Masters of Vichitra Veena - Part II - Gopal Shankar Mishra (1957-1999)

Here some recordings by Gopal Shankar Mishra, the worthy son of Lalmani Mishra. Gopal Shankar Mishra was a master of the Sitar and the Vichitra Veena. Recordings done at the Benares Dhrupad Mela in 1995 and 1999.

Download CD 1 & Scans
Download CD 2

Recordings courtesy of VN,  CD compilation and covers by KF.

Many thanks to both. 

About the artist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopal_Shankar_Misra

Masters of Vichitra Veena - Part I - Gopal Krishan (1926-?) - Some AIR recordings

In the past we had already posted a couple of recordings by some masters of the Vichitra Veena, an extremely rare instrument of classical North Indian music. First we had posted a cassette by Lal Mani Mishra (1924-1979) (see here). Then we had a beautiful LP from Pakistan by Habib Ali Khan Beenkar (1898-1971), the younger brother of Abdul Aziz Khan Beenkar, the inventor or re-inventor of the Vichitra Veena (see here), and finally we had another beautiful Vichitra Veena LP, again from Pakistan, by the legendary Sitar player Mohammed Sharif Khan Poonchhwala (1923-1980) (see here) who learned to play the Vichitra Veena also from Abdul Aziz Khan. 

As there are only very few recordings of Vichtra Veena masters available and it is such a beautiful instrument we will post here some concert recordings and radio programs by two great masters of the instrument from India. We start here with Gopal Krishan (1926-?). The recordings are from All India Radio.

Download CD 1 & Scans

Download CD 2

Recordings courtesy of VN,  CD compilation and covers by KF.

Many thanks to both. 

See on the musician: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopal_Krishan

Alim Gasymov (Qasimov) - Destgah - Azerbaijan Mugams 1 - LP Melodiya C30 24023 006 (1985)

Here one of the earliest recordings by Alim Qasimov. 

See also our post "Azerbaijan - Zerbi-Mugams and Shikeste".

LP first published 1985/1986. This edition is from 1990.

Alim Gasymov - Vocal

Bahram Mansurov - Tar

Talyat Bakikhanov - Kyamancha (Kemenche)

Vartan Avetisov - Daf

Side 1: 

Mahur-Hindi (17:51)

Side 2:

Shur (23:11)

Download

New Download Links

For most posts we created now new download links on Mediafire. Hope this will help. The remaining part will be done in the next couple of days. There are some recordings on this blog which are available now on CD or exist as commercial downloads on download platforms like Amazon. We deleted the download links for these. Mediafire also considers some of our posts as being protected by copyright and denies download. These I also have deleted. You have to try to download these from Rapidshare. Hopefully with new Mediafire links existing now for almost all posts the number of visitors trying to download from Rapidshare will decrease greatly and make downloads easier available again.

Ustad Aslam Khan - Parampara (Tradition) - Cassette published in India in 1989

Here another beautiful cassette by Ustad Aslam Khan. 

Bosmart posted quite a while ago on his blog another beautiful cassette 

by him from the same year. There is now a new download link for it at: 

http://lalogiqueinterne.blogspot.fr/2010_11_01_archive.html

Side A:

Raga Manjari Bihag (29:29)

Side B:

Raga Kamodi Malhar (29:41)

Download

Many thanks again to Ambrose Bierce for sharing this cassette.

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

Zerrouk Mokdad - Musique Classique Algérienne - Cassette published in France

Here a cassette I bought in the early 1980s in Paris.

Arabo-Andalusian music from Algeria, the tradition of Algiers called Sana'a.

Another recording by Zerrouk Mokdad you can find here.

Side A: 

Nouba Ghrib - part 1 (23:56)

Side B:

Nouba Ghrib - part 2 (24:21)

Download

"HOMMAGE À ZERROUK MOKDAD

20/07/2008
La musique l’a bercé depuis son enfance jusqu’à le subjuguer à jamais.

