sarode

Mike SvobodaAt first this seemed like somewhat of a hollow proposition, but as the piece went on it grew progressively more hypnotic and seductive as it developed extended solo and duet combinations between Svoboda and Vicki Ray on the prepared piano, Aashish Khan on the sarode, Rachel Rudich on the shakuhachi, Vinny Golia on the contrabass flute and Swapan Chaudhuri on the tabla.

I, trombonist 2007

Mike SvobodaAt first this seemed like somewhat of a hollow proposition, but as the piece went on it grew progressively more hypnotic and seductive as it developed extended solo and duet combinations between Svoboda and Vicki Ray on the prepared piano, Aashish Khan on the sarode, Rachel Rudich on the shakuhachi, Vinny Golia on the contrabass flute and Swapan Chaudhuri on the tabla.

Archive 2007-11-01 2007

With a goatskin head and a brass bell for amplification, the sarode bears similarities to a few instruments more familiar to Western ears.

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

Mellars' film focuses on Alam's relationship with his father, the legendary sarode player Ali Akbar Khan, and explores the challenges he faces in trying to keep Indian classical music alive while staring down the barrel of the 21st century.

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

Most people associate Indian classical music with the sitar, a cousin of the sarode popularized in the West by Ravi Shankar and made famous on '60s pop songs like the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black."

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

But what I really want to achieve is to get more familiarity with the sarode.

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

Ali Akbar, who'd been forced by his father to practice up to 18 hours a day while growing up in the sleepy central Indian town Maihar, never coerced Alam into playing the sarode.

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

Describing the sarode, Alam says, "It's a 25-stringed, fretless instrument played on the fingertips and the nails of three fingers on your left hand."

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

But, unlike those rustic instruments, the sarode - with its expressive resonance and rich overtones - has a heft to it.

SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Spe datebookletters@sfchronicle.com (David Wagner 2011

Elder brother Aashish, an accomplished sarode player in his own right, was also on hand.

unknown title 2009