India Music Week is an online effort to identify and catalog all the recordings of Asian Indian Music throughout the world, and introduce you to ideas and music from this vibrant culture. It will remain active as an online resource to make this culturally significant body of work readily available to people around the globe for study and enjoyment. read more
The ARChive presents:
a free, permanently available, online database of Asian Indian recordings and their locations around the world.
ARC's Launch Event was a great success as we set the Guinness Record for Largest Bhangra Dance!
Thousand's of dancing New Yorkers were part of the crowd that broke the Guinness World Record for Largest Bhangra Dance on Sunday at the South Street Seaport, as part of the NY Diawli Festival. We should have a final, exact count in a few days.
Here's a joyous DJ Rekha in front of the crowd. (photo:Nisha Sondhe) Thanks to all that made it all a happening event - AIA, Molecule Communications, percussionist Dave Sharma, choreographer Achinta S. McDaniel + Blue 13, photographers Ed Steinberg/Rockamedia and Richard Ledes, and of course, DJ Rekha . MORE about our Bhangra Dance DJ Rekha videoHighlights
The BIG Picture Picture
Graphic designer Pratyush Gupta's "The Colours of Indian Classical Music" presents a poster-sized chart to help you better understand this vast musical system. poster + infoThe BIG Picture Tutorial
The good folks @ Swar Systems sent along this handy tutorial on understanding Hindustani music. software tutorialCompilation Corner
Realworld Compilation<
Realworld Records- UK + USA – streaming compilation from Peter Gabriel’s label have a listen
Amarrass Free Song + Contest
Amarrass Records offers the lively 'Raichand' by the Barmer Boys, a Rajasthani quartet, as a gift or a stream. 1) Click buy link on the song 2) Enter value '0' 3) Enter email. Enjoy. They are also offering a CD giveaway, every day of India Music Week. Just 'Like' their Facebook page, say 'why' you like or just e-mail them. Nice. get download
CD Baby - Top Picks
CD Baby, Portland, OR – special selection of Indian albums, highlighted for the week. see their pop pickssee their classical picks
MORE Highlights
Bollywood Academia
Bridging cultural + musical differences students in “The Music of Bollywood” course, Chinese University of Hong Kong, taught by Prof. Victor A. Vicente arranged, performed + recorded some of the best-known Bollywood songs of the past decade - their contribution to India Music Week + to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Indian film industry. hear the student's musicCassette Culture
Peter Manuel, ethnomusicology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center in NY and author of 1993's "Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India" offers a graphic gallery of a few of his favorite cassettes. PLUS... Tibetan Audio In India
Dharamsala has become the major repository for much of Tibetian history. I met Karma Khedup, the AV Archivist at The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) in India last Oct, and he has shared this list of 333 audio and video recordings from their library. The list represents more than 31,500 hours of recordings related to the religious and secular life of Tibetan people. Here is the audio and music related metadata available for the first time. Tibetan audio catalog365 Seventy-eights
Sunny Mathew, India – 365 seventy-eight rpm recordings – one for every day of the year – on a specially created India Week YouTube channel. have a listen
Radio program -WNYC - Madhuban
In honor of India Week archivist Marcos Sueiro Bal has posted an episode of “Madhuban”, WNYC’s 1980s show of Indian music + talk hosted by Clyfee Madhu (1930-2008). "Sound quality is poor (from cassette walkman against speaker, I would guess) but a slice of NY cultural life." Note the disclaimer. link + listenHarmoNYom
HarmoNYom was the essential element in making India Music Week happen. Founder Veronique Lerebours brought in many of the live acts to fulfill her mission - to serve as a “Voice” and platform for the world-renowned South Asian Classical Maestros and emerging talents. Visit the HarmoNYom site
Video Lecture - Columbia U. "Some Principles of Hindustani Music A lecture by Yogendra Trivedi
All day - Yogendra ("Yogi") Trivedi is a Asian Music Humanities Teaching Assistant @ Columbia University + a khyal singer. This video was created for the "Musics of India and West Asia." course at Columbia's Center for Ethnomusicology. Discussing basic musical concepts of raga and tala as well as broader cultural frameworks for Hindustani music from a beginner's perspective. see/hear the lecture
Concert - SYNTH City
6-9pm, Mumbai. An investigation of computer music, sonic space and generative art - 5 music producers create personal soundscapes of Mumbai neighborhoods. Presented by Studio-X, a Columbia University initiative and the Berlin based Agora Collective. Party afterwards. infoLounging on the Cosmic Ocean
or B. George Goes Cratedigging In India
On the hunt for vinyl treasure in India and an elusive Beatles 78.
