Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1886-1950) - Heritage - Cassette released in India in 1999

Here some other wonderful archival recordings by the great Ustad. The Raga Todi on the first side is in Dhrupad format: first an Alap and then a Dhrupad composition in Chautal.

In the near future we will post more volumes from this Heritage Series with archival recordings, most times from private collections.

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Ustad Sarahang - Live in Kabul 1978

Here a very beautiful concert recording by Ustad Sarahang containing:

Raga Malkauns (incomplete) (25:54)

Raga Todi (46:30)

We received these recordings from our friend Werner Durand. Many thanks to him.

It seems that these recordings are from two different concerts: the first Raga is a midnight Raga, whereas the second one is a late morning Raga. Also the second track has Sarangi accompaniment, which the first doesn't have. The first Raga is incomplete and ends abruptly. To make it more smooth we created a short fade out.

In the 1990s and early 2000s there were many CDs by him available in the Afghani shops. They were released inside the Afghan community, mainly in the US. Amongst these CDs were also some with a classical Raga program in Khayal format. Maybe in the future we will post some of these, as they are no longer available for many years.

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Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) - Rudra Vina - Copy of a cassette published in India in 1980

A quite bad scan of the original cover on Discogs.

Here the cover of the copy I had received years ago:

Here we present another beautiful recording by the artist, published in 1980 on cassette by Amarnad, a small Indian label. Unfortunately we only have a copy of the cassette. We don't remember anymore from whom we received this cassette. It might be from Ambrose Bierce. Anyway, many thanks.

Recently we had another cassette from the same label by a student of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Chandrashekhar Naringrekar. Normally we post only orginal releases. But this cassette is so rare. that we decided to post it as we have it.

If anyone has the original cassette and could share better covers, that would be great and very appreciated.

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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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Siyaram Tiwari (1919-1998) - Recording (1979) from the archives of All India Radio

Here we present a beautiful recording by Siyaram Tiwari, the legendary singer of the Darbhanga Gharana. The recording is from 1979 and contains Ragas Todi and Mian Malhar. I recorded it in november 2017 from Raagam, the internet radio of AIR, which broadcasts classical Indian music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unfortunately at that moment I was only able to record in mp3 format.

In 2011 we posted his only LP. We added now flac files.

On the artist see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siyaram_Tiwari_(musician)
https://siyaramtiwarinadvistar.wordpress.com/2016/08/25/padmashree-pandit-siyaram-tiwari-smriti-sangeet-samiti-nad-vistar-a-journey-so-far/

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Rahimuddin Khan Dagar (1901-1976) - AIR programs & EPs

Here three AIR recordings by the great Dhrupadiya. The two EPs on the second CD were released in 1961.

See: http://discog.piezoelektric.org/hmvindia/index.php?prefix=7EPE. 

Many thanks to KF for the recordings and the covers.
Frontcover: background right: Behram Khan, background left: Allabande Khan, front: Rahimuddin Khan.

CD 1 - flac
CD 1 - mp3

CD 2 - flac
CD 2 - mp3

Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1893-1989) - LP published in 1970 in India & some shorter AIR recordings

Here we post the only LP - to our knowledge - released during the lifetime of the artist. I don't have this LP and I even never saw it in the shops, not even in the 1970s. Our friend KF has it and made many years ago this CD out of it, adding some shorter recordings from AIR broadcasts and one from a compilation on LP. He also created the covers. Many thanks to him.

In 1992 another LP (PMLP 3080) was published with recordings from the archives from AIR, which unfortunately we also don't have.

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Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - 30th anniversary of his death - Part II - Raga Todi & Raga Rageshri

Here two other beautiful recordings by the great master. On the first CD we have a wonderful demonstration of his mastery over the Dhrupad format including a long Alap. Sharafat Hussain Khan was the last great singer of the Agra Gharana who reguarly performed long Alaps.

Sharafat Hussain Khan - CD 1 - Todi & covers:

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Sharafat Hussain Khan - CD 2 - Rageshri:

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Many thanks to KF for editing these recordings and creating the beautiful cover.

Aslam Khan - Darbari, Todi, Sohni - Cassette from India

Ustad Aslam Khan is one of the most interesting and refined singers of recent decades. He comes from a musically extremely rich background (see below), which is very manfest in his singing. We had already posted some recordings by one of his teachers, his uncle the legendary Altaf Hussain Khan (see here).

Download

Thanks to Ambrose Bierce for sharing this cassette.

