Live all around

Baba Allauddin Khan with Ali Akbar Khan (on his right) and Nikhil Banerjee (on his left) Ali Akbar Khan - SarodRaga Hemantindian architextureRam Narayan - SarangiMishra PilooLive at BBC 1979Nikhil Banerjee - SitarAnindo Chatterjee - TablaRatan Mukherjee - TanpuraRaga MalgunjiRaga 217 - Live at Munich 1980Concert at America House, Munich, November 26 1980, organized and recorded by Sunil Banerjee. Special thanks to Subrata Chowdhury. Produced by John Wilton.Malgunji has many elements of Rageshri, Bageshri and a few subtle touches of Jaijaiwanti. It is popularly described as being a combination of Rageshri (in the ascent) and Bageshri ( in the descent). Any raag, however, defies such facile descriptions which should be taken as simple mnemonic devices which help to evoke the general atmosphere of the raag. Rageshri is definitely a dominant feature of Malgunji (especially as played by Mr. Banerjee), and Bageshri exists by virtue of the elusive Pancham and the gentle pathos of the komal Gandhar (flat third). Scalar pitch material: D. n. S G m D N S., S. n D P m G - m g R S.Characteristic movements: G m g R S, D. - n. S R G - m.The raag allows for a variation to its usual ascending scale of five notes. This occurs only in the chalan, where the Shuddh Rishab (natural second) has limited ascent to the Madhyam (fourth). It is for this reason that Malgunji is also referred to as a "shadav-sampurna" raag; that is, having six notes in ascent and seven in descent. It is essentially an "audav-sampurna" raag: five and seven.If traditionally Bageshri evokes feelings of separation from the lover, and Rageshri represents reunion, Malgunji depicts the initial realization of the reunion. The feeling is repeatedly reaffirmed, constantly made present, by the ascending thrust of the Rishab (lacking in both Bageshri and Rageshri) and the blissful lingering on the Madhyam - the vadi (dominant) of Malgunji, Rageshri and Bageshri. - John Campana

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