Lakshmibai Jadhav (1901-1979) - Private Double CD

Here a private double CD by Laxmibai Jadhav, containing a number of her 78 rpm records from the 1930s and two longer Ragas, probably from the archives of All India Radio.

The CDs were created, together with the covers and the booklet, by our friend KF. Many thanks to him for his generous sharing.

On her 78 rpm records see:

https://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellpatke/Miscellany/laxmibai.htm

Raagam, the internet radio of All India Radio, broadcast over the last two or so years quite a number of recordings by the artist from their archives. A dear and very helpful friend created recently a YouTube channel containing all the recordings by great artists of the older generations from Raagam. Amongst them quite a number of excellent recordings by Laxmibai Jadhav. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDClAUJSxzs

flac - CD 1 & Scans
flac - CD 2

mp3 - CD 1 & Scans
mp3 - CD 2

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1902-1968) - Ragas Kedar & Jaijaiwanti - Cassette released in India in 1996

Here some beautiful recordings from the archives of All India Radio (AIR). They were apparently published in 1995 or 1996 as an LP by HMV India in their PMLP series, quite beyond the end of the LP era. I never have seen the LP and there is only very little evidence in the internet that it existed.

We posted in 2017 four LPs by the great master. See here.

It can be that just the copyright for the LP was in 1996 (on the other cassette edition given as 1995) and that this cassette was released in 2003. The same recordings were also published in 1996 as:

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Hindustani Vocal Music - Agra Gharana - Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan (1895-1962) & Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - Private CD said to be a limited edition published in India in 1992

A very dear friend, a great collector of classical Indian music and a frequent visitor to our blog, was so kind to share with us this recording. It is part of a series. Here what he said about this CD: 

"These were all definitely CDs. They are still in my family's & family friends collection back in India. I have not seen the LPs, but our family friend who was an executive with AIR, and helped us procure these CDs told us that the CDs were LP reissues."

I personally think that this is another of these CDs done by an Indian collector who made out of these recordings from AIR a private CD and created covers for it. This person seems to take a great pleasure in creating covers and to let them look like real ultra rare releases. Which is sort of funny and sympathetic. And looks nice. But can create some confusion amongst music lovers and collectors.

By both of the artists we had posted in the past already quite a number of recordings. See for Vilayat Hussain Khan and for Sharafat Hussain Khan by klicking on the links.

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Note:

As a visitor to our blog was so kind to mention in a comment, the first Raga on this CD should definitly be Raga Lankadhan Sarang.

Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1886-1950) - Great Master Great Music - Raga Bhankar & Raga Des - LP released in India in 1971

Here one of my most favourite LPs with recordings - from the archives of All India Radio - by the great Ustad Faiyaz Khan. In 2011 we had already posted by him a cassette and an LP.

This was the first time that longer pieces by the artist were published. I bought this LP on my first trip to London in the huge HMV shop on Oxford Street. That might have been in 1974 or a year earlier.

I was completely blown away by the sheer beauty of these recordings, very close to Dhrupad, and the majestic architecture of the pieces. In effect, Ustad Faiyaz Khan was the towering figure in the first half of the 20th century and with his death a whole era came to a close. Never again afterwards such majestic and dignified music was created again.

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Ganesh Ramchandran Behre known as Behrebua (1890-?) - Recordings from All India Radio from the 1950's and 1960's

We present here some recordings by the legendary singer Behrebua, who was a direct disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and of whom one says that his music reminds listeners of the sad, doleful and very emotional air with which Ustad Abdul Karim Khan could sing. These recordings were boradcast in the 1950's or 1960's by All India Radio.
He was also known under the name Ganpat or Ganpatrao Ramchandra.

The Indian label Meera Music released a couple of years ago two CDs with recordings by him. Nowadays it is nearly impossible to get these CDs. But they can be downloaded as MP3-320 files from CD Baby Music Store.

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Here another great recording by the legendary Behrebua, a long Raga Bihag, recorded by All India Radio on 03.11.1962. Unfortunately the sound is quite distorted in the first minutes of the recording, but then it gets much better.

Our friend DM made out of these recordings many years ago two private CDs. Many thanks for sharing them so generously.

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Ustad Amir Khan - Raga Ahir Bhairav & Raga Bageshree - LP released in India in 1984

Here an LP with two other very beautiful recordings from the archives of All India Radio.

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Ustad Amir Khan - Great Master Great Music - LP released in India in 1976

After the untimely death of Ustad Amir Khan many LPs and later also cassettes and CDs with recordings from the archives of All India Radio or concert recordings saw the day. Here a very beautiful one from AIR.

Ustad Amir Khan recorded onyl three studio LPs. The other two ones (1968 & 1970) we might post in the future.

