> I think you should check out Talvin Singh's "Anokah: Soundz of the Asian
> Underground" (mentioned in the review posted by Kevin) or Singh's earlier
> album "OK" if you are just getting started in this genre.
"Ha" is great as well, but not available in the US except as an import.
> There are also some early nineties remixes of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali
> Khan's work by Realworld Records that are still worth looking into, if you
> really wanna go old school.
Nusrat is Qawalli folk music, not really Indian classical, no? Regardless he was fantastic. Shahen Shah on Realworld is good, but some of the later ones got a little corny with the cheesey techno fusion. YMMV but I don't think it works well, unlike Singh's stuff which is great. The Final Studio Recordings on American Records is good Nusrat.
As for Indian Classical...
I have some wonderful stuff from Nimbus Records. Nishat Khan, Irshad Khan, and Shafaatullah Khan. Anything with Ustad Alla Rahka on tabla is probably good.
Joanna, I recommend that if you are really interested in Indian Classical Music to try and find someone to give you some basic lessons on an instrument, especially if you play a western instrument. Like jazz, Indian classical music is highly improvised. But finding the Tal (meter) in a raga is essential to be able to hear when the improvised passages begin and end [I may be biased as I'm a drummer who also plays tabla], which is integral to appreciate the music.
Zakir Hussain plays on some classical recordings as well as some world-music/jazz fusion. Since we've danced about wrt the topic of Indian classical music I must of course recommend Shakti, the John McLaughin and Zakir Hussain acoustic jazz+Indian music group. I was too young for Shakti's first incarnation in the 70s but was privileged to see them a couple of years ago. There is something otherworldy about the way McLaughlin and Hussain play together, almost as if there's some kind of psychic connection. It was like Coltrane and Elvin Jones.
Matt
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