June 12, 2003 at 9 PM
MELA Foundation Dream House
275 Church Street, New York
A Concert of Evening Ragas in the contemporary Kirana Style of North Indian Classical Music will be performed by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela with their raga ensemble Just Alap, in a memorial tribute to Pandit Pran Nath on Thursday, June 12, at 9 pm in the MELA Foundation Dream House light environment, 275 Church Street, 3rd Floor.
With the Just Alap ensemble, La Monte Young applies his own compositional approach to traditional raga performance, form and technique: a pranam (bow) of gratitude in reciprocation for the influence on his music since the mid-fifties, of the unique, slow, unmetered timeless alapand one of the most ancient and evolved vocal traditions extant today. Featuring extended alap sections and sustained vocal drones in just intonation over tamburas, Young and Zazeela premiered this ensemble on August 22, 2002 at a memorial concert in honor of sarangi master Ustad Hafizullah Khan Sahib, the Khalifa of the Kirana Gharana and son of Pandit Pran Nath’s teacher, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan Sahib. Pandit Pran Nath has said, “Alap is the essence of Raga. When the drut [faster tempo] begins, the Raga is finished.”
La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela will be accompanied by Jung Hee Choi, voice, Rose Okada, sarangi, Tzara Vierck, tabla, and The Tamburas of Pandit Pran Nath from the Just Dreams CD, JD001. The program will include compositions by Pandit Pran Nath in Raga Yaman Kalyan, and also by Young in Raga Sindh Bhairavi.
The Just Alap Raga Ensemble
La Monte Young · voice
Marian Zazeela · voice
Jung Hee Choi · voice
Rose Okada · sarangi
Tzara · tabla
The Tamburas of Pandit Pran Nath from the Just Dreams CD