Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Shivkumar Sharma, an Indian santoor player from Jammu and Kashmir. Hat-tip Arushi Jain’s NTS show. Born in 1938, Sharma studied with his father, a tabla player, and adapted classical Indian pieces to the santoor. Sharma passed away May of last year. In its memoriam, the New York Times wrote:

The santoor, a trapezoidal wooden instrument whose strings stretch over 25 wooden bridges, is played with slim wooden mallets. On the santoor, in contrast with the sitar, sarod or sarangi — the string instruments traditionally used in Hindustani classical music — it is difficult to sustain notes and perform the meends, or glides from one note to another, which are essential to the Hindustani musical tradition. That might be one reason it took Mr. Sharma so many years to be recognized for his artistry.

Today we’re playing two transfixing Sharma albums: Pandit Shivkumar Sharma-Selection-Santoor from 2001 and Yugal Bundi from 1974.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma-Selection-Santoor - Shivkumar Sharma (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Yugal Bundi - Shivkumar Sharma et al. (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Have a great Thursday.