The founders of New York City’s Ragas Live Festival realized they couldn’t have a 24-hour live festival this year. Instead, they decided to live stream the festival, and quickly realized that the internet could break down the barriers of festival logistics. With artists like Terry Riley, Zakir Hussein, Toumani Diabate, Andy Statman, and Betsayda Machado suspended by the pandemic, they saw an opportunity. Ragas Live Festival will take place November 21-22, 2020, from 7:00 pm EST to 7:00 pm EST.
Percussion maestro Zakir Hussain will perform a tabla solo from San Francisco; Toumani Diabate will perform kora from Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Betsayda Machado y Parranda El Clavo will perform in El Clavo, Venezuela; and Terry Riley will be performing raga based improvisations from Japan.
Other highlights include Womanly Voices (of Jodhpur RIFF) performing from the Mehrangarh Fort in the Deserts of Rajasthan; Parvathy Baul singing traditional Baul music from rural West Bengal; Prince Nepali in Kathmandu; Toko Telo the Madagascan supergroup in Madagascar; Grammy award winner Vikku Vanaykram in Chennai, India; and klezmer artist Andy Statman will in Manhattan, New York.
Artists include:
Terry Riley (Himitsu, Japan)
Zakir Hussain (San Francisco, USA)
Toumani Diabate (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire)
Betsayda Machado y Parranda El Clavo (El Clavo, Venezuela)
Brooklyn Raga Massive: In D (Manhattan, NYC, USA)
3G feat T.H. Vikku Vinayakram & Selvaganesh (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Andy Statman (Manhattan, NYC, USA)
Womanly Voices (of Jodhpur RIFF) (Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India)
Alam Khan (Kentfield, CA, USA)
Derek Gripper (Cape Town, South Africa)
Krishna Bhatt (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Amir ElSaffar – Raga Maqam (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Toko Telo (Morondava, Madagascar)
Mysore Nagaraj & Karthik Nagaraj (Mysore, Karnataka, India)
Ali Akbar College of Music Percussion Ensemble (San Rafael, USA)
Dhun Dhora (featuring the Dhol Drummers of Rajasthan) (Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India)
Swapan Chaudhuri (San Rafael, USA)
Parvathy Baul (Kamardanga, West Bengal, India)
Jay Gandhi & Arun Ramamurthy (Manhattan, NYC, USA)
Roopa Mahadevan (Brooklyn, NY)
Prince Nepali (Kathmandu, Nepal)
Flute Shashank (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Anantha Krishnan and Charumathi Raghuram (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Abhik Mukherjee & Samarth Nagarkar (Brooklyn, NYC, USA)
Ask Hafiz (Manhattan, NYC, USA)
Locations:
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
El Clavo, Venezuela
Himitsu, Japan
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Kamardanga, West Bengal, India
Kathmandu, Nepal
Manhattan, NYC, USA
Morondava, Madagascar
Mysore, Karnataka, India
San Francisco, USA
San Rafael, USA
Cape Town, South Africa
More at Ragas Live
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central