wonderful sound of indian classical music.