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Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) - Raga Puriya & Raga Kedar - Recordings from All India Radio

Here two beautiful recordings broadcast in 2002 by All India Radio and recorded by our friend KF. He made a CD out of these recordings and created the covers. Many thanks to him.

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Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) & Saraswati Rane (1913-2006) - Jugalbandi 2 - LP released in India in 1990

We pointed in our last post to "similar procedures in the unfolding of Ragas in the music of Hirabai Barodekar and Roshan Ara Begum (which also can be found in their teachers, especially Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan) and thus making it possible to identify some unique features of the original Kirana Gharana". This fascinating procedure is - of course - the legendary Merukhand method. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merukhand

https://ptvijaybakshi.blogspot.com/2016/05/merukhand-technique-theory.html

Especially in Roshan Ara Begum's music I find it extremely fascinating, but also here in the music of Hirabai Barodekar it is very present, though perhaps in a more subtle way.

After these Hirabai Barodekar recordings we will turn to Amir Khan, who was very influenced by Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan and also by Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Bhendibazar Gharana, which is said to have developed this method.

Noteworthy on the recordings here, the ones in our previous post and also the ones in our next post is the Sarangi accompaniment by one of the greatest Sarangi masters of the 20th century, Ustad Shakoor Khan, a nephew and disciple of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. See on him:

http://www.sarangi.net/sarangi-players-s-z/139-shakoor-khan

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Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) & Saraswati Rane (1913-2006) - Jugalbandi 1 - Cassette released in India in 1992

Here a wonderful recording from the archives of All India Radio by Hirabai Barodekar together with her younger sister Saraswati Rane. The first volume we only have as a cassette from a box of two cassettes. The recordings of both cassettes were first released as two LPs in 1990. Of the second volume we have also the LP and will post it next.

It is very interesting to compare Hirabai Barodeka's music with the one by the other great female singer of the Kirana Gharana, Roshan Ara Begum. In the unfolding of the Raga one can discover similar procedures - though in a much more enegertic way in the case of Roshan Ara Begum - and thus be able to identify some unique features of the original Kirana Gharana.

About Saraswati Rane see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraswati_Rane

flac

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Ram Chatur Mallick - All India Radio recordings (1983) published as a cassette in India in 1990

These recordings exist also on LP: PMLP 3070 (1990). The LP is extremely rare like most of the AIR releases published in 1990 and 1991 by The Gramophone Company of India. As the publication year was already a couple of years beyond the end of the LP in the west, these LPs never made it to the west and even in India apparently they didn't find a wide distribution anymore.

But in India - and sometimes even in the west in Indian shops - in the 1990s one could get these releases as cassettes. This way music lovers who visited India then were able to obtain them and bring them home. From one of these music lovers I purchased recently this cassette.

I apologize for having posted the wrong version of the cassette. In effect I had forgotten that the cassette I purchased recently was quite damaged in the beginning of side 2 as sometimes happens with cassettes. But I have already for many years a rip from my friend KF. And this one is in good shape. I had the intention to post this version together with the scans of the recently bought cassette.

Here now the correct version of the files as originally intendet. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1893-1989) - A Broadcast from All India Radio (AIR) with Raga Yaman Kalyan, Raga Paraj & Bhairavi Tappa

Here our last post - at least for now - of the great Krishnarao Shankar Pandit. We received these recordings many years ago, if I remember correctly, from the collector VN in UK. Our friend KF made a CD out of them and created a cover. Many thanks to both.

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Addition on October 27th 2017

Here a beautiful story about the artist:

In late January 1970, at the concert hall Rabindra Sadan in Kolkata, Panditji’s program was scheduled one early evening. Supravat Da and I went to the concert hall with our tape recorder to record Panditji’s program. Both of us were not familiar with Panditji’s singing, although we knew that he was one of the great singers of Gwalior Gharana. We had an uneasy feeling that the organizers might not allow us to record the program. It exactly happened that way. The organizers bluntly told us that recording was not allowed. Suddenly I saw Panditji on the back stage and I approached him. After initial greetings, I told him that I would like to record his program but I was not successful in receiving permission to do so from the organizers. Panditji was an older dignified person of seventy-eight, very accommodating and very easy to talk to. He immediately got me the permission to record his program.

I learnt that Panditji arrived at four in the afternoon by train from Gwalior and from the Railway station he went to visit Pandit Tarapada Chakraborty who had been hospitalized. This was a news for us. Panditji was living in Gwalior, knew that Tarapada Babu was ill, and we, the people of Kolkata, had absolutely no information about it.

It is impossible to describe Panditji’s singing. It was unique. His style of singing had no similarity with any other singers I knew of and I do not know if any singer could successfully imitate him. I was fascinated by his control and precision. I was simply overwhelmed. Even today, his Shree, Chaturang in Dabari and many other ragas are among my very favorite.

