The following links
are to articles I have written that appear online (on this website
as well as external sites):
- HISTORY
OF THE LUCKNOW TABLA TRADITION
I began studying tabla with Manikrao Popatkar
in England in the 1970s, but late in 1980 I first
traveled to Lucknow to conduct anthropological and
musicological fieldwork for my Ph.D. During the 1980s
I had the good fortune to be accepted as a disiciple
of Ustad Afaq Hussain Khan, the doyen of the Lucknow tabla
gharana and a man widely acknowledged to possess
incomparable knowledge and technique. This article
presents a brief summary of the history of the
Lucknow tabla
gharana.
It also contains some audio and video samples. Further details
on the Lucknow tradition can be found in my book, The
Tabla of Lucknow (pages 69 to 81).
- TOWARDS
A NOTATION SYSTEM FOR INDIAN DRUMMING
There is no standardized notational system for Indian drumming,
despite the fact that efforts by Indian scholars and musicians
began back in the late 19th century. I first began to experiment
with notational symbols for Indian drumming after an encounter
with the Swiss tabla player Juerg Wueterich in Calcutta in
1981. I continued to develop my system, and the one I currently
use can be found in my recent work (see publications).
- SOME THOUGHTS
ON A FAMOUS GANESH PARAN
It
is unclear whether the recitation of bol parans (parans made
from real words, usually a shlok with devotional
content) is an ancient practice or a modern one made to
seem old. One in particular has become very popular, and
is discussed here.
- NATTHU
KHAN AND THE DELHI PEHSKAR
Natthu
Khan (1875-1940) was a pioneering tabla player
of the Delhi gharana, and was probably responsible
for popularizing peshkar and the qaida.
Yet in the only recording we have of him playing peshkar,
there are several surprises. I include here my transcription
of this peshkar, as well as the recording.
- GENERALOGICAL
MUSINGS: A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE DELHI TABLA GHARANA
During
my fieldwork in the 1980s I collected genealogical information
from Inam Ali Khan (1924-90), the khalifa of the
Delhi tabla gharana. The family tree and its curiosities
are discussed here.
- FOLK GROOVES
AND TABLA TALS
This
paper, first delivered at the 2000 conference of the Society
for Ethnomusicology and published in UCLA's online journal
ECHO, explores the folk roots of many common tabla
tals, and concludes that there are important socio-musical
reasons for differences in the metric logics of pakhavaj and tabla
tal structures. The article includes several audio
and video samples. (However, some of the links may now
no longer work.)
- A LA RECHERCHE
DU TEMPS MUSICAL
An
article in the French journal Temporalistes discussing
the nature of musical time as found in different traditions,
with particular discussion of Hindustani music.
- LUCKNOW
KATHAK DANCE
An
article written jointly with Andréine Bel and based
on interviews with the doyen of the Lucknow kathak
gharana, Birju Maharaj.
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