Events - Ongoing
Broadcasts - IMCRadio.Net + IMC OnAir
Hosted by ElJay Arem this on-air and online syndicated program out of Hamburg, Germany will present 6 hrs of programing with a focus on "sound" (Sanskrit:Nad(a) = flow), on three topics (2 hrs each) • Energy of SOUND – Raga Chikitsa • NADA – Concept of SOUND“ and • Music, Sound (Nada) & Language.“ Shows broadcast in Germany + Switzerland beginning on the 7th through the 13th.
BEST page for ALL SHOW INFO visit their site
Next - Scandinavian Music Week - Spring 2015
Learning from and building upon India Music Week, as well as our last two efforts, Brazilian Music Day, and Muslim World Music Day, our next stop is all of Scandinavia. We're thinking to have it overlap Mayday for the maximum number of events, and perhaps rename 'Nordic.' Sunday April 26 - Sunday May 3. We welcome your comments and ideas. Director B.George will be visiting Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland to talk with as many Universities, Archives + Libraries as he can manage; with a little luck pick up a few recordings along the way. So start planning now and get in touch if you would like to be a part of Scandinavian Music Week, Spring 2015, our 30th anniversary year. Future Weeks include Cuba (2016), Louisiana (2017), China (2018) and …
To get the ball rolling
Letter of support from Nirupama Rao, India's Ambassador to the US.Special Event
Mira Nair - Oct 10
Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair will discuss the key role of music in her films. This is a benefit for our pals @ the World Music Institute. learn about this unique event here
Events - Sunday Oct 6
Largest Bhangra Dance to set the Guinness World Record, South Street Seaport, NYC
Look to your left <-- or go here for more info!Diwali Festival - South Street Seaport, NYC
Noon - 9pm, NYC. Celebrate the Festival of Lights in NYC with music, dance, food, fireworks and family fun. Organized by The Association of Indians in America (AIA) who provided the space + timeslot to create the Word's Largest Bhangra Dance event. infoConcert - Pandit Yogesh Samsi
7pm. Master tabla player @ Baruch Performing Arts Center (BPAC), NYC info
Concert - Vijay Siva
7pm. Carnatic vocalist Siva with RK Shriramkumar + J Vaidhyanathan. Presented by Raga-Mala, Royal Albert Museum, Edmonton, Canada. info
Events - MONDAY OCT 7
Concert - Oded Tzur Quartet
9:30pm. ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn. Elegant saxophone raga. artist site club info
Concert - Rajeev Taranath
7:30pm. Metro State University- Denver. CO. Sarod master. artist site click + scroll for concert info
Class - Sandip Bhattacharjee
6pm. AAICM, Manhattan. Pandit Sandip Bhattacharjee offers vocal music instruction, a master of Hindustani Kirana Gharana. fee. class info AAICM site
Class - Samita Sinha
6pm. Space on White, Manhattan. Open Voice is the first of an 8-session singing course drawing on a variety of Indian traditions. contact Samita for details
Events - TUESDAY OCT 8
Class - Sandip Bhattacharjee
7pm. AAICM, Brooklyn. Pandit Sandip Bhattacharjee offers vocal music instruction, a master of Hindustani Kirana Gharana. fee. class info AAICM site
Lecture - Jostine Loubser
University of Salford, Manchester, UK, Centre for Popular Music Research, Centenary Bldg, Lecture Hall HT109. Covering styles, ideas, timbres, instruments + musical organisation. visit Salford U.
