Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to play in two auditoriums in my life: Carnegie Hall, and Preservation Hall. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to do both.
Last Friday, I made my fourth Carnegie Hall appearance, and it was everything I thought it would be and then some. I was fortunate enough to have some terrific musicians on stage with me, including Max ZT who played the hammered dulcimer beautifully on four of the ragas, J. Brunka on double bass, and the terrific Joe Lastie from Preservation Hall who flew up to be with us just for the show.
I am sending this newsletter in two parts: one, for the raga portion of the show (the first half), and the other, the songbook portion of the show (second half).
Before I started the show, I was giddy, having received some terrific good press from The Jersey Journal.
The house was packed and I was fortunate to have a sold-out show. You would think, my fourth time would be old hat to me, but I had a good set of butterflies in my stomach (this type of tingle is a good omen—-it shows care).
This year, the concert had the most number of people on stage: Max ZT (dulcimer), Joe Lastie (drums), Kobi Arad (soloist on Raga Rag No. 1 ), J. Brunka (bass), and myself for the raga portion alone. Logistics for the win.
(Photo in front of the poster before the show, credit Ana Gibert photo)
Bourbon Street Stroll (raga Hemant), performed for the first time with hammered dulcimer via Max ZT
Raga Rag No. 1 (Bhimpalas/Kirwani), performed with soloist Kobi Arad
Songbook portion (post to come in part 2), with Ri Wolf, Cassandra Kubinski
It was wonderful to hear how well the ragas were received. The program started with Bourbon Street Stroll (Raga Hemant), and the difference between the recorded version and the one we played at Carnegie Hall was the extended alaap (intro) on the hammered dulcimer. In that special hall, glimmering with chandeliers, the dulcet tones of the dulcimer echoed throughout every nook and corner and made the raga simply transcendent. Nearly everyone I spoke to after the show said the same thing.
Then the program shifted to Jackson Square Waltz (Raga Kalyani), and then Charukesi and Bhairavi Blues. Everyone in that auditorium felt that Charukesi was the highlight of the program, and I think we pulled it off exceptionally well that night.
Raga Rag No. 1 went off without a hitch, and a beautiful middle solo part performed by pianist Kobi Arad (we played a game of musical chairs, switching in the middle!).
The raga portion of the evening ended with Raga Kalyani, and Sufi vocalist Umer Piracha stepping onto the stage once again, dazzling everyone with his prowess. I was so pleased with the way everything flowed into each other, and there was phenomenal energy that evening.
Soloist Kobi Arad, a phenomenal pianist, waits to take his turn doing the solo on Raga Rag No. 1
The Weill stage hands know me by now, and everything goes like clockwork here (I need to even get permission to start the show 5 minutes late, it’s supposed to start at 8 p.m. on the dot!).
Luckily, as my music career has grown, so too has my team. I now have a road manager, and a publicist, and an agent. While I do most of the bookings myself, it is wonderful to have a team that helps me to get such massive productions such as this off the ground.
But there is a lot on my shoulders, from picking up the performers at the airport, dropping them off, making sure the drum kit is rented (because Carnegie does not have a house kit….all the instruments need to be brought to the show). It is nothing short of a production (now I know what Barnum and Bailey felt like, producing the “greatest show on earth”—-and I didn’t even have live animals.
Part two in the next substack…stay tuned!