Ustad Aslam Hussain Khan (A Living Legend)

Introduction Ustad Aslam Khan is one of the top and most senior musicians at present.     Ustad Aslam Hussain Khan has descended from the Hapur Gharana  (Meerut U.P.) of Shaadi Khan and Murad Khan whose achievements sound legendary. Ustad Shaadi Khan and Ustad Murad Khan were the court musicians of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Ustad Aslam Khan, has completed 50 years of dedicated service to Indian music this year, and on this occasion, his disciples, students and fans congratulate him for this great achievement. Born on 14th April 1940.  "Music runs in my blood" as he replies during an interview. Ustad Aslam Khan, is the representative of 500 year old traditional Musician's family of the prestigious Khurja Gharana, Atrauli (Jaipur) Gharana, Agra Gharanas and the Delhi Tanras Khan Gharana. These Gharanas have given India such giants as Haji Ustad Altaf Hussain Khan, Gayan Samrat Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan, Sangeet Samrat Ustad Allahdiya Khan, Gayan Acharya Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, Aaftab-e-Mausiqui Ustad Fayyaz Khan and many others. The contribution of these music stalwarts, to the enrichment, promotion and popularity of Indian Music is monumental. "I was initially trained in music by my maternal uncle Haji Ustad Altaf Hussain Khan of Khurja Gharana." "Later around 1950, I came to Bombay permanently, to stay with my brother-in-law, Gayan Samrat Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan, who not only became my Guru but also mentor and benefactor". "My Guru Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan, belonged to the Atrauli (Jaipur) Gharana, and was one of the greatest musicians India has ever produced". "He was a performer, musicologist, poet as well as a perfect teacher". "He not only taught me music but also urdu and Arabic". "I owe most of what I am today, as a musician and as a social being to my Guru". "I also had a golden opportunity of learning music under the great Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan of Agra Gharana, and also Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan." Aslam Khan was a child prodigy who gave his first stage performance at the age of twelve years. He is a khandani Musician belonging to the near extinct world of "Guru Shishya Parampara". This gem of purest ray serene, happily vegetates, in the dark unfathomed caves of sincere dedication and unalloyed devotion to music, blissfully unmindful of the honours like Padmabhushan, Sangeet Natak Academy Awards, Cultural Awards or Gaurav Puraskars, that should have come his way long ago but have not. Ustad Aslam Khan's inborn genius enabled him to blend the diverse speciality of each respective Gharana into an individual style which has tremendous aesthetic appeal, his khayal singing is marked by a leisurely development (badath) of the "Vilambit" while the "Drut" is embellished by a spectacular variation of "Layakari" and breath takingly "tayyar taans". Aslam Khan has recorded not less than four hundred bandishes (compositions) in rare ragas with the ITC SRA, SAPTAK (Ahmedabad), SNA (New Delhi), AIR (Mumbai & Delhi), Goa Academy Samvad foundation & NCPA Mumbai. He has recorded 300 rare ragas with SRA and fifty Ragas with Saptak. In recent times Aslam Khan Sahab has been declared as one of the greatest exponents of khayal gayaki & the senior most representative of the legendary Khurja, Atrauli (Jaipur) & Agra Gharanas. from: http://www.dilrangacademy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=15

Older Masters of Rudra Veena (Been) - Part I - Ustad Dabir Khan (1907-1972)

In the West the Rudra Veena is mainly known through two great masters of the instrument: Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) and Ustad Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011) (see here). 

We are starting now a series of three posts of great masters of the Rudra Veena who lived a generation earlier. As far as I know, never any recordings of these masters have been published. The recordings we present here are mostly from broadcasts by All India Radio.

For more information on the Rudra Veena, its masters and its history see:

http://www.rudravina.com/

We start with Ustad Mohammed Dabir Khan, the grandson and pupil of Wazir Khan of Rampur (the teacher of Ustad Allauddin Khan) who traces his lineage back to Tansen. He was proficient in instrumental Rudra Been as well as in vocal Dhrupad music. He was the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1969. He passed away in 1972.

Info taken from: http://www.parrikar.org/vpl/?page_id=406

Download CD 1 & Scans

Download CD 2

We are very grateful to KF, the original compiler of these recordings, who created these two CDs for his own collection and shared them generously.

Here you can find more recordings by Ustad Dabir Khan:

http://www.mediafire.com/?stpc5rgt65o4i#e2nx97va22b55

http://www.parrikar.org/vpl/?page_id=406