My thanks to Anad Records for their latest album release in the World Music Heritage Series, ‘Dhrupadi Rabab’. For those of us who have heard and read all of our lives that Bhai Mardana accompanied Guru Nanak on a rabab, it is very satisfying to finally be introduced to the honored instrument – and its first ever recording. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Somjit Dasgupta for his dedication in keeping this instrument –and others from our musical tradition, and his remarkable instrument collection- alive and singing.

I’m most enchanted by the resonance of the dhrupadi rabab. To hear the voice of the instrument dive as it sustains its ring throughout a meend (sliding from one note to another) touches a primal chord in my being. Because the rabab is featured as a solo instrument in this recording, Somjit Dasgupta illustrates a wide range of its possibilities…including rhythmic stroke work wonderfully accompanied on the pakhawaj by the feathery touch of Mohan Shyam Sharma.

This recording leaves me wanting more…specifically, I long to hear the dhrupadi rabab accompanying singing of the original compositions of Guru Nanak.

Harbhajan Kaur Khalsa,
Millis, MA USA