Harsh Narayan (sarangi) 2019

6 year old Harsh, learning from his grandfather

I just spent a great week with sarangi maestro Harsh Narayan. Harsh is the grandson of the great sarangi legend Pandit Ram Narayan who basically put the sarangi on the Indian Classical music map. I have a story to tell about this unique musical collaboration.

The very first time I found myself being drawn into classical Indian music was in 1988 while attending a world music class at Naropa University in Boulder Colorado. I remember feeling an upwelling of inspiration upon hearing Pandit Ram Narayan playing the sarangi. It influenced my dreams and drew me into a love affair with Indian music which brought me to the LP recordings of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and ultimately to meeting my Guru, Ustad Zakir Hussain. 

During my many years of helping Zakir-ji with his tours, I met and began casually learning the sarangi with Ustad Sultan Khan. Undoubtedly a dream come true to be immersed in such divine company and sublime music of sarangi and tabla.  

Fast forward a couple of decades, two of my tabla students, Camillo Scherer and Jamie Kostura, who began also studying sarangi, told me about their sarangi teacher whose name was Harsh Narayan. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that this was actually the grandson of my initial inspirational guide into this musical universe, Pandit Ram Narayan. So it was not a surprise that when we first met on a plane headed towards our first concert together in Santa Cruz California, our connection and friendship was immediate.

During the week Harsh spent with me, we performed a wonderful concert in Boulder as well as two concerts in a row in Tucson Arizona. All events were full and attended by some of the areas top musicians, including Indian Classical vocalists, instrumentalists, Jazz and world music performers. It was such a treat to welcome Harsh with standing ovation and a host of high level musicians coming together to enjoy his family lineage of music.

“A little clip from our concert in Tucson. This was the ending of a fast Jhaptal (10 beat) section - A joy to simply keep the beat for this section of the concert - love that 10 beat universe!
Produced by Camillo Scherer w/ Cynthia Scherer on Tambura”

However, perhaps the highlight of his visit with me was the several days off between the concerts allowed us to dive into recording our first album together. We spent three days in my mountain studio capturing the “one hundred colors” of the sarangi and the tradition from which Harsh comes. It was a treat for mw to engineer the album, but more so, to be able to accompany him on the tabla. We had a great time recording 3 raags which you’ll hear on the album (to be released in the new year 2020) and we were joined by Jamie Kostura (Harsh’s US Manager) to help support us during the concert and recording.

It is a joy for me to be playing this very heartfelt and intricate music which I have been practicing for the past 30 years. With the blessings of our teachers, Ustad Zakir Hussain for myself, for Harsh it is Pandit Ram Narayan, for my friend Steve Oda, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and so on, we each have the opportunity to share this musical language with music lovers in an ever expanding circle. It is a great gift to have a chance to share music in any capacity, but when the planets align to allow for musical connections that can span a lifetime or give a breath of fresh air to people’s hearts, then I give thanks for the greater force which animates the world, around and within us. Music is indeed the language of the Soul.

Drawn by Mat Moon’s daughter Mariposa. She drew this Star Wars version during the concert in Tucson.