This album was recorded live in performance at Herrick Chapel, Occidental College, Los Angeles on January 25th, 1997 for the Music Circle, one of the preeminent venues for the performance of North Indian classical music in the United States. David Trasoff and Abhiman Kaushal are two of the most prominent exponents of Indian music in the United States and represent the flowering of this great tradition in a new international setting. Rag Hemant was created by Acharya Ustad Alauddin Khan, the father and teacher of my guru, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and one of the greatest figures in the history of North Indian classical music. The rag uses the notes of the major scale, but in a way that conveys a unique feeling of joy, tranquility and pathos. The brief closing piece is in a devotional rag, Gorakh Kalyan. David Trasoff has studied sarode performance and North Indian classical music under maestro Ali Akbar Khan, India’s ‘Living National Treasure,’ since 1973. Acclaimed for his performance in both the United States