rāga – that which colours the mind

 

George Howlett | Compositions

 

Lessons & Musical Explorations

• Hindustani Rāga Basics for Jazz Guitarists – introduction lesson for MusicRadar, featuring breakdowns of Bageshri & Jog
• Alankar: ‘Indian’ Melodic Ornamentation – guitar lesson for MusicRadar on North Indian slides, bends, & vibrato
• Rāga Jungle: Turntables, Tablas, & Tālas – examining uncanny similarities between Jungle/DnB and tintal tabla soloing
• Shakti’s Remainder Bar Rhythms – flow in odd-time using an Indo-jazz rhythm trick, no musical experience required
• Odd-Time Songwriting Grooves – lesson for MusicRadar featuring Allman Brothers, Radiohead, Zeppelin, and more

Indian classical in the modern world | articles for Darbar

• How your favourite genres chime with Indian Classical – sonic bridges to jazz, rock, techno, hip-hop, minimalism, etc
• Debashish Bhattacharya’s guitar trinity – interview on self-designed slide guitars and the hidden harmony in rāgas
• Akram Khan: curating dance for Darbar – interview on Indian mythology, artistic obsession, and reconnecting with nature
• Extended writing project covering the sounds and contexts of Indian classical, including interviews with Shahid Parvez, Parveen Sultana, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Meeta Pandit, Sanju Sahai, Rupak Kulkarni, Trichy Sankaran, and the Malladi Brothers.

Other Writings

• Curious cultural interchange: Indian classical in Bristol – covering a disparate, fascinating micro-scene (The Wire)
• Glancing backwards, moving forwards – reviewing John McLaughlin’s 2019 Barbican performance (Jazzwise)
• Aruna Sairam & Soumik Datta: Back to the Blues – interview on their unique Indo-blues collaboration (Música Macondo)
• Darbar Festival 2016: Living Traditions – covering Europe’s largest Indian classical music festival (JazzFM)
• Sarathy Korwar: Transcontinental Rhythm – interview on jazz, tabla, and Afro-Indian folk (Música Macondo)
• Pharoah Sanders Resonates at Ronnie’s – covering the old master’s return to London (JazzFM)
• Drumming: Reich’s Rhythm Spirals – reviewing contrasting pieces of classical minimalism at Barbican (JazzFM)
• Rāga Jazz Style [Reissue] – review of a fascinating long-lost Indo-jazz album (Música Macondo)
• Musical Harmony: How do we dream it? – investigating a strange human capability through quirks of aural perception

• YouTube | Soundcloud – finished music, currently sparse
• Listen to my gurus – Pandit Shivnath Mishra, Benares gharana
• The Church of St. John Coltrane – I pledge allegiance
• WhoSampled – Rāga Junglism finds

• Haphazard website for George Howlett, musician and music writer. I play guitar, tabla, santoor, and hand percussion, and write about topics loosely related to jazz, jungle, rhythm, and Indian Classical. I’m currently a writer for Darbar Festival, and am recording a Rāga Junglism EP. Contact me at ghowlett128[at]gmail.com