Music for Hope - Intro - Amjad Ali | Wu Man | Shane Shanahan | Amaan Ali | Ayaan Ali 

Music for Hope - Intro - Amjad Ali | Wu Man | Shane Shanahan | Amaan Ali | Ayaan Ali
Produced by: Amjad Ali Khan, Kabir Sehgal.
Recorded remotely in India and the US in 2021.
Sarods recorded by: Sumit Babbar at Rangayan Broad Q's. Pipa recorded by: Wu Man.
Frame Drum and Darbuka recorded by: Shane Shanahan.
Editing, Mixing and Mastering Engineer: Sai Shravanam at Resound India Studios.
Art Direction and Package Design: Jack Frisch.
Executive Producer: Joachim “Jochen” Becker.
Publishing: © Amjad Ali Khan, Wu Man.
www.wumanpipa....
www.sarod.com/
www.amaanaliba...
www.ayaanaliba...
www.shaneshana...
The cultural dominance of China and India in Asia stretches back thousands of years. Their musics are quite distinct though they share many significant features, especially highly developed modal systems. These musicians, from diverse musical traditions, are coming together to make a new music, by responding to each other in their musical creativity. The principal aim of this project is to support the AAPI 􀀀(Asian American Pacific Islander) movement and raise awareness of its struggle, created by discrimination, victimization and violence. AAPI as a group comprises dozens of ethnicities and many more languages and dialects, harmonized by their common objective of resisting discrimination.
The musicians expressing this power of music, transcending national boundaries, are leading virtuosi on their instruments, and all have ventured extensively into cross-cultural collaborations. Both Wu Man and Shane Shanahan are founding members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad project, and Wu Man remains an active touring and teaching member of the Silkroad Ensemble. Amjad Ali Khanand his two sons,Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, represent the sixth and seventh generations of a family of sarod masters. The Indian sarod and Chinese pipa (Wu Man’s instrument) are leading members of the plucked lute extended family. The pipa is made of wood, pear-shaped, with a fretted fingerboard and four strings; the sarod has a narrower wooden body, covered with goatskin, and a fretless metal fingerboard, the key factor in enabling the slides that are essential to Indian music. In addition to the playing strings there are drone strings and an extra set of sympathetic strings. Both Wu Man and Amjad Ali Khan and his family have contributed enormously towards the establishment of their instruments on the world stage. Hope, looking to a better future, is expressed by these five artists through this coming together; their harmony is immediate.
The artists thank the Sarod Ghar-Museum of Musical Heritage,in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India for their contribution to making this release possible. The artists also thank Sai Shravanam for his invaluable creative inputs towards the project and for the brilliant editing, mixing and mastering of all tracks, bringing alive the character of every instrument. Thank you to Prof. Neil Sorrell for the wonderful notes on the project.