Events - Weds. Oct 9
Lecture
Alberta, Canada. Jonathan M. Kertzer, Director folkwaysAlive! + University of Alberta. info
Radio - Surtarang
6 - 7 pm GMT, UK. Surtarang Broadcasting - show dedicated to the late Pt Manas Chakraborty, 101.8 WCRFM, Wolverhampton, UK. info
Radio – Sound of Folkways
Canada. “Sound of Folkways” Radio Show, CJSR, 9-10PM, featuring Smithsonian Folkways UNESCO re-issue of Indian music. info
lecture-recital - T M Hoffman
Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. Musician/ethnomusicologist Hoffman is Director of the Indo-Japanese Music Exchange Assoc. Concert is Hindustani ragadhari sangeet on Japanese traditional instruments. Japan tour begins Oct 15. website
Events - THURSDAY Oct 10
Concert - Rajeev Taranath
Oct 10, AZ. Sarod master, Musical Instrument Museum. Phoenix, AZ. AZ concert info artists website
Concert - Arnab Chakrabarty - Sandip Bhattacharjee
Tea Lounge, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY. Two young maestros: 8pm. Chakrabarty - sarod, UK, Shahjahanpur Gharana and 9:30pm. Bhattacharjee - India, vocal, Kirana Gharana. Nice event by HarmoNYom and Brooklyn Raga Massive. Suggested Donation: $15. club's website concert infoMusic + Lecture - Alif Laila
12:30pm. Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville MD.Major sitarist in an intimate setting. She plays Kennedy Center in DC on the 16th. artist website
Concert - Red Baraat
11:30pm. This great Brooklyn based Bhangra group is on the Southern swing of their latest tour. Tonight in Baton Rouge @ Chelseas Cafe. artist website Louisiana club infoEvents - FRIDAY Oct 11
Concert - Soumya Chakraverty
8pm. Bloombars, Washington, DC. Sarod. Craig Phillips-sitar, Sebu Nayak-tabla. info go to event
Concert - Ehren Hanson + Camila Celin
6:30pm. Yoga Soundscape/Kula Yoga Project, Tribeca, NYC. Sarod + tabla, ragas and healing vibes. info go to event
Film -SAMA, Muslim Mystic Music of India
6 pm. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. Directed by Shazia Khan go to event
Concert - Veena Chandra
9:30pm. Arthur Zankel Music Center Presented by Skidmore College Music Dept., Saratoga Springs, NY. FREE event. FREE Livestream infoNew Jersey Durga Puja
8pm. Rupankar Bagchi performs modern Bengali songs at this all-day, largely Bengali cultural festival. artist info FestivalEvents - SATURDAY Oct 12
Concert - Tripti Mukherjee
2pm. NYC. Pandita Mukherjee sings Indian Classical (Hindustani) Music at Hunter College's Ida Lang Auditorium, E.69th and Lexington, NYC; $25, $40 - Organized by Pandit Jasraj Institute for Music Research. info
Concert - Bala Radu, A.R. Balaskandan, Y.T. Shenthuraan
2:30pm. Saraswati Hall, Flushing, NYC. Sarod + tabla, ragas and healing vibes. Take the # 7 train to 45-57 Bowne St., Murray Hill, Flushing, Queens. - 718-460-8484 ext 112. FREE Event. info
Concert - Suchita Rao and Aparna Balaji / Pushkar Lele
4:30pm. Mass. Hindustani-Carnatic vocal. 7:30 Vocal Recital by Pushkar Lele and Santoor recital by Pandit Satish Vyas. Learnquest Baithak (Academy), Framingham, Mass. Tkts at door : $25 venue site
Concert - M. S. Sheela
5pm. Carnatic vocalist, Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Washington DC. DC info
House Concert - Apratim Majumdar, Amit Chatterjee
6pm. Bronx, NYC. Intimate performance by Kolkata musicians Shri Apratim Majumdar on Sarod and Sri Amit Chatterjee on Tabla at a residence in the Bronx. NY House concert info
Lecture with music
6-7pm. NYC. Dibyarka Chatterjee - talk illustrated with live music, "Understanding Indian Music" at Chhandayan, NYC, FREE - 4 West 43rd St, Room # 618 - tel: 212 302 0720. STAY for the concert after! website
New Jersey Durga Puja
6pm. Separate performances by vocalists: Sandipan Samajpati; Suchi; Nirmalya Roy. + Dance Performance by Sunrita Mitra + Drama "Raja Rani" at this all-day, largely Bengali cultural festival. Sandipan Suchi Nirmalya festivalConcert - Parthasarathi Chatterjee, Samar Saha
7pm. Ravi Shankar tribute with Sri Parthasarathi Chatterjee on sitar and Pandit Samar Saha on tabla. Vanguard Music Studio, Denville, NJ. $20, $15 Taalsadhana + VMS students. info Vanguard Studio
Concert - Baluji Shrivastav + the Inner Vision Orchestra
7pm. Plymouth University, UK, part of the Respect Festival featuring blind or partially sighted musicians led by master sitarist Baluji. UK info
Concert - Ruchira Panda
7:30pm. NYC. Hindustani vocalist, upholder of Kotali Gharana, at Chhandayan center for Indian Music, NYC. website info watch LIVE stream for fee
