Original Music for Sitar and Piano: A Meeting of East and West
Gargi Shinde, sitar and Lewis Porter, piano
Gargi Shinde has composed a distinctive repertory of pieces for sitarand piano, based on the taal (rhythmic cycles) and ragas (essentiallymodes/scales) of northern India. The pieces presented at this unique concert include quite a bit of improvisation in which the soloists maintain the original Indian modes–not free improvisation in the jazzstyle, but yet something between traditional Indian and jazz improvisation. An event not to be missed!
Gargi Shinde is a sitarist from India, currently based in Manhattan, who uses rhythmic patterns from Indian classical dance and music to bridge the traditions of Indian classical music and jazz. She is a disciple of Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan.
http://www.reverbnation.com/conversationsintaal
Lewis Porter, piano and synthesizer, performed regularly with faculty members of the Ali Akbar Khan School of Indian Music in 1973, works with Badal Roy in the quartet Dharma Jazz, and has performed recently with such artists as Wycliffe Gordon, Ravi Coltrane, Dave Liebman,etc. Dr. Porter is a Professor of Music at Rutgers University in Newark, and is also known worldwide for his teaching and for his publications.
Lewisporter.com.
