Gopal Shankar Misra

OUT OF STILLNESS

(Real World)

The veena is one of the oldest string instruments in India, far older than the more famous sitar and sarod. Its deep, undulating, metallic tone is said to be close to the human voice, but it also sounds a bit like a slack-tuned, super-resonant slide guitar. Gopal Shankar Misra comes from a family of master veena players in Benares, and following a WOMAD appearance in the UK, he recorded this gorgeous, spacious album at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios. Bizarrely, Gopal, just 42, died one month later at a concert dedicated to his father. Musicology and melodrama aside, the session presents Indian classical music at its most serene and seductive. As with many Indian classical recordings, most of the CD is taken up with one long raga, broken into sections that build in intensity. The free, arrhythmic opening section, called "Alap," lasts 15 minutes and is followed by another longish section with Gopal improvising in a simple pulse rhythm. Only then does the tabla drum enter, gingerly building the energy within a rhythmic structure. The final section, "Drutgat," contains the session's only flashy tabla work and fast riffing on the veena, as the raga's long build-up culminates in a vigorous, 11-minute release.

-- Banning Eyre