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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Budhaditya Mukherjee - Raga Ahir Bhairav & Raga Puriya - LP released in India in 1979

Here the artist's first album on The Gramophone Company of India. One can hear here the artist's proximity to Ustad Vilayat Khan. He plays in Raga Puriya the same composition as Vilayat Khan did on an LP in 1976. Budhaditya's version seems almost like a copy. But even if so this a great album.

The complete education of Budhaditya Mukherjee took place under his father Bimalendu Mukherjee, who was a reprentative of the Imdadkhani Gharana.

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Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) - Rudra Vina - Private double CD containing two cassettes from the 1980s

Here we present a private double CD from the collection of our friend KF. The two CDs contain two cassettes:

1. Cassette MA 8508 published in Holland in 1988: Raga Yaman Kalyan from the concert in Mozes and Aaron Church in Amsterdam on 19th of june 1982.

2. Cassette published by Swarashree Enterprises (CBS) in India in mid 1980s: Raga Ahir Bhairav & Raga Malkauns. As the sound of the cassette is not so good we decided to take the recordings from the re-release on CD published in 2008 which is no longer available. KF reversed the order of the two Ragas of this cassette, probably in order to have a logical succession of Ragas on CD 2 from evening and midnight to morning. We kept his order.

Here the original covers of this cassette, thanks to WD:

Many thanks to KF for sharing the recordings and creating the covers. Unfortunately the covers faded over the years.

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CD 2 - mp3

Falguni Mitra - Cassette published in India in 1992

"A foremost vocalist of North Indian Classical music and an outstanding exponent of its oldest and most revered genre, Dhrupad, Falguni Mitra has been a performing artiste since the age of 12. A Guru, and until recently also the Prefect, of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (Kolkata, India ) Falguni Mitra brings impeccable musical credentials and rich experience as a concert performer, teacher and administrator. 

Falguni Mitra was initiated into music by his father, Sangeetacharya Shib Mitra at the age of five. Shib Mitra was a disciple of Sangeetacharya and Mridangacharya Bholanath Pathakji of Varanasi, a doyen of the Bettiah tradition, a school known for its expertise in the four Banis of Dhrupad that find expression in Falguni Mitra’s music. Shib Mitra also had the privilege of receiving training in “Alapchari” from Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Sahib, the patriarch of the Dagars. Thus Falguni Mitra presents a distinctive style of Dhrupad, blending elements of the Dagar style of Raga delineation and the Bettiah style of Dhrupad and Dhamaar, with an aesthetic balance that reflects his musical ideals.

Possessing a rich and sonorous voice, Falguni Mitra’s music is marked for the depth and sensitivity of alap, majestic compositions in all four Banis of Dhrupad, intricate layakari keeping intact the text of the composition, and an extraordinary sense of proportion giving an overall effect of great completeness and charm. Rooted in tradition, he is refreshingly innovative as his own compositions reveal.

Featured at prestigious music festivals in India and abroad, Mitra is the recipient of many titles and awards, and is a regular artiste of Akashvani and Doordarshan. A thoughtful musician and a wonderful teacher, his concerts, lecture demonstrations, workshops and articles in various journals receive unqualified appreciation from all. In Chennai for over a decade until 1998, he was a frequent speaker at the annual December conferences of Indian Fine Arts Society and the Music Academy, Chennai. He composed and directed the music for the dance ballet “Meera” choreographed by Smt. Rukmani Devi Arundale and presented at Kalakshetra’s prestigious Annual Arts Festival.

Pandit Mitra is associated with various Universities such as Viswabharati University, Rabindra Bharati University, Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, and the Annamalai University as an expert scholar, advisor and external examiner. He is a member of the experts Committee of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, a panel member of West Bengal State Music Academy and the Audition Board of All India Radio."

from: http://www.gharanafestival.com/falguni.htm

See also: http://srutimag.blogspot.de/2012/05/falguni-mitra.html

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/into-the-world-of-banis/article8309827.ece 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=380172368683963&id=191224820912053

On Bettiah Gharana:

http://www.itcsra.org/Gharana-Details.aspx?GharanaId=37&Type=B

http://www.indiaifa.org/sumitra-ranganathan.html

On Indra Kishore Mishra, who seems to me to be the more authentic representative of the Bettiah Gharana:

http://swaratala.blogspot.de/2011/05/indra-kishore-mishra-vintage-flavour-of.html

http://swaratala.blogspot.de/2007/05/indrakishore-mishra-everyone-thought.html

https://anadfoundation.org/guru-gaurav-350/performers/ransubai/indra-kishore-mishra/

