Janos Gereben writes:

>Vilayat Khan also spoke about fusion - he's been a frequent
>participant in such concerts, including Ravi Shankar (Mr. Fusion).
>Such works and performances could be good or bad, he said, but
>personally, he prefers to stay "within the box" - not stagnant and
>pedantically traditional, but developing his playing from tradition
>as a living, personal style.

Vilayat Khan's innovations in the Hindustani tradition can be heard most
singularly in his recording of Sanjh Saravali on India Archive 1040.  Both
the raga and the style of exposition are his own.  In the same series, he
recorded another of his own ragas, Enayetkhani Kanada (India Archive 1045),
although in many ways this is a more traditional presentation.

While those listeners not familiar with the details of Hindustani music
might be hard-pressed to know what is innovatory and what isn't, these
recordings do come with some of the best liner notes to be written thus
far for Indian music.  While most Indian recordings either include no
information, or New Age/moron-oriented babbling, my friend Deepak Raja
(student of Vilayat Khan) has written some truly useful analysis for this
series.

Todd McComb
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