Ustad Bismillah Khan’s ‘Evening Raga’ is an album of lovely melodies and optimism

You never know how to approach this music unless you know its intricacies- that’s an oft repeated refrain about classical music, applicable both to the western and eastern traditions of the form. While that’s certainly bound to be true to some extent, a lack of critical knowledge never stops millions from around the world to enjoy these forms either.
Music, after all, is more a matter of the heart than the intellect, isn’t that so?
In India, there are two predominant classical music forms- Hidustani and Carnatic. Both these share certain similarities- principal of which is the reliance on distinct raagas or melodic frameworks that had been developed over the generations, which the musicians use in their performances.
These frameworks, while giving the performances a certain sense of familiarity, also come with the space for the vocalist or instrumentalist to improvise — following the musician as s/he departs from one part of the framework and sojourns to the next could yield thrilling- and often unexpected- listening pleasures.
Ustad Bismillah Khan- a proponent of the musical instrument, shehnai in the Hindustani tradition is a master in leading you down sonic pathways woven with intricate playing of the wind instrument that’s incredibly technical and at the same time sounds like the easiest thing in the world.
Such virtuosity is why he was bestowed with the honorific ‘Ustad’- maestro.
To choose one album or performance as the best from the portfolio of this artist who passed away in 2006 at the age of 90 is nigh impossible. So, if you are new to him, indulge yourself to each and every note the maestro has played that you could find.
As a starting point, maybe you could use the album, Evening Raga.
Featuring four tracks, each based on one distinct raga that’s suitable for the evening when the birds flock homewards even as the sky turns a deep, seductive blue, the album is an entryway into a state of mind in which you feel at ease and optimistic at the same time.
I’ve a reason for mentioning that latter word- optimistic.
I rarely associate evenings with optimism. Evenings could be dark both literally and figuratively.
Not that you may be sad per se, but it’s hard to imagine one being optimistic about the future during the even-time as one is during the dawn of day.
Even if the optimism is derived from something that happened, or which you did during dusk, the full force of the optimism rings inside the head only during the daytime.
The magic of Bismillah Khan’s album is that it puts you in that optimistic frame of mind even when the day darkens.
My neighborhood generates more noise of traffic than sound of birds flocking, and the atmosphere is often thick with motor soot which renders a good view of the sky impossible. In other words, dusk is not a time you feel upbeat or relaxed if you are living in my neighborhood.
Which probably makes Khan’s elegant album an invaluable asset for me. I have a feeling it’ll be the same for you as well.

