Word: ragas
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...mystical way to understand the universe's infiniteness. The vogis assigned each raga (a musical composition based on a scale) to a time of day, year and mood. To many Western listeners, the music seems monotonous because its patterns and melodies change so subtly. Unlike Western music, the purpose is to express one constant mood...
During his lecture demonstration at South House Friday, Khan's discomfort was evident. After playing a 40-minute raga, he looked around the room like a bewildered child, at a loss for words, waiting for someone to relieve him quickly and take him off the stage. At a reception held for him after the concert, he exhibited the same social awkwardness, huddling in a corner of the couch, silent except when spoken to. Unlike Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, who thrive on these liquor-dominated social events, Khan seemed embarrassed...
Still, it works. In the end the cabaret style that causes Swados so much difficulty also saves her. The weak points fade into the blackouts, while the mood keeps building with each successive piece. The music--calypso, raga, and jazz tunes especially--dull the overly critical senses with their inebriating optimism. You have to smile after Nightclub Cantata. You have a stringer full of speckled trout on a sunny day. Who cares about the big one that got away...
...problems. Santana himself, pressured by sudden stardom was "watching the band decay on the wrong energy flow...what I was really seeking was illumination not satisfaction." Santana went to Sri Chinmoy, the Ceylonese guru who'd helped John McLaughlin. McLaughlin, whose rock-jazz had been increasingly influenced by Indian raga music, had adopted the philosophy of creating his music as an offering to a Supreme Being. Santana took similar steps towards peace and enlightenment--to the point where he wrote "God Himself is the musician." The band became increasingly jazz-oriented after collaboration with Alice Coltrane and Buddy Miles...
...first truly national folk manifestation. Capoeira pervades nearly every aspect of Brazilian life, from pop songs and poetry to sport and even formal receptions for state visitors. It resembles a super-athletic ballet, its deadly blows precisely calculated to miss by inches, and its movements matching the raga-like thrum of the berimbau...