Here you can purchase recordings by Indra Kishore Mishra for a very low price:

https://www.discogs.com/seller/Tawfiq49/profile?q=Indra+kishore+mishra

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Abhay Narayan Mallick - AIR programs broadcast recently on Raagam

Here we present three beautiful broadcasts from All India Radio, recently recorded from Raagam, the internet radio of AIR, which broadcasts classical Indian music 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

1. Abhay Narayan Mallick - Raga Alahiyah Bilawal - Alap-Jod-Dhrupad Chautaal 

& Raga Abhogi - Alap-Jod-Dhrupad Dhamar Taal (57:52)

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2. Abhay Narayan Mallik - Raga Ahir Bhairav - Alap-Dhrupad Choutaal - Bol: Praatah Samay Shyam Sunder Ko Roop Niharak & Raga Todi - Alap-Dhamar - Bol: Pari Aaleeri (57:39)

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3. Abhay Narayan Mallik - Dhrupad Gayan - Ragas Bhoop Kalyan, Basant & Rageshri (59:02)

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Vilayat Khan - The Genius of Vilayat Khan - LP published in India in 1962

Here our last LP - for now - by the great Vilayat Khan. The two Ragas are from the same recording sessions as the ones on the LP with Tilak Kamod and Bhairavi which was released in 1961. In effect it seems that there were two recording sessions, one with Mohammad Ahmad on Tabla and the other with Santa Prasad on Tabla. The Ahir Bhairav here and the Tilak Kamod on the LP from 1961 are with Mohammad Ahmad and the Khamaj on our LP here and the Bhairavi on the LP from 1961 are with Santa Prasad.

These two LPs are amongst the very first LPs of classical Indian music published by the Gramophone Company of India. The EALP series started with the number 1251 (Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan) in 1960.

See: http://discog.piezoelektric.org/hmvindia/index.php?prefix=EALP/EASD

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Damodarlal Kabra demonstrates Ragalap - Recorded in Jodhpur on 23.7.1975

New covers created by Coltra (see comments):

With these very beautiful privately recorded Alaps we conclude our posts on Damodarlal Kabra. See here our other posts on the artist:

http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.de/search/label/Damodarlal%20Kabra

We received these recordings recently from our friend KF. Many thanks to him for sharing.

"Ustad Ali Akbar Khan came to Jodhpur in 1944 as court musician of the erstwhile Marwar state and came across Damodarlal Kabra. Soon Kabra became Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's first disciple and started learning the fine notes of Maihar Gharana. His hard work and commitment for pure music found new dimensions under his Guru's teachings. 

Damodarlal Kabra loveably called 'Damoodada' never had quest for publicity. He maintained a low profile instead. In 1956, he first played in Calcutta and won a big acclaim there. In May 1959, his Sarod recital was first heard by the Radio listeners across the country in Akashwani's National Programme of Music. 'Dada' always wanted to promote the rich Indian classical music. In 1957, he founded "Rashtriya Kala Mandal' in Jodhpur. Many musicians worked here as teachers, in this college and many great musicians have been students of this college.

'Dada' passed away on 4th August, 1979. After hearing about this legendary tabla player of Banaras Kishan Maharaj uttered " The front page of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's music has flown away". 'Dada' taught music to many people. His disciples include Manju Mehta, Vikas Gupta, Amubhai Doshi, Imu Desai, Krishna Mohan Bhatt and Laxmi Kant Doshi.

This humble and great musician always maintained a low profile, but his music is still alive and his son Basant Kabra is a true representative of this."

from: http://www.kabrabasant.com/BIOGRAPHIES.html

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Damodarlal Kabra's only commercial LP (republished as a CD) was a Jugalbandi with his younger brother Brij Bhushan Kabra, today also available on many download and streaming services:

The Sitar of India - LP published in UK in 1971

Here we post a LP published in "The Living Tradition" series, recorded in India in 1968 by Deben Bhattacharya. This LP is interesting mainly because it contains one of the very few recordings of the great, but unfortunately little known Sarod player Damodarlal Kabra, the older brother of the famous Slide Guitar player Brij Bhushan Kabra. Damodarlal Kabra was the very first student of Ali Akbar Khan during the time when he was court musician in Jodhpur. That was in Ali Akbar Khan's early twenties. On Damodarlal Kabra see here.

