Jugalbandhi

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A jugalbandhi (Dev. जुगलबंधी; also spelled jugalbandi) is a performance, in Indian classical music, featuring two solo musicians. The word jugalbandhi means, literally, "entwined twins."

Often, the musicians will play different instruments, as for example the famous duets between sitarist Ravi Shankar and sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, who popularized the format with their performances of the 1970s. More rarely, the musicians (either vocalists or instrumentalists) may be from different traditions (i.e. Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music). What defines jugalbandhi is that the two soloists be on an equal footing. While any Indian music performance may feature two musicians, a performance can only be deemed a jugalbandhi if neither is clearly the soloist and neither clearly an accompanist. In jugalbandhi, both musicians act as lead players, and a playful competition often ensues between the two performers.

[edit] External links

• Usenet discussion about North-South jugalbandhi

[edit] See also

• Indian classical music