Ocean of Sound Available on CD, © 1999 Eight Gates Music, USA Duration 76:02 K. Sridhar - sarod Anil Datar - tabla Mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro, NC. Engineered by Jesse Olley at Lloyd Street Studios, Carrboro, NC. Design by Synergen, Pittsboro, NC. Preview download "Raga Bilaskhani Todi" 1.1 MB MP3 format 64kps (right click the link above and select "Save Target As...)
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	Raga Bilaskhani Todi was composed as a spontaneous response by a son to the death of his composer father, Tansen.  The mood of this elegant raga is compassion.  It is to be heard in the quiet, early hours of the dawn in loving memory of a dearly beloved.   Composed of Alap, Jod, and Jhala, it has a rising pentatonic scale and falling septatonic scale.  Raga Bairagi continues the early morning mood of contemplation.

	Ocean of Sound, Vol. 2 Available on CD, © 2001 Eight Gates Music, USA Duration 64:53 K. Sridhar - sarod K. Shivakumar - violin Anil Datar - tabla Mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro, NC. Engineered by Jesse Olley at Lloyd Street Studios, Carrboro, NC. Design by Mick Nicholson, Pittsboro, NC. Preview download "Raag Todi" 1.3 MB MP3 format 64kps (right click the link above and select "Save Target As...)
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	Raag Todi, a morning raga, expresses both heroic and devotional moods. It has six notes in the ascent and seven notes in the descent. The Raag begins with Alap, Jod, and Jhala; followed by two compositions set to a rhythmic cycle of sixteen beats known as Teental. 'In the beginning there is the musician, the instrument, and the audience, In the end, all three merge into the Ocean of Sound.' - Sridhar

About our Artists:

K. Sridhar, from very early childhood, was initiated into the Carnatic music tradition by his mother, a descendent of fourteen generations of South Indian Temple musicians including Narasimha Bhagavater of Tanjore. From the age of five Sridhar was the pupil of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, the foremost master of the rudra veena and specialist in the traditionally classical and devotional Dhrupad Dhamar style of the North. At the age of twelve he became the youngest member of Ravi Shankar's orchestral group. At 25 he was granted the honorary title, "Sur Mani" (Sky Jewel) at the famous festival of Kal-Ke-Kalakar in Bombay.

For the past twenty years, Sridhar has performed worldwide including numerous WOMAD festivals. He is also a recording artist for Peter Gabriel's RealWorld Records. The spiritual teaching he received from his Sufi guru gives his music a quality described as 'the kind of music that opens our hearts...with a rare intensity, an exceptional profundity and much virtuosity but without being esoteric.' For further information please visit his website at www.sridhar.org.

K. Shivakumar, whose worship at the shrine of music started when he was six, is a violinist of rare quality. Initiated by his mother in Carnatic vocal music, he also studied violin under the great Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, a master of the Hindustani system. Later he was given advanced Carnatic training by his guru Tiruchi Swamintha Iyer. Such vigorous training has given Shivakumar the unusual ability to perform either North or South Indian ragas. Shivakumar's playing is marked by classicism, clarity, and crispness. His music is resonant, melodious and mature, fully embellished in the traditional way. Winner of many awards, Shivakumar also won the title of "Sur Mani" at the Kal-Ke-Kalakar festival in 1976 and was a staff artist for Ravi Shankar's Kinnara School of Music.

Shivakumar is a highly respected teacher of music in Chembur, Mumbai, as well as a regular broadcaster for All India Radio. He has performed worldwide including Canada, Italy, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and the USA. For further information please visit his website at www.chembur.com/shivakumar.

Anil Datar had his early training from Shri Chandrakant Shirodkar of the Delhi gharana. Presently he is a disciple of the tabla maestro Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, one of India's leading tabla artists. As a young and up-coming tabla player he has had the opportunity to accompany some of India's finest musicians including vocalists Shanti Hiranand and Humayun Khan, santur artist Satish Vyas, and sitarist Irshad Khan.