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Reflections Around Noon features a sarod recital by the acclaimed performer, composer and teacher Pt Rajeev Taranath. He began his musical training under the guidance of his father and later became a disciple of the great Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Taranath is a highly successful concert performer, touring widely both in India and abroad, has composed the music for several Indian films, and teaches as a faculty member of the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.

He is accompanied on this recording by the Mumbai-based tabla player Udayraj Karpur, who is a disciple of both Sri Ravindra Yavagal and Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Udayraj is a also regular concert performer, besides being a part of the Netherlands-based fusion group Bhedam.

Taranath and Karpur seem to have a telepathic understanding, making music (Rag Miyan ki Todi and Misra Kafi) that moves sublimely from brooding introspection to climaxes of breathraking excitement. - New Classic / Online World Music Magazine

Rajeev Taranath is one of the outstanding younger-generation musicians of the famous Maihar gharana (or family style) of Allauddin Khan, who taught two musical giants of our time: Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ali Akbar Khan (sarod). Since Taranath's instrument is sarod, it is impossible to escape the similarity between his style and that of Ali Akbar Khan.

Taranath plays the Raga Miyan ki Todi’, an exquisite 16th century composition by the Mughal Emperor Akbar's chief court musician Miyan Tansen (miyan being an Urdu term of endearment for a younger man.) This raga is rarely heard at concerts because it is supposed to only be played (and heard) in the early morning. Taranath's performance is both controlled and spontaneous, conveying all the power and mysticism of those early hours of dawn as well as gently awakening the soul to face another new day.

The instrument and ragas are not the only similarities in this disc: despite having a distinct, lyrical style, Majumdar is also a high-profile exponent of the same Maihar gharana. His Raga Basant Mukhari’ another morning raga, is a rare treat but the high point for me is Misra Mand’ based on a Rajasthani folk tune which has recently become very popular in North Indian classical music. Of the ten or so new Indian classical discs I've heard over the past two weeks, no fewer than six have featured Mand! But that certainly doesn't make the tune any less captivating. - Jameela Siddiqi – SONGLINES November/December 2003

Here is outstanding recording by sarod player with very different style. Taranath is a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan and develops his ragas along lines markedly similar to the master. He is far from a mere imitator, however, with a very personal way of favoring understatement as well as a subtle touch that is quite his own. Taranath performs two ragas, “Miyan Ki Todi” and “Misra Kafi” Though not extensive, the liner notes here are extremely helpful, pointing out significant passages in each rag and indicating where these are to be found by the number of minutes and seconds.This title strongly recommended to lovers of Indian music. - Duck Baker (Richmond, VA) Dirty Linen Dec 03/Jan 04

Rajeev Taranath is simply one of the greatest living Indian classical musicians performing today. His rendering of Rag Miyan Ki Todi on "Reflections Around Noon" is immense in its breadth and depth. Clearly, Rajeev Taranath not only perpetuates the musical legacy of Allaudin and Ali Akbar Khansahib but infuses it with his own unique and subtle nuances, making the silence in between phrases pregnant with the infinite possibilities of his musicianship. The way he moves around Pa in the alap, stretching anticipation to its limit, making the eventual resolution at the perfect moment, a moment that can only be described as divine. / Rating : ***** - Chad Hamill