Concert - Tribute to Sakar Khan
8pm. New Delhi, India. Amarrass Records presents /Amarrass Nights @ Lodi. Tribute concert commemorating the music of Padma Shri Sakar Khan (1939-2013), grandmaster of the kamaicha. Featuring three (of many) bands influenced by his music - his sons GFD (Ghewar Firoze and Dara), Menwhopause (Anup Kutty, IP Singh) and Suhail Yusuf Khan. info
Events - Sunday Oct 13
Concert - Pushkar Lele
5pm - NYC. Vocalist Pushkar Lele at Chhandayan Center for Indian Music. info watch LIVE stream for fee
Concert - Sweden: Johansson, Fröberg + Lindh
3pm, Nordic Watercolor Museum in Skärhamn, Tjörn, Sweden by Jerry Johansson (sitar), and multi-instrmentalists Dan Fröberg + Alexandra E. Lindh concert + artist info quick info
Concert - Red Baraat
9:30pm. Tonight @ Austin Austin City Limits Festival. artist websiteNew Jersey Durga Puja
6pm. Sufi + Hindi modern songster Jasraj Joshi backed by Lambada at this all-day, largely Bengali cultural festival. artists info festivalConcert - Flood Relief - Mantra Festival
7-11pm. Boulder, CO. Artists Deva Premal and Miten + GuruGanesha Band. festival info
The Gypsy Allstars
Jodhpur. Members of Gypsy Kings working with Rajasthani artists in a talk/workshop as part of Bamboleo Meets Bollywood and Return to Rajasthan concert.PRE-events SAT Oct 5
Links to events Oct 5 - a hair before we launch. They support us and we support them! Aparna Ramaswami - Dance, Michael Schimmel Center, Pace U., NYC. • • • Papanasam Ashok Ramani - concert, Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham MD. • • • Kaushiki Chakraborty - concert, U. at Shady Grove, Rockville, MD. • • • Surdarshan Singh - concert, tabla, Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch College • • • Rhythm of Rajasthan - concert, Drom, NYC
From our youtube channel go to channel
ARC gathered together thousands of Indian music videos.
EAST > WEST < EAST
Co-operation, theft, appropriation, homage, fusion and geeze, why didn't I think of that...
Asia Over America - Syncretic Uses of Eastern Instruments in Western Pop and Rock
For centuries now Dr. Silver and I (B. George) have been drawn to a vaguely Asian sound. Maybe it started with that sitar at the opening of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. Incredible String band? Who knows, but despite our best efforts we managed to accumulate a great many recordings on this side of the ocean featuring Indian instrumentation, musical appropriation and outright cultural theft. Here's the low-down on some favorites.
Who Sampled Who?
The team at WhoSampled.com have spent years sussing out audio appropriation worldwide. It is a remarkable effort by the folks whose mission is to "Explore the DNA of music.".
Top 10 Bollywood samples used in Western music
Top 10 Western used by Bollywood listen to above samples
The Loneliness of Indo-Western Fusion
Scott Groffman, ARC intern and NYU student, explores the friction that can occur as the ability for different cultures to communicate musically increases. He speaks with two young musicians with an allegiance to both Western and Indian music, perhaps caught in the middle.
Go to essayESSAYS + EXCERPTS + EXTRAS
B.George – film: Indian cardboard gramophone
Dr. Suresh Chandvankar - The Record News
That's Suresh giving me the guided tour of the 78 player above. He is a gifted scholar and one of the principlas behind The Record News 78rpm journal. Here's one of their earlier covers and a link to issues preserved by the Digital South Asian Library, U. of Chicago. Here's an interesting piece by Suresh suggesting Gandhi as lyricist! and one profiling the first 100 years of India's record sound.South Asian Studies Library, Columbia University, NYC,
Gary J. Hausman has created a Research Guide to Indian music and book holdings at Columbia University. Page is being built now, and you can see it go up brick x brick @ Indian Music Research Guide
Library Display – Wiener Music & Arts Library
Elizabeth Davis up @ Columbia have put together a display case of Indian materials in their collection. Drop by and see.
Lecture excerpts - Edgard Varèse - Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives, NY Public Library . Avant-garde composer, Edgard Varèse delivered the lecture, "A Note on Contemporary North Indian Music" as part of his summer course, "Twentieth-Century Tendencies in Music" at Columbia University.
