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Kala Ramnath | Ganesh Iyer | Raga Dharmavati Madhuvanti | Gat Ek Taal

2,038 views · Published 11 February 2018 · 12:15 · Indexed 12 November 2026

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A rare collaborative project between two great violinists exploring the richness of raga and tala lying at the heart of both the Hindustani music of the North Indian sub-continent and the Carnatic music of the South with fantastic percussive accompaniment.

Kala Ramnath - Violin
Ganesh Iyer - Violin
Vijay Ghate - Tabla
Patri Satish Kumar - Mridangam
Tracks
Raga Dharmavati/Madhuvanti - Raga Mela (Garland of Ragas)
Alap - 00:00
Gat Ektaal - 02:57

Recorded at Virtual Studios, Sanjaya, Gujarat (India)
Executive Producer - Alpesh Patel
Produced, Mixed and Mastered in the U.K by - Derek Roberts 
Assistant Engineer - Krishna Shirgaonkar
VFX By -  Varun Creations | Vijay Dave
Photography - Deko
Thanks to - The team at Virtual Studios, Kanti Dattani and Verity Sharp (BBC Radio 3 /  Late Junction) for inspired radio.

With the richness of raga and tala lying at the heart of both the Hindustani music of the North Indian sub-continent and the Carnatic music of the South, it is surprising that collaborative projects involving musicians from these two distinct, but related styles have been largely an area of unexplored territory to date.
North Indian musician Kala Ramnath and South Indian Ganesh Iyer are at the forefront of a new generation of talented instrumentalists looking to broaden their musical horizons by happily exploring the treasures of each other's traditions.
As Violinists, they play one of the few instruments widely used in both the North and South parts of India, but as this recording demonstrates, there is a rare lyricism and an emotional depth in their music that transcends musical borders.
Kala Ramnath has gained worldwide acclaim for her ability to make the violin 'sing'. Her breathtaking performances have served to boost the status of violin to new levels in Indian music. Up until recent times, the violin was more commonly a feature of South Indian Music recitals, mostly employed as an accompaniment to vocalists. Through Kala's efforts, solo violin has now become a welcome feature of all the major North Indian music festivals, including the thirteen-day Saptak Festival in Ahmedabad, where she has become a regular favourite. Over the span of her career, Kala has successfully developed a distinctive playing style of her own, embracing the essence of vocal music (gayaki) by capturing all the depth and emotion of the human voice.
Her musical finesse has led to Hollywood knocking on her door, with Kala's violin appearing on Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar nominated "Blood Diamond".
Born in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Ganesh Iyer had already played more than 100 stage concerts with his younger brother Kumaresh before reaching his teens. 
Together they became the youngest violinists to receive A grade status awarded by All India Radio, receiving glowing accolades from reviewers and critics along the way. Ganesh quickly grew a reputation for powerful, precise displays of virtuosity on the violin.
Vijay Ghate is one of the most outstanding tabla players in the modern era of North Indian music. As an eminent disciple of renowned educator Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, he is equally comfortable as a soloist as well as an accompanist to instrumentalists, vocalists. 
Patri Satish Kumar is one of the most popular Mridangam accompanists on the circuit. His gurus are some of the great mridangam players of the modern era including Andhra, Sri Ramachandramurthy, V.A.Swami and V.Narasimhan. 
THE MUSIC
Ahir Bhairav is a morning raga (raag) of the North Indian tradition emanating a profound spiritual depth. Chakra Vaham is the South Indian equivalent raga with the same tonal make up. North Indian ragas tend to place emphasis on specific notes, with Vadi and Samvadi swaras heading a hierarchy of notes, defining the melodic personality of raga. To the backdrop of the tanpura drone, Kala and Ganesh begin with the introductory Alap, improvising around melodic phrases elegantly capturing the essence of the raga, starting in the lower register and gradually ascending into the higher octave. In the Carnatic tradition the alapana serves to give a hint of the impending composition. This part of the recital is free from any rhythmic pulse.

The composition, or Pallavi is set to a cycle of 8 beats on the mridangam which is translated onto the tabla as the sixteen beat rhythmic cycle called teentaal. During the composition, Kala improvises to the accompaniment of the North Indian tabla played by Vijay Ghate, while Ganesh is accompanied by Patri Satish Kumar on the South Indian barrel-shaped mridangam.
Notes: John Ball

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Please watch: "Mantra From The Heart | Ajoy Chakrabarty | Surya" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AGOsmgULe0
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