by Bret Love
A member of one of Indian classical music's most prominent, well-respected families, Ustad Imrat Khan plays the sitar in a style known as &gayeki ang,& which is a vocal style of playing stringed instruments. Relying less on the droning tamboura than is common for most North Indian solo instrumentalists, Khan allows his evocative, expressive style to stand out, using dynamic melodies and ample space between notes to create a wonderful sense of dramatic tension. The 30-minute opening segment allows the virtuoso to display his mesmerizing sitar skills, while the second half of the raga finds him joined by his son, Shafaatullah Khan, on tabla. Rendered with surprising depth and skill, this is a wonderful example of meditative minimalism at its finest.