Ustad Mohammad Omar - Rubab Master from Afghanistan - Recordings from the archives of WDR

Here we present a number of beautiful recordings of the great Master of the Afghan Rubab, Ustad Mohammad Omar. I received these recordings from my friend KF. Originally these recordings are from the archives of WDR in Cologne, Germany. They seem to be from two different recording sessions: the first three tracks from one session and the rest from a second session.

Here again KF wrote notes about the recordings:

flac

mp3

Many thanks to KF.

Ustad Mohammad Omar (1905–1980) - Rubab - Cassette from Afghanistan

Here we present an Afghani cassette by the great Rubab master Ustad Mohammad Omar, which we recently received from our very generous friend KF as a gift. This cassette served as the basis for the CD "Ustad Mohammad Omar ‎- Robab - The Soul of Sound", released in Germany in the 1990s and rereleased in 2009. But it is not completely identical: the order of the pieces is different and it seems that for the CD some parts were cut out, probably because of imperfections in the recordings. 

The cassette is not well edited, e.g. the first and the last track seem to be two different sections of the same recording, partly overlapping, and often there are some harsh noises between the tracks. These we cut out. At the end of side 1 there are two very short, partly distorted pieces which seem to be fragments of other tracks. These we also cut out. The cassette is still about five minutes longer than the CD.

Ustad Mohammad Omar was presented on many LPs of Afghani music released in the West in the 1960s and 1970s, as he was considered one of the most prominent Afghani musicians and the Rubab was considered a national emblem of the country.

There are only two CDs on the market: the one mentioned above and the one released by Folkways. The second one is not that typical. Better are his recordings done in Afghanistan. Next we will post some beautiful recordings from the archives of WDR.

Here he is accompanied by two excellent percussionists: Ghul Alam on Dhol and the legendary Malang (Najrabi) on Zerbaghali. By both one can find music on YouTube. In some tracks there is also an excellent Tambur (long-necked lute) player. His name is unfortunately not mentioned. Perhaps it is Abdul Majid who was present on several LPs published in the West.

On the artist see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Omar_(musician)

https://folkways.si.edu/ustad-mohammad-omar-master-afghan-classical/central-asia-world/music/article/smithsonian

You can also download the booklet to his Folkways CD:

https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40439.pdf

flac
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Essa Kassemi - Singing and Rubab Playing from Afghanistan - A WDR radio program broadcast on 31st of August 1983

Here we post a radio program on music from Afghanistan broadcast by WDR (Western German Radio) in Cologne on 31st of August 1983s. I received this recently from my friend KF. He made notes on the pieces performed. See below two pages from his notebook.

Essa Kassemi (Isa Khasemi) was and is quite well known through his French LP which was widely present in the record shops back then and which we posted a couple of days ago. He lives in Cologne since several decades. On the back cover of his LP this information is given: 

"Ustad Essa Kassimi, classical singer and master of the short-necked lute or Robab, born in Kabul in 1932, comes from a famous family of traditional musicians. On the maternal side, his grandfather Ustad Mohammad Kassem (Ustad Qasim (1882-1955)), formerly among the most important musicians of the Royal Court, is considered today as the founder of the classical Afghan musical art. It is he who teaches Essa Kassimi the techniques of singing, Tabla, Robab. From his father, Aga Mohammad, famous classical singer, Essa Kassimi learns the mastery of the instruments Dilruba, Sarangi, Harmonium and Robab." 

Otherwise not much is known about him. I remember that I saw in the 1970s a small poster announcing a concert by him in Düsseldorf. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the concert, which I still regret.

The Program consists of three pieces:

1. Raga Kausiya - Rubab

2. Ghazal in Raga Bhairavi

3. Raga Iman (Yaman) Kalyan - Rubab

flac
mp3

Many thanks to KF for sharing so generously.