We had already posted in 2013 a LP with one side by Damodarlal Kabra, also recorded in 1968 by Deben Bhattacharya. See here. Next we will post another LP published in Sweden, also with one side by him and Manju Bhatt, recorded at the same time as this one. 

Manju Bhatt, later after marriage known as Manju Mehta, with whom he plays here a Jugalbandi, was at that time completely unknown. She is the older sister of Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and studied with Damodarlal Kabra and Ravi Shankar. In the last years a couple of CDs by her were published in India and UK. She also was the co-founder of one of the biggest festivals of Classical Indian Music in India, the Saptak Festival. 

On side B there is another important, but little known musician: Umashankar Mishra, one of the very first students of Ravi Shankar and a very fine musician. On him see here. One would have wished that Deben Bhattacharya would have recorded a solo performance by him.

Download wave

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Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009) - Sarod - Raga Ahir Bhairav - Raga Durgeshwari - LP published in India in 1973

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Gangubai Hangal (1913-2009) - Two Soulful Melodies - LP published in India in 1979

Here another great female voice from the Kirana Gharana. See our older posts on Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) and Roshan Ara Begum (1917-1982).

Download wave

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About the artist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangubai_Hangal
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1913433/Gangubai-Hangal
http://www.parrikar.org/vpl/?page_id=267
https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mausam/gangubai.html
http://www.gangubaihangalgurukul.gov.in/
http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2304/stories/20060310000708000.htm
and many more to be found by googling her name.

More Rudra Veena Masters: Shrikant Pathak and R. V. Hegde

Bindu Madhav Pathak

Here we present two Rudra Veena masters from Dharwar in South India: Shrikant Pathak and R.V. Hegde.  Both are students of Pandit Bindu Madhav Pathak (1935-2004), an exponent of Rudraveena and Sitar.

Dr Bindu Madhav Pathak was the son of a great Rudra Veena player Pt. Dattopant Pathak and hails from Hubli. He obtained his early training from his father (pupil of Late Ustad Murad Khan Beenkar of Jawara) and later from Ustad Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas. Both Ustad Murad and Rajab Ali Khan were students of the great Rudra Veena player Ustad Bande Ali Khan.

BMP blossomed into an accomplished artist at a very young age of 17. He was a top 'A' grade artist of AIR. He performed in several National Music Programmes of AIR and Doordarshan. Some of his students are his son Shrikant Pathak, Ramchandra V Hegde and Jyoti Hegde. He was Head of Dept. of Music in Karnataka University, Dharwad.
Pt Pathak was heavily influenced by the vocal music of Kirana Gharana (that of Abdul Wahid Khan). He insisted his gharana to be Kirana, and not formally associated with any Dhrupad gharanas. He said he played Khayal style (Kirana type) of music on Been. 

Mr. Pathak, who retired as the Head of the Department of Music of Karnatak University, was popularly known as "Been" Pathak for his expertise in playing the Been. Apart from performing for Akashwani and Doordarshan, he was a recipient of several awards and titles including the Karnataka Kala Tilak Award, Aryabhata Award, and "Vidyaparipoorna" title. He also served as adviser to the Union Ministry of Education and Culture .

Mr. Pathak wrote many books and articles on music, including Bharatiya Sangeeta Charitre.

Bande Ali Khan

He belonged to the Khyal Ang Rudra Veena tradition. Khyal Ang on veena began mainly with Bande Ali Khan (credited: 1826-1890). An innovative and iconoclastic musician, Bande Ali Khan was particularly fond of khyal singing, which he adapted to the bin, the instrument having until then been solely used to interpret the dhrupad style.

Murad Khan (on the right) and his disciple Krishnarao Kholapure

His student Murad Khan was the one who propagated this unorthodox innovation through the state of Maharashtra. Hindraj Divekar, Bindumadhav Pathak, Jyothi Hegde, and a number of other beenkars belong to this tradition and play khyal and dhrupad ang.

Another point to note is these people including Bindu Madhavji played a been manufactured in Miraj (Maharashtra), whereas others like Bahauddin Dagar play ones from Kolkatta (from what I know).

