In preparing for this post (yes, I do), I was going to say Hariprasad Chaurasia is my favorite North Indian flute player -- but after rifling through my CDs, I guess it's more accurate to say he's just about my ONLY North Indian flute player (sorry, G. S. Sachdev, almost forgot you.) I've got some of Hari's releases on the Nimbus label (they are the pinnacle, and they take advantage of the 70+ minutes available), and his classics "Call of the Valley" and "The Valley Recalls".
But I enjoy this little jewel ("Flying Beyond") from Value Village because it stays in "the zone" for the entire album. The Indian albums that record whole ragas follow the classical pattern -- a slow introduction, a lengthy development, then things kick in rhythmically and the pace picks up until the blistering finale. What's nice about the "Flying Beyond" album (and it is an album as it was back in the day, 2 sides at 20 minutes per side) is that it resides in the slow intro for the entire CD. Perfect if that's your mood, and many summer nights as we wait for the house to cool down, it's just the thing.
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