Nisha Sahai Achuthan – essay - "Folk Songs of Uttar Pradesh"
Mr. Achuthan offers this reprint of his article first published in Ethnomusicology Vol. 31, No. 3 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 395-406. University of Illinois Press. go to PDF
IMC Onair and IMC Radio Net out of Germany along with SABN (South Asian Broadcasting Network) are our world-wide media partner. Organizer ElJay Arem is devoted to Indian Classical music and has organized a host of radio broadcast over a variety of channels in Germany + Switzerland, Oct 7- 13.
BEST page for ALL SHOW INFO visit their site SABNIMCOnAir
IMC - India meets Classic
Indian E-music
Artistik License - Manojna Yeluri - essay - “Independent Artist Concern in the Indian Music Industry”
Artistik is a legal education initiative for artists working in India. Founder Manojna is an entertainment, media and IPR legal consultant. She manages an online repository of legal information vital to artists and conducts legal workshops for creative artists in India. Next musician's rights workshop, Bangalore, Oct 20. Important + necessary work! visit the website read the essayThe Combustibles + Indian Rock
The Combustibles managed to perfect garage rock and prefigure punk in their one and only release, “Watch Her” from 1971. A recent re-release out of the UK on Harkit Records this July, and a incredibly complete website has finally given them their long overdue, due.
Exclusive commentary by Combustible Nissim Ezekiel “Classic Rock and India – Many Connections”Sidharth Bhatia – Indian Rock
The author offers a brief introduction to his upcoming book on South Asian Rock’n'Roll, India's Rocking 60s and 70s
Victor A. Vicente - essay - Strange New Worlds? Musical Instruments and Cultural and Temporal Coding in Indian and Turkish Science-Fiction Film.
Victor teaches @ the Chinese University of Hong Kong and this was first published in Musica Humana 3, No. 1 (2011):41-59. I found the poster in India. He says, "Rocket Tarzan has become somewhat of an internet meme lately." Tying it all together is this clip I made at Carnival in Rio a few years back - 600 Gandhis + Robot. go to PDFRolf Killius – Traditional Music Videos + Music
Rolf is a prolific, dedicated recordist/producer who has done amazing work in folk music research. Highly recommended are these 14 Exhibition Films on Indian traditional music and musical instruments created for the Utsavam, Horniman Museum, London view films Snippets from his Smithsonian Folkways recordings. listen Link to his field Recordings at the British Library listen Tons of other great material on his website have a lookCarl Clements - article - John Coltrane and the Integration of Indian Concepts in Jazz Improvisation
Carl is a visiting professor, music, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. Thanks to Tony Whyton at the Jazz Research Journal who originally published the article. go to article
Naresh Fernandes – Indian Jazz
Naresh is a journalist and author of Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age. His website explores a wide range of jazz and music issues, while the book is a revelation - offering a new perspective on a music we all thought we knew. interview on Afropop radio show info on the book websiteFinding Carlton - Jazz in India Film
Fascinating film by Susheel J. Kurien on the history of jazz in India. info on the film see the trailerAfropop Worldwide, USA – Syndicated Radio Program website focus on the music of India
Afropop + ARC have been longtime mutual supporters. This year they offer some unique items with a focus on the Indian-African cultural mix. The highlight is an entire program : African Sounds of the Indian Subcontinent. radio program article Sri Lankas Afro-Portuguese pop Fernandes Indian jazz radio interviewTurbans
The turban is said to have been introduced by Sir Sayyid Ahmad, the Indian born Mohammedan educator and reformer, into India in the nineteenth century, and in America during the Rock & Roll era. Here are few of our own, enamored by the tulip-like folds of this iconic headgear.
Why not join Chuck Willis, the King of the Stroll, and visit our homage to the rockin' turban.
Dr. Brian Q. Silver, USA – essay: Moral Conduct and Authority: The Place of Adab in South Asian Islam
Brian is our DC connection for India Music Week. This is a paper he wrote for The University of California Press, 1984. read hereEssays - Eljay Arem
Two essays by Indian sound enthusiast and radio host, Eljay Arem, exploring Indian/Eruopean electronic musical crosfertilizations. read Ladies spinning (the turn tables)–Women in Indian Electronic Music. read Indian Electronic Music on the European ContinentStory of Sruti: A Leading Magazine Devoted to Indian Performing Arts by Shuchita Rao
An overview on the history of the leading South Asian cultural magazine. read hereTHIS is the END
Record Companies + Collectors - Please Donate Your Indian Recordings!
Help build a permanent Asian Indian music library here in New York
The ARChive of Contemporary Music, 54 White St. NY NY 10013 USA, tel: (212) 226-6967, e-mail: info@arcmusic.org
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