Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Jasdeep Singh Degun when he decided to put Raag Jogkauns on record: how to keep it on a single LP. In the Hindustani tradition, ragas can run two hours or more. The structure of a piece gives the performer immense amounts of freedom. Both vocalists and instrumentalists explore that freedom at length.
Degun, for all his respect for the tradition, is not your typical raga-playing sitarist. At age 34, perhaps the best young sitar player in Britain, he has written for orchestra and collaborated with a string quartet. This is his first proper Indian classical recording.
The clash of civilizations is audible. It starts with Degun’s most fundamental choice. Jogkauns is a fairly modern raga, dating back to…