Album: Gopal Krishan, Drupad - Khyal (Ocora)

Ocora grinds slow - this was recorded in 1996 - but its championing of the rare, unfretted vichitraveena zither makes a marvellous contribution to our aural library; pitch is determined by a glass ball which operates as on a slide guitar. Its sound is majestically deep andresonant, and in Krishan's hands, supported by the dreamy sound of tabla and tempura, it creates a world of mesmerising beauty. Dhrupad is a sacred art, and khyal - "imagination"- denotes the improvisatory mode which grew out of the codified ragamodes.