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Post by Matt on Sept 10, 2013 11:00:49 GMT
That was absolutely fantastic, I would certainly see it again given the opportunity! It really was a flawless blend of the two musical styles, and it was especially interesting seeing the brilliant playing of the tabla and Indian slide by Gurdain Rayatt and Manish Pingle. Both played lightning fast, and it was particularly impressive seeing Manish Pingle's fast runs of melody played (I think) only with up picks with his right hand, which made for some very fast movement.
Definitely worthy of an album!
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 10, 2013 13:48:17 GMT
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Post by pascal on Sept 10, 2013 17:51:11 GMT
Many Mahalo Michael This is COOL ! Seems it was a great night yesterday. (I heard from my "little finger" that you're a legend now....)
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 10, 2013 18:28:28 GMT
Many Merci Beaucoup Pascal, it was VERY COOL INDEED! ..... but this evening I am not a legend, I am the cook!
Shine On
Michael
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Post by Ian McWee on Sept 11, 2013 21:17:23 GMT
Hi Gang! I drove down from the West Midlands to catch this show because I knew it was going to be something special ~ it was much better than that! The musicianship of the three involved (Michael, Manish & Gurdain) was breathtaking ~ and considering there was only time for three days rehearsals (and for Gurdain - a couple of hours!) the show flowed perfectly - the first of three sections involving the trio of Michael, Manish & Gurdain being an 'East meets West' melting-pot of Blues & Indian Slide guitar with Tabla eased the audience into the 'mix'. The middle section of traditional Indian classical music (Manish & Gurdain) was astonishing!! To get back home I had to miss the last, third section of the evening involving the three musicians ~ i'm told it blew the roof off  Monday evening's show must be considered the 'tip of the iceberg' for more collaborations with Michael, Manish & Gurdain...future shows (and hopefully recordings?) will certainly be un-missable for me!! Thanks for an incredible evening Michael  Slide On! Ian. |
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 12, 2013 8:08:18 GMT
Thanks Ian. I am pleased you enjoyed the music. It was great that you were there and that you had a chance to play Manish's Mohan Veena. I like playing the Steel Guitar Rag on it, which I have re-named...Mohan Veena Raag.... Shine On Michael |
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 12, 2013 22:59:23 GMT
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 13, 2013 11:08:04 GMT
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Post by shapemod on Oct 24, 2013 20:00:17 GMT
Great stuff Michael, congratulations to this event. Manish seems to have a very unique right hand picking technique. Can you tell us more abut it?
cheers
Sebastian
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 25, 2013 11:43:13 GMT
Hi Sebastian,
Thank you! It was a great thing to do and I am currently waiting to see the edited DVD of the concert.
Manish's right hand technique is fantastic. His speed and accuracy with both hands is beautiful. The left hand picking technique is closer to a sarod technique than it is to a guitar. For the very fast picking the thumb and first finger work as one - the thumb picks down and the finger picks up strokes. This is made easier than on a regular guitar by the string spacing on the Mohan Veena. The little finger is always anchored on the body.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by twang1 on Nov 23, 2013 14:16:07 GMT
Michael, I'm very curious about this concert, and I look forward to the dvd. I didn't know Manish Pingle but I knew the great playin' of Gurdain Rayatt. I love his playing very much (I believe he's a disciple of the great Shankar Gosh) and jamming with him must have been fantastic!
Melody speaking what raga have you explored? And has it been difficult to adapt to each other?
Frank
I have a duo project with an indian tabla player (slide guitar and tabla) and we sometimes play out and I find it very rewarding yet difficult. Tabla can be very trick to play along since there isn't a strong supporting backbeat but a different rhythm approach often full of polyrhythms and crossrhythms. But I love it!
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 23, 2013 15:10:19 GMT
Hi Frank,
It was an absolute pleasure to play with Gurdain Rayatt. He is a wonderful tabla player and hopefully with the release of the DVD/CD, we will be able to do more concerts together.
Manish and I didn't find it difficult to fit in with each other at all. We established that much when we first met and jammed together in India earlier this year. We did play some ragas together at home which I love doing, especially with such a great musician, but the whole point of the project was for Manish and me to play blues together. We did play one Indian-style instrumental piece together at the concert, which was very loosely based around Raga Bhupali, but the rest of the set was the three of us playing blues together. In addition to our blues set, Manish & Gurdain played a 40 minute set consisting of two Hindustani ragas, which will be on the DVD.
Tabla can be difficult for Westerners, that is absolutely right, but Gurdain just felt the music and knew exactly what to play. Manish and I spent a few days together to rehearse and get to know each other's playing. Gurdain came to my house and we rehearsed for a couple of hours as a trio, just enough so we all knew the songs. We didn't want to overwork the rehearsal and take the spontaneity out of the concert.
I can't wait to get out there and do it again!
Shine On
Michael
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Post by twang1 on Nov 25, 2013 20:37:24 GMT
It's very interesting to hear how a western musician relate with an indian musician. And it would be interesting to know how Manish got along with the blues. Was modal one chord material or did he have problems with a 12 bar progression? I know I should be waiting for the dvd but having these kind of info first hand from you is so nice!
Frank
P.S. I don't want to spam this thread, but if you go to youtube and digit "Calcutta Connection" you'll see what we do. We also tried to tape a recent concert but we had some trouble with the recording in spite of the good technician and gear.
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 25, 2013 23:30:26 GMT
Hi Frank,
I think that Manish and I are able to play together because we enjoy each other's company and each other's playing.
Manish was familiar with some Blues music before we met, but not the type of Blues that I play, so it wasn't totally alien to him. Although I do not consider that I can play Indian music, I have been listening to Hindustani slide guitar for around 30 years and it has influenced my playing, so there was some common ground there when we met. It was actually Gurdain who had less knowledge of the type of music I play, but he just 'got it' as soon as we started playing. We played some one chord Blues songs, also some three chord songs, but none of them are 12 bar Blues. I guess that you really do have to hear the album/DVD to fully answer your question.
I watched two of your Calcutta Connections videos. You and Dilip are playing some great music together. Keep doing it, it's very cool! You should post some of your videos on the Music Row section of this forum, as I am sure people would like to hear what you are doing.
Shine On
Michael
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