Orifxon Xatamov - Vol. 2 - MP3-CD from Uzbekistan by the great Maqom master

Orifxon Xatamov was perhaps the greatest Maqom singer (and Tanbur player) of his time. He is in the line of the greatest masters of the Maqom of the Ferghana Valley, connecting his teacher Jurakhan Sultanov and his brilliant disciple Mamurjan Uzakov to his own disciple, the last complete master Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev.

In 2015 we had posted a MP3-CD by the master and in 2012 a cassette. See our post from 2015 for information on the artist. 

Now we present the second volume of his complete works. This is one of the most beautiful collections of Uzbek Maqom music, a rich testimony to an era and a world unfortunately lost. It also contains quite a number of wonderful instrumental pieces. The MP3-CD has three folders: 1. Orif Xatamov, containing 73 tracks, 2. Beknazar Do'stmurodov, containing 8 tracks & 3. Abdunabi Ibragimov, containing 2 tracks. I guess that the artists of folders 2 and 3 are disciples of Orifxon Xatamov. In order to make downloading more convenient, we split the MP3-CD into two parts: part 1 containing tracks 1 to 35 plus the cover scans and part 2 containg tracks 36 to 73 plus the two other folders.

It was again our very dear friend Danny who brought this MP3-CD years ago from a visit to Uzbekistan and shared it so generously.

Download part 1

Download part 2

Orifxon Xatamov - MP3-CD from Uzbekistan by the great Maqom master

Orifxon Xatamov (born 1924 or 1925) - his name is given sometimes also as Orif or Arif Xatamov, and both versions can appaer in different spellings - belongs to the Maqom tradition of the Ferghana Valley and was a student of the legendary Jurakhan Sultanov (1912-1977), who was also the teacher of Mamurjan Uzakov. 

Theodore Levin devoted a very beautiful chapter to Orifxon Xatamov in his very interesting book "The Hundred Thousand Fools of God - Musical Travels in Central Asia". Some excerpts from this chapter, named "The Avatar of a Master", which is based on talks with the master in the early 1990s, can be read here. Orifxon Xatamov is depicted here as a master musician deeply rooted in the musical and spiritual (Sufi) traditions of his country.

The recordings here - again from the collection of MP3-CDs which our dear friend Danny brought a couple of years ago from Uzbekistan - are probably from the 1960s to the 1980s and were probably published originally on Melodiya LPs during Sowjet times. There is also a second MP3-CD by him which we will post in the future.

We already posted in 2012 some tracks by him. See here. But the tracks there are all included in and probably taken from these two MP3-CDs.

This MP3-CD contains 5 folders named CD 1 to 5. The first two folders are contained in the download part 1 and folders 3 to 5 in part 2.

Download part 1

Download part 2

Only today (2nd of december 2015), when I listened to the complete MP3-CD again, I realized that I forgot to post the last part of this CD. There are two more folders on it named CD 11 and CD 13. Both can be downloaded here as part 3. CD 13 is by other singers in the same tradition: tracks 1 to 7 by Ismoilon & Mukhamadon Xotamovlar and tracks 8 to 16 by Beknazar Dustmurodov. Maybe two sons and a disciple of Orifxon Xatamov.

Download part 3

Orifxon Xatamov - A great master of the Maqam tradition of Uzbekistan

Although only very few visitors of this blog seam to be interested in the classical music of Uzbekistan - for me the last musical treasure still to discover - I can't help it to post some more treasures from it. In the last 15 years a small number of excellent CDs have been published in the west, mainly in France. But still the older - and in my opinion more interesting - singers from this tradition are almost completely unknown outside of Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. Earlier we had already presented here Mamurjan Uzakov, Fattohxon Mamadaliev, a double LP of masters from the Ferghana Valley and a complete Shashmaqam. In the future we will post some more legendary singers from that area.

Now we present one of the greatest masters: Orifxon Xatamov (his name is given sometimes also as Orif or Arif Xatamov, and both versions can appaer in different spellings). I downloaded these (and many more) recordings a while ago from some Uzbek websites and put them for myself on CDs. Here we offer one of these CDs. These recordings are probably from the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s and were probably published originally as Melodiya LPs during Sowjet times. The cover picture above does not correspond to the content (although the song which gave the album the title appears here). If I remember right I downloaded the picture about 10 years ago and it looks like the cover of a cassette. 

Orifxon Xatamov (born 1924 or 1925) belongs to the Maqam tradition of the Ferghana Valley and was a student of the legendary Jurakhan Sultanov (1912-1977), who was also the teacher of Mamurjan Uzakov. Theodore Levin devoted a very beautiful chapter to Orifxon Xatamov in his very interesting book "The Hundred Thousand Fools of God - Musical Travels in Central Asia". Some excerpts from this chapter, named "The Avatar of a Master", which is based on talks with the master in the early 1990s, can be read here. Orifxon Xatamov is depicted here as a master musician deeply rooted in the musical and spiritual (Sufi) traditions of his country. 
For anybody interested in these musical traditions it's worthwhile to get this book, though I don't agree with all statements of the author, especially not the one regarding Shashmaqam. He must have heard mostly later versions, performed by much bigger ensembles.

01 Aqli rasolaring (4:51)
02 Buxoro Iroqning Sokinomasi (6:03)
03 Guluzorim (7:31)
04 Kam-kam (3:48)
05 Mehr Ruhsoring (6:11)
06 Qarab Qo'y (4:39)
07 Qoshi Yosinmu Deyin (5:44)
08 Sallamno (4:30)
09 Sani Layli (4:39)
10 Senziz (4:38)
11 Yolg'on Demang (3:52)
12 Bo’lmaydi (5:29)
13 Ishqingda Zor (6:00)

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