Raga Ragesri

Raga Ragesri (Live at Sunny Towers, Vol. 2) is a 1995 live recording of a khayal performance by vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan. The track appears as the opening piece on the album Live At Sunny Towers Vol-2, released under the Hindusthan Musical Products LTF label. The performance spans 30 minutes and 56 seconds and showcases Khan’s interpretation of Raga Ragesri, a raga associated with the late evening or early night in the Hindustani classical tradition.

The album captures a live concert setting, though the exact venue and accompanying artists remain undocumented in available sources. Khan’s rendition adheres to the khayal form, a dominant vocal style in North Indian classical music characterized by improvisational alaap, jor, and jhala sections followed by composed bandish (fixed melodic compositions) with rhythmic elaboration. The recording format is CD, typical for commercial classical releases of the mid-1990s.

The Live At Sunny Towers series, of which this is the second volume, features performances by prominent Hindustani classical musicians. While the full tracklist and additional artist credits for this volume are not widely verified, Khan’s contribution stands as the lead track. The label, Hindusthan Musical Products LTF, was a significant producer of Indian classical recordings during the late 20th century, known for archiving live performances and studio sessions.

No further details exist regarding the tala (rhythmic cycle) employed in this rendition or the accompanying instrumentalists. The recording date and production team also remain unconfirmed beyond the 1995 release year indicated on the album.