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:

flac
mp3

Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) & Saraswati Rane (1913-2006) - Recent broadcasts on Raagam

Hirabai Barodekar

Here some boadcasts by Hirabai Barodekar on Raagam, the internet radio of All India Radio, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week classical Indian music.

See:

http://www.airbengaluru.com/cue-sheets/raagam-2/

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

Select there Raagam.

1. Hirabai Barodekar - Alhaiya Bilawal & Ramkali
The Raga Ramkali here seems to be the same recording as the one 
on the LP we posted in 2012, but here it is longer and complete.

2. Hirabai Barodekar - Multani & Marwa

3. Hirabai Barodekar - Jaijaiwanti

4. Hirabai Barodekar - Abhogi

An Indian friend based in the US just send me two recordings of Thumries he had recorded from Raagam. Many thanks to him. Here they are:

Hirabai Barodekar - Jogia Thumri
Hirabai Barodekar - Bhairavi Thumri

Saraswati Rane

And here the only recording by Saraswati Rane broadcast by Raagam, as far as we know:

Saraswathi Rane - Yaman - Vilambit - Ek Taal & Drut - Teen Taal

As these recordings were broadcast in mp3 format we post them here also only in mp3 format. They were broadcast in 2017 and June and July 2018.

Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - In Memoriam - Cassette published in India in 1987

To close our Dhrupad Series (for now), which became much longer then originally intended, we present here a cassette by the great Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, who was, next to his teacher Ustad Faiyaz Khan, amongst the few outstanding singers of the Agra Gharana, who still sang reguarly long Alaps in the Dhrupad style, most times followed by a Khayal compostion. But Ustad Faiyaz Khan sang also Dhrupad compositions, mostly Dhamar. See our post of a cassette by Ustad Faiyaz Khan. 

Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930 - 1985) was amongst the most brilliant Khayal vocalists of the post-independence era. He represented the Agra Gharana (stylistic lineage), and was unanimously regarded as the most illustrious heir to the legacy of his principal mentor, the legendary Ustad Faiyyaz Khan (1886 - 1950).

Here on this cassette the complete Side A is filled with a long Alap in Raga Jaijaiwanti, followed on Side B by a Khayal composition in the same Raga.
In 2011 and 2015 we posted already four recordings by him, partly also with long Alaps. See here.

The Agra Gharana was originally a Dhrupad Gharana. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra_gharana

https://www.sahapedia.org/the-agra-gharana-of-hindustani-music

Here two pages from the book "Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition" by Guy L. Beck, on which some information on the Dhrupad background of the Agra Gharana is given:

from: Google Books

Addition on 25th of may, 2018:

Here a link from Saptak Festival 2018, devoted to Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, containing a beautiful  article on the artist and a CD published on that occasion:

http://www.saptakarchives.org/artist-bios/ustad-sharafat-hussain-khan/

flac

mp3

The Younger Dagar Brothers: Nasir Zahiruddin Dagar (1933-1994) & Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar (1934-1989) - LP released in India in 1968

Here we present a quite rare LP by the Junior Dagar Brothers, their very first LP. I recently was able to obtain a copy of this LP, which has certain shortcomings. First the cover had the correct back side, but the front had the cover of a Bollywood LP. In the internet I found a good scan of the correct front cover. But this front cover is from the original LP EASD 1334, whereas our LP and the backcover is from the export edition S/MOAE 181, both released in 1968. Secondly, the LP was not in good condition: it had some cracks and sidenoises.

Our friend LF from Scotland was so kind to clean the recording. Here what he wrote:

"I've just uploaded the processed files into your dropbox. You sent me 24-bit WAV files and I've returned them in the same format. The only problem was with side 2 track 1 where at around 1:28 there is a loud crack in the original. I think that there is a jump there. I expect that no amount of cleaning will get rid of this, unless there is some visible lump of grot stuck on the record.

The repair has no audible crack, but the rhythm suffers a slight jump, but not too awful I think? There are no cracks or pops in the rest of the music, except at very low level.  The recording is very stereo with one brother, with the slightly raspy voice in the left channel and the other brother with a sweet softer voice in the right channel." Thank you very very much, LF.

The voice on the left channel is the one of Zahiruddin Dagar and on the right channel it is Faiyazuddin Dagar.

In 2011 we posted a double LP by the Junior Dagar Brothers. We added now (28th of february) flac files.

About the artists see: 

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

flac
mp3

Vilayat Khan - Music from India Series 11 - LP published in England in 1969

We continue now our series of LPs by the great Vilayat Khan. Here we post the English edition of an LP which was released also the same year in India, but with a different cover:

The reason why we choose the English edition, though we have the Indian edition in our collection, is that English pressings are of better quality.

This English edition we received from LF from Scotland. Many thanks to him for sharing so generously.

flac

mp3

Anjanibai Lolekar (born 1928) - LP published in India in 1968

Here the third post of great female voices of the Agra Gharana. Anjanibai Lolekar was born on 8.9.1928. She learnt from Ustad Anwar Hussain Khan (1910-1966), a brother of Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan and Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan. If she is still living, I don't know. Hardly anything can be found about her in the internet.

Download flac
Download mp3

Dipali Nag (1922-2009) - Raga Jaijaiwanti, Raga Jaunpuri & Bhairavi Thumri - LP published in 1972 in India

Here the second great female voice of Agra Gharana.

