We start now to post a series of five LPs by great masters of the Sarangi from Pakistan. After that we will post two more recordings from Pakistan, which was a true treasure house of classical Raga music up to the early 1980s.
We start with an LP by Hamid Hussain, one of the greatest Sarangi players of the past century. Here he plays Jugalbandis (duets), on side 1 with his younger brother, also a Sarangi player, on side 2 with Sharif Hussain, the leading Sarod player in Pakistan at that time. It seems that Sarod always was a quite rare instrument in Pakistan.
We had already in July 2011 posted an LP by the artist. See here.
The book "Master Musicians of India - Hereditary Sarangi Players Speak" by Regula Burckhardt Qureshi contains a wonderful chapter on and by Hamid Hussain (pages 269 to 289), the most fascinating part of the whole book.
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“Ustad Hamid Husain belonged to the illustrious Muradabad Gharana of
sarangi players. He was born in Rampur in 1923. Soon after his birth, his
grandfather Haider Husain Khan along with father Abid Husain joined the court of
Rampur. The young Hamid received his initial training in sarangi from his father
and grandfather. He also got training in sarangi from his maternal unclce Ustad
Ali Jan of Rampur.
Hamid Husain joined the All India Radio, Delhi when he was only 15 years
old. After the death of his grandfather, he shifted to Bombay in 1939. It was
during his tenure there that Noor Jehan as a teenager was auditioned and sang
for the first time on Radio accompanied by Hamid Husain. In 1943 he went on an
extensive tour of Europe where he gave solo sarangi performances.
Ustad Hamid Husain accompanied most of the senior vocalists of his time
including Ustad Fayyaz Khan, Ustad Amir Khan, Begum Akhtar (Akhtar Bai
Faizabadi), Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad Nazakat Ali-Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and Ustad
Amanat Ali-Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. He had enjoyed a lengthy association with Ustad
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. After independence in 1947, he joined Radio Pakistan,
Dacca and was later transferred to Karachi where he served until his
death.
In addition to the knowledge he gained from his own gharana, the experience
of accompanying various vocalists of different gharanas enhanced his scope and
from a young age, Hamid Husain became a storehouse of traditional compositions
(bandishein).
Apart from his artistic excellence, Ustad Hamid Husain was one of the few
musicians who were foremost in promoting classical music by generously
transferring the art to non-professional learners. He never kept anything away
from his disciples. The long list of his professional and amateur students
includes Dinaz Minwala, M. Iqbal, Dr Regular Burckhardt Qureshi, flautist Ustad
Salamat Husain and Habib Wali Mohammad.
The Ustad was closely related to legendary giants Ustad Mushtaq Husain Khan
and Ustad Ahmad Jan Thirakwa Khan. Other famous musicians of his gharana are his
younger brother late Zahid Husain (Karachi), his cousin Ustad Sabri Khan
(Delhi), his nephew Murad Ali (Delhi) – all sarangi players – and Ustad Zameer
Khan (tabla player). Ustad Hamid Husain Khan died in Karachi in 1980 at the age
of 57.”
[Late vocalist & composer Ustad Nihal Abdullah was Ustad Hamid Husain’s
brother-in-law (sister’s husband, behnoi).]
from: https://sarangi.info/sarangi/hh/