Information collected from a Dhrupad enthousiast from Hubli, Dharwar, from the book "Rudra Veena: An Ancient String Musical Instrument" by Pandit Hindraj Divekar (see here) and from the excellent website: http://www.rudravina.com/
See also here.

The fotos above are from the website www.rudravina.com.

As we were not able to find any recordings by Bindu Madhav Pathak, we present here two musicians belonging to his tradition: his son Shrikant Pathak and his student R.V. Hegde. The music is from All India Radio. We found the recordings a while ago in the internet. Unfortunately we don't remember the names of the original uploaders.

Shrikant Pathak (Rudra Veena) - Raga Madhumad Sarang (27:55)

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R.V. Hegde (Rudra Veena) - Raga Ahir Bhairav (24:00)

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Shrikant Pathak took Been playing professionally. He has an MA in music and holds a Ph.D. He teaches Sitar at Pandit Panchakshari Gawai music college run by Veereshwar Punyashram, Gadag.

Ramachandra V. Hegde was born in 1953 at Halladkai in Sirsi Taluk, Karnataka in a family with a rich musical background. His grandfather was a well known musician in that area and as a child he grew up in a house steeped in music. He began learning Hindustani Vocal and is an accomplished singer but was fascinated by the Sitar. His love for the Sitar made him give up singing and soon he began his training under Pt. (Dr.) Bindu Madhav Pathak, a well known Sitar and Rudraveena player of the Bande Ali Khan Gharana. Under Pt (Dr.) Bindu Madhav Pathak’s guidance he soon learnt the intricacies of the Sitar. He was also lucky enough to get a guru who was an accomplished player of the Rudraveena.
The Rudraveena is not an easy instrument to master and there are only a handful of artists who play the Rudraveena. Under Pt (Dr.) Bindu Madhav Pathak’s guidance, Ramachandra Hegde was able to master both these classical Indian Stringed Instruments.
Apart from playing the Sitar and the Rudraveena, Ramachandra Hegde believes in keeping the music of the Rudraveena alive for generations to come. He teaches music and trains young pupils from all over the country. Many of his students have gone on to become All India Radio Artists themselves.
from: http://www.angelfire.com/planet/rudraveena/Rudraveena/index.blog/1266513/rudraveena/

If anybody has more information or more recordings by these artists or other artists from this tradition, please share.

Addition of 19th of january 2018:
Just found on YouTube an extremely difficult to get CD by R.V. Hegde, posted by the label in CD quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmGlRWSUrM&t=9s

Recently in India a CD by Jyoti Hegde was published:

Jyoti Hegde (Rudra Veena) & ? (Pakhawaj) – Rare Instruments - Rudra Veena: Raga Miyan Malhar: Alap, Jod & Jhala, Dhrupad Bandish in Chautala, Raga Megh Malhar: Alap & Jhala, Dhrupad Bandish in Jhaptal, ASA MUSIC, ASA-MGD-G039

Unfortunately the label put a picture of the Saraswati Veena instead of the Rudra Veena on the cover.

Debabrata (Debu) Chaudhuri - Meditations in Indian Sitar Music - LP published 1968 in UK

Debabrata (Debu) Chaudhuri - Sitar 

Faiyaz Khan - Tabla

This LP was also published in India as "Sitar Nawaz Debu Chaudhuri"

EMI SMFP 2101 (1968)

Side 1:

Raga Maru-Behag (22:49)

Side 2:

Raga Aheer Bhairab (25:27)

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"Adorned with the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest Civilian Govt. Awards, for his contributions in the field of music, from the President of India, Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri, a legendary figure in the domain of Indian Classical Music, popularly known as "DEBU", is one of India's most respected, leading and outstanding musicians of today.

Panditji received his early training from the late Shri. Panchu Gopal Datta for some time and later for 38 years from the veritable great master and the most traditional exponent of Sitar, SANGEET ACHARYA USTAD MUSHTAQ ALI KHAN of the "SENIA GHARANA", the traditional school of Indian Classical Music named after the great MIAN TANSEN, the father of Indian Music. Debuji is the foremost exponent and torch bearer of this Gharana."

from: http://www.debuchaudhuri.com/about.htm

His guru was from an illustrious lineage of the Jaipur Senia Gharana, being seventh in succession from the great Masit Sen, the inventor of the Masit Khani baaj of sitar. He excelled both in sitar and surbahar playing, using three mizrabs.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushtaq_Ali_Khan