Ragas Live Festival 2024
“24 hours of uninterrupted, absolutely incredible music performances” - The New York Times.
Pioneer Works is excited to present the 13th annual Ragas Live Festival featuring 24 hours of transcendent music in the Pioneer Works Main Hall.
For the 2024 iteration, several of the greatest exponents of their instruments will be joining us from S. Asia including “the world's greatest slide guitarist,” Debashish Bhattacharya; Ganesh Rajagopalan (2024 Grammy Winner & violin maestro from Shakti); Afghan musical superstars, Homayoun Sakhi (Afghan Rubab) and Salar Nader (tabla); the electric mandolin phenom, U. Rajesh; and the dazzling Carnatic ensemble, the Mysore Brothers.
Alongside the classical tradition of raga, the trailblazing modular synthesist and vocalist, Arushi Jain (fka the Modular Princess) will create her signature lush analog and electronic textures inspired by the raga idiom, and US-based Pakistani artist, Slowspin (Zeerak Ahmed), will present her signature blend North Indian classical vocal traditions, dream-folk, ambient and experimental-electronic music.Celebrating the rich tapestry of sounds woven along the Slik Road, concert goers will experience the Iranian Kamancheh master, Mehrnam Rastegari; the Bubul Tarang of the Rajasthani maestro, Bashir Khan; veena of Saraswathi Ranganathan; sarod of Anirban Dasgupta; bansuri of Jay Gandhi, and a a full gamelan orchestra, Gamelan Dharma Swara.
In a special set, Ragas Live Festival will honor the legacy of Badal Roy, who helped introduce the sound of tabla to the jazz world. Working with artists such as Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, John McLaughlin, David Liebman and Pharoah Sanders, Badal brought his deep feel, groove and soul to all the music and people he touched. This set celebrates Badal’s contributions with an all-star band of Badal’s friends and collaborators: Steve Gorn–bansuri, Kenny Wessel–guitar, Alex Marcello–keyboards, Stomu Takeishi–bass, Mike Sarin-drums, and Subhasis Bhattacharya-tabla.
Additional highlights include a sunrise set from Hindustani vocalist Namami Karmaka;, a rare bansuri and violin jugalbandi from Manas Kumar, S. Akash & Amit Kavthekar; and an evening raga from sitar maestra Seema Gulati.
About Ragas Live Festival
Ragas Live Festival was born as an in-studio radio broadcast at Columbia University's radio station, WKCR, in 2012 and immediately gained a global listening audience. The annual presentation of 50-70 musicians - and its expansive presentation of music inspired by the Indian Classical tradition - became central to a musical movement that the New York Times, New Yorker, NPR, and others have called “The Raga Renaissance”. The event first left the studio and became a live, in-person broadcast in 2016 at Pioneer Works, where it has since grown a passionate following.
The event is inspired by raga, the classical music tradition from South Asia, where specific modes harmonize with the moods and energy of particular times of day, such as sunrise, sunset, or the darkest hours of the night. Master musicians from the raga tradition are presented alongside legends in ambient music, minimalism, jazz and global traditions.
Ragas Live Festival is Presented by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, Brooklyn Raga Massive and the Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia.
Ragas Live Festival is supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council. Brooklyn Arts Fund (DCLA) is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.