Bay Area Performing Arts (BAPA) presents Shivkumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain
Herbst Theatre,
Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
7 PM, Sunday, May 20, 2001

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2001 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2001 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:11 PM, lights down, announcements & band introduction by Praba Ghopal; lengthy bit of tuning]

1. [7:22 PM] Alap
   [pause for applause and tuning]
2. [7:45 PM] Gat in Jhaptal (10 beats, divided 2-3-2-3)
3. [8:m PM] Gat in Ektal (12 beats, divided 4-4-2-2)
   [set ends ~8:41 PM]

[9:00 PM, lights down, more announcements by Praba Ghopal; lots more tuning]

1. [9:14 PM] Alap
2. [9:27 PM] Gat
3. [10:m PM] Gat
   [set ends ~10:29 PM after thanks and applause]

• Zakir Hussain: tabla;
• Shivkumar Sharma: santoor.

Whiners might complain about the length of time devoted to tuning (at least 20 minutes), but as the full performance was nearly three hours, I’m inclined to offer a pass on that one. Furthermore, considering that the santoor has 72 strings, that’s a lot of tuning to deal with!

In retrospect, my main regret is not opting to pay more to sit closer to the stage: from my seat midway back in the hall, it was kinda hard to hear Sharma’s introductions. I’m reasonably certain that I haven’t identified the second set correctly: the notes I scribbled on the program from that night read something like “Rag mumble mumble Malaka Garland” – hardly a definitive record of the introduction, but that's the best I can offer for now!

Nonetheless, this show reaffirmed my interest in the music of these two maestros: their ability to spin melody and rhythm into a spell-binding blend that washes away all cares of the day into a swirling vortex of timeless now is a skill that demands my attention. I regret that I’m only able to experience such transportation every now and then!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2001 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2001 event list! ☸ On to the next event!