Raga Surdasi Malhar: Gat~Slow Teental

Raga Surdasi Malhar: Gat in Slow Teental is a 35-minute instrumental composition performed by sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. The track appears as the second piece on the album Total Absorption, released on January 1, 2000, by Navras Records in CD format.

The recording captures Banerjee’s interpretation of Raga Surdasi Malhar, a monsoon-associated raga in the Hindustani classical tradition. The performance follows the gat structure, a fixed melodic composition in the raga, rendered in slow Teental—a 16-beat rhythmic cycle. The track exemplifies Banerjee’s approach to alap-jor-jhala development, though specific accompaniment details remain undocumented in available sources.

Total Absorption compiles live and studio recordings from Banerjee’s later career, though the exact recording date and venue for this track are unverified. The album serves as a posthumous release, issued seven years after Banerjee’s death in 1993. The label Navras Records, known for Hindustani classical archives, distributed the CD without additional liner notes on session musicians or production specifics.

The composition’s duration and unhurried tempo align with Banerjee’s reputation for expansive raga explorations. No alternate versions or commercial reissues of this particular recording have been confirmed. The track stands as a representative example of his Imdadi Khayal-influenced sitar style, characterized by precise meend (glissando) and gamak (ornamentation) techniques.