March 31, 2015

Brij Narayan [PolJazz PSJ-89] an LP recorded in India and released in Poland in 1980 (new transfer)

Brij Narayan (born 25 April 1952 in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India) is the oldest son of Ram Narayan and also the nephew of tabla maestro Chatur Lal, under whom he started studies. After the death of Lal he moved to the sarod and continues to perform to this day.

 This LP, which was recorded in 1980 at India's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Bombay, does not seem to have shown up anywhere other than in Poland. It seems to have been issued by the Polish Jazz Society. (I should note that Jazz is still very widely admired in Poland and several of my acquaintances who are jazz musicians have found quite a warm and welcoming reception there.)

 I had not heard of the album before my friend Nels loaned it to me for digitalization -- thanks, Nels!

 Side A: Raga Puriya Kalyan (19:35)
Side B: Raga Jogiva (13:25) and Raga Misra Pilu (6:30)

 Tabla by Suresh Talwalker.






Here is a short video of Brij Narayan playing at a house concert


Equipment used in transfer: 
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24/48 resolution
For the new transfer, I kept the original 24bit, 48kHz files and used ClickRepair at a minimal setting to just eliminate some of the more obvious grunge-y sounds. I then used Audacity to down sample to 1644 and xAct to encode to mp3 and to FLAC.


24bit, 48kHz FLAC
(high resolution file ideal for listening on computer or certain portable players)


16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC
(standard resolution file ideal for burning a CDR)


320 kbps mp3 file
(highest possible quality compressed file ideal for listening on a portable player)


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8 comments:

  1. RichardMarch 31, 2015 at 9:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. -Otto-March 31, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    Not bad, these eleven short minutes of video. Thanks for this fine rip, Richard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. -Otto-March 31, 2015 at 12:54 PM

    And now a question: How do you get these hi rez cover scans done? There is no visible seam of scans stitched together. Do you have a scanner that does the entire LP cover in one fell swoop? Also: it seems the scanner's glass surface has no raised rim around it as there is not even the hint of a shadow at the edges. Pretty nice, pretty nice.

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  4. RichardApril 1, 2015 at 11:59 PM

    Thanks for your kind words, Otto!

    I used to use my iPhone and just took photos of the covers. Lately I have been using an inexpensive Canon scanner and making 4 scans of each cover. Then I use Photoshop to assemble them into the image. It performs this task automatically. For Windows users (I know you folks are out there!) I have heard great things about a program called "ICE."

    If you want to see some really gorgeous cover scans check out the "Music from the Third Floror" blog. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  5. farosandersonApril 2, 2015 at 1:57 AM

    Just recently became aware of Brij Narayan. His catalogue appears to be relatively scant so thanks for this rare edition.
    P.S. you can burn Hi Rez files to DVD using a program called Lplex.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RichardApril 2, 2015 at 3:46 AM

    Thanks for your comments! I have two CDs of Brij's music on the Nimbus label and borrowed this LP and that is it. He's had an interesting career, switching from tabla to sarod.
    Thanks again for connecting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wilder AdvanceFebruary 17, 2016 at 8:39 AM

    It isn't there today : (

    ReplyDelete
  8. roberthMay 11, 2022 at 1:27 AM

    never ever would of heard this one without u, thanks
    roberth

    ReplyDelete

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