Lakshmi Shankar - 'Dancing in the Light'

I listened to Dancing in the Light twice before I read the liner notes, and it was only then that I realized that it's a live recording of one of Lakshmi Shankar's recitals. Generally, I don't much like live recordings, but when it comes to classical Indian music, I often prefer them, as long as the recording is well-made. That's because classical Indian music is based on improvisation, and the best musicians do their best work when an audience is present.

Lakshmi Shankar is a shining example of someone whose love for her music and her listeners only become truly evident when those listeners are present. Shankar is a proud octogenarian, who has been performing Hindustani classical music since the 1930s, first as a dancer and then as a singer. Somehow, she's maintained her almost girlish, youthful voice, despite her age, but when she sings about love (which is definitely the theme of this CD), there's a decided sense of wisdom present.

Dancing in the Light opens with a 32-minute long khyal, a heavily improvised vocal piece, called "Raga Purya Dhanashree." It's intense, broken into two segments, one faster and one slower. There's something almost jazzy about Shankar's improvisation here, and the way she interchanges her voice between melodic lines and rhythmic chanting. The next song is a thumri, a love song... though it's not a particularly happy one; it focuses on the sadness of separation. Tracks 3 and 4 are both devotional songs called bhajan, and they are both attributed Mira Bai, an Indian poetess, mystic, and saint, and deal with love for and devotion to Krishna. The CD ends with a final thumri, another love song, which is surprisingly upbeat.

If you don't like Hindustani classical music, this is not the place to start. It's heavily improvisational, composed on the spot in ragas and tals that are going to sound completely odd to most Western ears. For a seasoned listener, though, Shankar's warm and eloquent voice and deft improvisation leaves each song sounding like a new creation, even though many of them are built on centuries-old bases.

'Dancing in the Light' was released in August of 2008 on World Village Records.