I'll recommend these artists. First among many who I love is the master of the sarod, Buddhadev Das Gupta. His improvisational ability is unparalleled. He builds his ragas with emotionally charged energy that is amazing. His Nimbus recordings are great, but I've never heard a bad one. I've got every one of his cd's that are listed with pictures on the first page of the Amazon.com listing for him and they all are great.
I really like the Sarod. Tejendra Naranyan Majumdar is also a great ambassador for the instrument. His Raga Hem Behag on the India Archive Label is a good one. In fact, every disc I've bought on that label is great.
Another fine artist is Shiv Kumar Sharma, a virtuoso player of the Indian hammered dulcimer (Santoor.) His evening raga Janasammohini on the Realworld label is a great place to start.
For something a bit less common, the Vina player Chiiti Babu's "The Art of the Vina" on the Seven Seas label is excellent. This one always amazes me with it's bluesy feeling. This one is out of print, but Amazon has more.
I had the pleasure of seeing Budhaditya Mukherjee live on my birthday ten years ago and that was the most incendiary live concert I've ever seen in any musical genre. His performance was if you combined Stevie Ray Vaughn's power with Jascha Heifitz's precision and technical prowess. Again, Nimbus records is a good label for him, see Amazon.com.
The bottom line is that you are not likely to find ANY recordings by an Indian classical artist that a subpar musically. The master/student system functions so rigorously that I don't think it's possible for any one to make to the recording studio that doesn't measure up to the high standards generations of prior musicians laid down. At least that's the way master musicians visiting our university's music department have presented their system of artist development.
I really like the Sarod. Tejendra Naranyan Majumdar is also a great ambassador for the instrument. His Raga Hem Behag on the India Archive Label is a good one. In fact, every disc I've bought on that label is great.
Another fine artist is Shiv Kumar Sharma, a virtuoso player of the Indian hammered dulcimer (Santoor.) His evening raga Janasammohini on the Realworld label is a great place to start.
For something a bit less common, the Vina player Chiiti Babu's "The Art of the Vina" on the Seven Seas label is excellent. This one always amazes me with it's bluesy feeling. This one is out of print, but Amazon has more.
I had the pleasure of seeing Budhaditya Mukherjee live on my birthday ten years ago and that was the most incendiary live concert I've ever seen in any musical genre. His performance was if you combined Stevie Ray Vaughn's power with Jascha Heifitz's precision and technical prowess. Again, Nimbus records is a good label for him, see Amazon.com.
The bottom line is that you are not likely to find ANY recordings by an Indian classical artist that a subpar musically. The master/student system functions so rigorously that I don't think it's possible for any one to make to the recording studio that doesn't measure up to the high standards generations of prior musicians laid down. At least that's the way master musicians visiting our university's music department have presented their system of artist development.