Download flac

Download mp3

On the artist see:

http://www.itcsra.org/sra_news_views/obituary/dipali_nag.html

Mohammed Sharif Khan Poonch Wala on Vichitra Veena and Raza Been (Rudra Veena) - EMCP-5041 (1976) - LP from Pakistan

The legendary Sitar player Mohammad Sharif Khan Poonchhwala (1923-1980) was also a great Vichitra Veena player and a Raza Been (Rudra Veena) player. Here a wonderful LP by the Ustad playing these two instruments. Sitar he learned from his father Ustad Rahim Bakhsh Khan, who himself was a student of Ustad Imdad Khan. The Vichitra Veena he learned from Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan Beenkar.

Tabla: Shaukat Hussain Khan

Side 1:

1. Raag Mian Ki Todi on Vichitra Veena (12:39)

2. Raag Dais (Desh) on Raza Been (12:28)

Side 2:

1. Raag Jay Jay Wanti on Vichitra Veena (11:32)

2. Raag Bairveen on Vichitra Veena (12:41)

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Musical lineage

Ustad Sharif Khan died on May 26 in 1980 and his 32nd barsi went unnoticed among the music circles of the country
By Sarwat Ali

Traditionally barsis are held to honour the memory of the ustad and provide an opportunity for other musicians to express their homage. And what better way can there be of paying a tribute than in the language of music. Barsis over the centuries have become the biggest platform for performance and recognition of the significance of music lineage.
These barsis ideally should be organised by the shagirds and the connoisseurs of music and then made into a regular affair through some systematic arrangement but it has been seen that the onus of celebrating/observing these barsis falls on the progeny of the ustad. If the progeny is enterprising and has done well in life the level of the barsi programme is reasonably high and the occasion holds some promise. But if it has not fared well then the barsi is either never held or if held fizzles out to such a sorry end that one wished that it had never been held in the first place.
Not only in the case of musicians but the other celebrated individuals, writers, poets or public figures, the barsis are usually held by the progeny or extended family of the individual. The progeny is in a certain fix in this arrangement, for if the family is involved it exposes itself to all kinds of accusations and possible slander like capitalising on the fame of an ancestor for enhancing its own status and glorifying the lineage. But if they do not venture forward then no one else does and the society is deprived of the positive fallout of the event.
The immediate family of Sharif Khan lives in Lahore but the only child who made a name for himself in sitar playing Ashraf Sharif Khan moved to Germany where he has lived now for more than 15 years. He occasionally visits Pakistan to meet his family and to possibly play at a couple of concerts in the various cities of the country. When he lived in Pakistan he was able to motivate a few connoisseurs of music and admirers of Ustad Sharif Khan to organise some event to remember and honour his father’s contribution to the sitar and vichitra veena but since he moved out of the country the annual event is now more conspicuous by it not being held.
Ustad Sharif Khan was born in Hissar which is now in Haryana, probably in the third decade of the 20th century and after dabbling with the tabla and harmonium became a musician at the court of the Maharaja of Poonch. He followed the path treaded by his father Ustad Rahim Bakhsh Khan who too was associated with the state of Poonch, and according to some was the ustad of the maharaja himself.
A virtuoso himself, Ustad Rahim Khan was from a family of vocalists but had switched to the string instruments and became an outstanding instrumentalist under the tutelage of Ustad Imdad Khan, the grandfather of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Ustad Sharif Khan himself became the shagird of Ustad Inayat Khan, the son of Imdad Khan and hence the father of Ustad Vilayat Khan.
For Ustad Sharif Khan, the going was much tougher in Pakistan. He had established himself as a sitar player before partition but the lukewarm response and lack of appreciation of classical music made him look for other avenues to meet both ends. The film was the only platform that could pay him enough to survive and thus continue with his passion of exploring the musical range of both the sitar and veena. He was initially associated with Pandit Amarnath and after partition he found creative affinity with Khurshid Anwar and for whom he played the sitar and veena in his numerous compositions.
Ustad Sharif Khan spent long hours mastering the very difficult art of playing the veena. Nobody in his family was a veena player but when he was taunted by the nephew of Ustad Abdul Aziz Beenkar that it was almost impossible to play the vichitra veena he took it up as a challenge. The balance of both the hands and the technique to be applied had immense differences in the art of playing the two instruments but he switched from the one to the other with seeming ease. The graces in particular the meends so characteristics of the veena found their way when he took to playing the sitar seriously. These meends on the sitar expanded the musical possibilities inherent in the instruments. It can be said without fear of contradiction that no other sitar player has been able to achieve it.
Though he was given the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz it was difficult for him to keep two ends meet. He really had to struggle hard and it was at the cost of his health. In most of the recordings he could not hold back his coughing and it also got recorded with his priceless music. Struggling to keep economically solvent in a society with only a qualified acceptance of music cost him dearly and he died in 1980 at the prime of his creative life.

from: http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2012-weekly/nos-03-06-2012/enc.htm

Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1886-1950) - Aftaab-e-Mousiqi - An All India Radio Release - LP PMLP 3015 (1988) - The Gramophone Company of India

Side 1:

Raga Jaijaiwanti (23:24)

Side 2:

Raga Bhoop (8:16)

Raga Tilak Kamod - Dadra (14:06)

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