After the program I met Panditji and before I could say anything, he told me to come to his concert at Birla Academy, which was taking place the next morning. The next morning I passed some time with Panditji before the concert and requested him to sing a few morning ragas of my choice. He sang all the ragas I requested except Paraj; for that one, he said the timing was not right.

Panditji had no idea who I was, what my name was but he was kind and generous enough to invite me to his morning concert and kept my request.

Pt. Krishnarao Shankar Pandit was a great singer, a legend and above all a great human being.

In a private concert of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar in New York in 1980, during the intermission, Dagar Saheb, Sheila Dhar and I were talking. I wanted to know Dagar Saheb’s view of Pt. Krishnarao Shankar Pandit. I am always careful not to praise one musician in front of other musicians. I told Dagar Saheb that one vocalist impressed me very much. After he learnt that I was talking about Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, he was surprised at first then asked me, “Chowdhury saab tell me, who can sing like Pandji?” After superlative compliments about Panditji’s music he told me, “ In a concert if he sings whole night, I will also remain there whole night to listen to him.”

from the outstanding YouTube channel by Subrata Chowdhury (may he rest in peace):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilC2K7itBpE

Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1893-1989) - Darbari Kanada & Basant - Broadcasted by All India Radio

Here we offer - as promised in our last post - a recording by the fascinating Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit from Raagam, an internet channel of All India Radio. This channel offers 24 hours a day, seven days a week recordings of classical Indian music from the archives of All India Radio.

See: http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Default.aspx 

or: http://raagam.airbengaluru.com/

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Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1902-1968) - Great Master, Great Music - From the archives of All India Radio (AIR) - LP published in India in 1971

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Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) - In her memory a broadcast from All India Radio

Kishori Amonkar - Raga Nayaki Kanada - Khyal Rupak - mero piya rasiya & Drut Tintal - ratiyan me ja ki - AIR Delhi, 14.7.1983 (30:16)

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Many thanks to KF for the recording.

Sarangi legend Ustad Bundu Khan (1880-1955) - A radio broadcast from All India Radio, Delhi

Ustad Bundu Khan, probably the most outstanding sarangi player during the first half of the 20th century, was born in Delhi, in a family of musicians. He received his early training in sarangi from his father Ali Jan Khan and later from his uncle Mamman Khan, who was attached to the Maharaja of Patiala.
Bundu Khan was a prodigiously talented artiste and also a very sincere and hard-working student of music. His complete mastery over his delicate and difficult instrument not only placed him on the top rung of the subcontinents sarangi players but also made him one of the most proficient Hindustani instrumentalists of the 20th century. He had a flair for singing and writing poetry as well. His sons, Umrao Bundu Khan and Buland Iqbal, also inherited his talents.
He played the sarangi from the Delhi Radio Station, when its broadcast was started in 1935. He became court-musician to Maharaja Tukaji Rao Holkar of Indore and was also in the Rampur court of a brief period. He was highly influenced by Pandit Bhatkhande whom he met in Indore. He devoted himself to the study of musicology, and wrote a book Sangeet Vivek Darpan wherein the ragas Bhairabi and Malkauns were elaborately discussed.
After migrating to Pakistan after the partition in 1947, Ustad Bundu Khan continued to play the sarangi from all the radio stations of Pakistan till his death in 1955. Both his sons gained prominence and became immediately known to the music circles of Pakistan. In addition to his descendants, he trained Amir Muhammad Albi, Durkhu Singh, Majid Khan, Muhammad Sagiruddin Khan and P. N. Nigam. He was posthumously awarded the Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan in 1985.

from: http://www.itcsra.org/tribute.asp?id=14 There you find some beautiful tracks.

See also: 

http://www.indianetzone.com/27/ustad_bundu_khan_indian_classical_instrumentalist.htm

A National Program on Bundu Khan, in English, presented by his student Rajesh Bahadur, broadcast by All India Radio, Delhi. It contains these performances:

Part 1 (45:27):
01 Chandni Kedar 12:31 (starting at 8:43)
02 fragment 0:35 (starting at 22:38)
03 Gaud Malhar 15:03 (starting at 24:37)
04 fragment 2:33 (starting at 40:40)
05 Dhrupad Sagar (Ragamalika) 1:59 (starting at 43:27 and continuing in part 2)

Part 2 (44:41):
01 continuation of Dhrupad Sagar (Ragamalika) 2:29
02 Chandrakauns 6:21 (starting at 3:14)
03 Shahana Bahar & Bageshree Bahar 26:22 (starting at 11:59)
04 Bhairavi 4:17 (starting at 38:51)

Download Part 1

Download Part 2

Further - very enjoyable - readings: look here under "About Bundu Khan"

A reader of our blog, Surajit, was so kind to make out of the tracks of over 2 minutes length separate tracks and to send me the result. Many thanks. Here you can download them:

Download