As well as being a book shop & cafe located in Shenzhen, China, Old Heaven Bookstore is also a record label – they also put on some incredible in-store live events. I first came across the label via London’s Cafe Oto who also stock a number of their releases in their shop and online store.
Last month they released 尼基尔·班纳吉加州录音 Nikhil Banerjee in California, 1967. It features a beautiful eye-catching woodcut artwork cover by Liu Qingyuan who is also a long-term partner of the label.
Nikhil Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian Classical Sitarist and a contemporary of Ravi Shankar, they both studied under the same teacher Baba Allauddin Khan, considered to be one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian Classical music (in their 2014 Tour Blog for Folk Radio UK, Arborea referenced Banerjee as an influence on their music – read it here).
In the words of Old Heaven Bookstore o the release:
These are live recordings of Nikhil Banerjee at KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California, on the 9th of July, 1967. It is for the first time they are made into vinyl record and published in China. The original recordings were on two reel-to-reel tapes. In 1988, American record label Raga Records released the recordings on both CD and cassette.
Until a few years ago, it was by chance that producer Tu Fei got hold of these reel-to-reel tapes and decided to release this vinyl version, hoping to present the contents to the audience as authentic as they are and pay tribute to the great musician Nikhil Banerjee.
The woodcut artwork on the cover was by our long-term partner, artist Liu Qingyuan. Liu Ying’s studio handled the mastering work.
Special thanks to Chen Yun, professor Tejaswini Nirajana and her friends Deepak Raja and Meena Bannerji, for it would not be possible for us to contact with Nikhil Banerjee’s daughter Mita Tagore and get her authorization without their kind introduction. Mita has been very supportive of this release in China and has given us important suggestions during the process. We would also like to thank our friend from Morocco, Habi (Habib Rkha). He is an enthusiast and expert of Indian classical music who cleared up much confusion for us.
I didn’t come across any UK stockists so postage isn’t cheap, although it is available to order on vinyl (and digital) via Bandcamp.
Listen to the opening Raga Chandrakaush, also our Tune of the Day:
Order it here: https://oldheavenbooks.bandcamp.com/album/nikhil-banerjee-in-california-1967