Various Artists – Nine Decades Vol. 5: Ravi Shankar’s Ghanashyam – A Broken Branch (East Meets West Music, 2017)
Ghanashyam – A Broken Branch is a fascinating folk musical theater piece by the great musician and composer Ravi Shankar. It was commissioned by the Birmingham Touring Opera Company.
The original album was released in 1994 as a 60-minute CD that left out part of Shankar’s full composition. This new edition includes the musical work in its entirety, with an additional 20 minutes.
Using a fabulous orchestra of Indian classical and traditional instruments conducted by Ashit Desai, Ravi Shankar wanted to bring attention to drug abuse among youth.
The album contain 18 tracks, ranging from short musical vignettes to lengthier pieces. Ghanashyam – A Broken Branch features a wide range of Indian musical instruments, ranging from the sitar, sarod and veena to various percussion instruments. Even though there is some synthesizer work, most of the album showcases remarkable acoustic instruments and vocal work that brilliantly incorporates Indian and Western elements.
Ashit Desai on vocals; Hema Desai on vocals; Haimanti Sukla on vocals; D. Kannan on mridangam; Harminder Soni on violin; Fateh Singh Gangani on tabla; Vikram Patil on tabla and bolak; Ramesh Misra on sarangi; Parthosarthy Chaudhury on sarod; Shubhendra Rao on Sitar; Kailash Sharma on flute; Aloke Nath Dey on flute; Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on guitar; Daya Shankar on shenai; Raju on synthesizer; Prashanta Bagchi on synthesizer. Padant (Katthok): Maulik Shah, Ishira Shah. Padant (Bharatnatyam): V.P. Dhananjayan.
Ghanashyam – A Broken Branch is an outstanding original work by the late Ravi Shankar that illustrates the versatility of ancient Indian musical instruments in a contemporary context.
Buy Nine Decades Vol. 5: Ravi Shankar’s Ghanashyam – A Broken Branch
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