Essa Kassimi - Le Luth Afghan - LP released in France in 1979

Now we start a small series of Rubab recordings. First a French LP which was widely present in the record shops back then. The artist lives in Cologne, Germany.

flac

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Robab Dhol Naghma - Robab music from Afghanistan - Cassette published in Peshawar, Pakistan

Wonderful Robab and Dhol music from Afghanistan. Cassette published in Peshawar in Pakistan. Don't be irritated by the western instruments on the cover: this is pure Afghan music at its best.

I'm not able to decipher all the infos given on the cover. One thing I can decipher is the name Abdul Rauf. Probably the name of the Robab player. It would be very welcome if anyone could help

Side A (30:26)

Side B (30:26)

Download

Many thanks again to Danny for sharing this cassette.

Rubab Mangi - Naghma Sazun - Pashto Rubab Music - Cassette from Pakistan

This seems to be Pashto Rubab music from the region of Peshawar in Pakistan, not far from the border to Afghanistan.

Side 1 (30:47)

Side 2 (30:32)

Download

Many thanks to Danny again for sharing this cassette.

Ostad Jilani - Robab Mehfil - Cassette from Afghanistan

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Ghulam Jailani

An outstanding rubab player in Kabul in the 1970s was Ghulam Jailani, one of the five musician sons of Ustad Nabi Gol. He had adopted a rather more Hindustani-like approach to the rubab, with greater use of the unfretted range, more dynamic variety, less repetition of the fixed composition, and more elaborate improvisations in comparison with other players, often using fast down-up stroke patterns. Unlike most other players he made little use of parandkari techniques, though he does frequently strum across all the sympathetic strings. He was sometimes criticised for playing the rubab too much like the Indian sarod, even though he did not use much in the way of sarod-like glissandi.

I met him in his family home in the Kharabat on 6 June 1976, when I had the opportunity to record him playing two long pieces, accompanied by tabla. At the time he told me he was influenced by the playing of sarod players such as Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, whom he had heard on the radio, record or cassette. The first piece he played for me was in Rag Gorahkalyan, accompanied by his brother Wali Nabizada on tabla. For this rag he used an alternative tuning, with the lower melody string tuned down from C# to B and the middle string tuned down from F# to E.

After an extended shakl the astai section starts 4'45'' in from the beginning of the piece and is in Ektal, a 12 matras cycle. At 6'59'' Jailani exclaims somewhat boastfully 'Up till now nobody has played an astai in Ektal.' In this astai there are long improvised rhythmic sections, but with no clearly defined naghma. The naghma-ye drut (fast naghma) begins at 10'44'' and is in Tintal. At 19'10'' he moves into the doubly fast naghma-ye drut drut. Only at this stage does he start using the sim-e barchak, in a way that hints at playing jhala on the sarod.

The second piece Jailani described as a thumri in Rag Pilu and is remarkable for its modulations from one rag to another. His brother Latif takes over on tabla. In the shakl he modulates to Rag Kafi and then back to Pilu. The astai starts at 3'40'' and is in Chanchar Tal, a rare metric cycle of 14 matras (Dha Dhin ¬– – Dha Dha Tin, Ta Tin – – Dha Dha Dhin). In this astai section Jailani modulates through a series of rags in ragmala style before returning to Pilu. After the recording Jailani identified these as Pardepki, Madhubanti, Bilawal, Bairami and Sultankauns, but Pardepki and Sultankauns are not to be found in the usual sangits (rag dictionaries). Further analysis is required. Here Jailani is showing off his knowledge of little-known rags and his skill in stringing them together. This kind of serial modulation is not common in Afghanistan. At 7'39'' he interpolates a short section in fast rhythm, then reverts back at 8'22'' to the slow Chanchar Tal. At 13'54'' the naghma-ye drut begins, and is in Tintal.

Jailani's innovative approach probably influenced the virtuoso styles of a younger generation of rubab players from the Kharabat, such as Homayun Sakhi and Khial Mohammed Saqizada.

John Baily

from: http://www.oart.eu/joomla/naghma-ye-klasik