Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars

Often credited as the piece that created minimalism, Terry Riley’s composition, “In C” is an ethereal experience. Terry Riley, who studied Indian Raga deeply, believes that to his knowledge the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars are the first group of mainly Indian instruments to perform this piece. The composer himself responded positively to their first performance and encouraged BRM to “use the basic IN C form but open it up to solos by individual members based on some of the patterns.”

The Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars were assembled by the sitarist, Neel Murgai, who was excited about the possibility of creating a super group of musicians, an orchestra with, sitar, bansuri, harmonium, tabla, vocals, violin, cello, bass, guitar, vibes and more.

A work that is written for any number of any kind of instrument, “In C” consists of 53 small cells of music and a set of directions that allow each performer to move through the music at their own pace. BRM’s performances of his ground breaking work, with 16-20+ musicians and the first featuring so many Indian instruments, throw a new twist on the allure of “In C” and establish new connections between minimalism, Western Classical and Indian Classical music. Riley was not the only minimalist composer to be influenced by the drone and repetition of Indian music. The Brooklyn Raga Massive All Stars are taking it back, as they expand upon the piece with Indian embellishment, improvisation and driving tabla rhythms. Every performance is different and the group explores the piece in new ways each time out.

The concert will be followed by a free jam session with Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars in the lobby from 8:30 ““ 9:30 PM.

Presented with Harrice Miller Entertainment

The community partner for this concert is Sunny Thakkar