La salle Aïssa Messaoudi de la Radio nationale a frémi, durant toute la soirée de mercredi, au rythme de la musique arabo-andalouse et du châabi à l’occasion d’un hommage rendu par la Radio nationale et retransmis en direct sur les ondes de la Chaîne 1, à Zerrouk Mokdad, le digne héritier de Dahmane Benachour et de Abdelkrim Dali. Référence par excellence dans ce genre musical. Soliste de l’Ensemble national, chef de l’orchestre de la Radio et dirigeant de l’Orchestre national de chaâbi. La soirée, à laquelle ont assisté, notamment de nombreux invités, des membres de la famille de l’artiste ainsi que ses amis de parcours, en l’occurrence Cheikh Nordine et Si Mustapha El Bahar. Issu d’une famille où l’éclat des hauts faits s’exprimait par son attachement aux valeurs traditionnelles, Zerrouk Mokdad, non sans inclination pour les décorums ancestraux, va lui-même perpétuer, car investi de la noble mission de promouvoir l’immense héritage de la musique arabo-andalouse, un art qui l’a bercé depuis son enfance jusqu’à le subjuguer à jamais. Référence incontournable dans la lignée des grands maîtres de la musique andalouse, Cheikh Zerrouk Mokdad est né à Blida dans une famille de mélomanes avertis. Il s’est imprégné, dès son jeune âge, des rudiments de la musique çanaâ et chaâbie. L’année 1964 marquera le début d’une longue carrière florissante par son inscription au conservatoire d’Alger dans la classe du regretté Abdelkrim Dali. Quelques mois plus tard, le jeune prodige au talent sûr adhère à l’association El-Djazaïria El-Mossilia côtoyant ainsi des personnages charismatiques de cette musique tels Abdelkrim Mehamsadji, Mohamed Bensemman, Zoubir Kakachi, Aziouz Hammachi, Omar Bensemman et Hamidou Djaïdir. Sa maîtrise du répertoire et de l’alto lui ouvre, en 1968, les portes de l’orchestre de la RTA dirigé par l’érudit Abderezzak Fakhardji qui vit en lui la relève sûre et légitime. La soif inextinguible de savoir et de connaissance l’amène à nouer, dès 1972, une relation de quasi filiation avec le maître du genre en la personne de Si Mustapha Bahar. Il sera nommé chef d’orchestre à la Radio algérienne en 1992 et ce, jusqu’à 2006, après dix-sept ans de contributions fécondes aux côtés de l’illustre Mustapha Skandrani. En 2003, le maître est nommé chef d’orchestre de l’ensemble régional de musique andalouse d’Alger avec lequel il effectuera plusieurs tournées régionales à l’instar de celles entreprises à la tête de l’ensemble national de chaâbi dont il assure la direction en succession au regretté Hadj Hachemi Guerrouabi. Cet inlassable travail de sauvegarde et vulgarisation de ce pan du patrimoine culturel national, Cheikh Zerrouk Mokdad le réalise à ce jour dans la plus parfaite des modesties. La soirée a débuté par l’orchestre national de musique, sous la direction de Abdelkader Razk Allah, qui a gratifié l’assistance d’une touchia dans le mode sika.Le chanteur Rachid Khali a subjugué le public, il a assuré en plus de sa voix rauque, une très belle interprétation, en imitant le grand maître, le défunt Hadj El Hachemi Guerrouabi, à l’occasion de la deuxième année de sa disparition à l’âge de 68 ans. Comme souvent dans ses chansons, l’artiste raconte des histoires, il nous monte des scénarios tragi-comiques. Rachid nous a proposé un bouquet de trois titres, de beaux textes de notre intarissable patrimoine culturel, mais aussi avec toute la finesse d’un parler très kasbadji, avec un mode musical lié à une sorte de nostalgie et de tristesse, mais associé à un ensemble d’expressions plus complexes qui varient considérablement selon la couleur, l’ambiance ou l’état d’esprit. Il termine, bien sûr, avec une certaine énergie, de la joie et de l’allégresse. Une manière de gratifier les deux maîtres.L’ambiance nostalgique s’est poursuivie avec Didine Karroum, ainsi avec l’invité d’honneur, qui n’est autre que Zerrouk Mokdad, installé en maître au milieu de l’orchestre avec son mandole pour offrir aux passionnés de cette musique populaire des extraits des grands chefs-d’oeuvre tirés des immortelles quassidate. Cette rencontre s’est terminée en beauté, avec la surprise, qui fut l’apparition sur scène de sa fille Kenza, qui veut suivre le chemin de son père et dont l’héritage du timbre de la voix et de la méthode d’interprétation demeurent confirmés. En marge de cet hommage, une pieuse pensée a été rendue à tous les artistes qui ont contribué à représenter dignement notre pays."

from: http://www.vitaminedz.com/hommage-a-zerrouk-mokdad/Articles_15688_109048_9_1.html

Ustad Doray Logari - Vol. 1 - Cassette from Afghanistan

Ostad Doray Logari is considered to be the father of Logari music. I guess that this means that he popularized this music in the middle of last century through his performances broadcast by Afghan radio and television. The famous Bilton, of whom we had posted earlier two cassettes (see here and here), is his best student. Logari music became through Ostad Doray Logari's performances very popular all over Afghanistan and is often considered the most typical Afghan music.

Logar (great mountain) is a province, mostly inhabited by Pashtuns and Tajiks, southeast of Kabul. 

Side 1 (30:17)

Side 2 (30:08)

Download

Bahauddin Qutbuddin Hamnava - Ya Habibi Ya Muhammad - Qawwali - Cassette from Pakistan

Ustad Bahauddin Qawwal (1934-2006) came from a family which traces its musically extremely rich lineage back to the Qawwal Bachche formed by Amir Khusrow (1253-1325). He received formal musical training from his father, Suleman Khan, and his uncle, Sardar Khan, a legendary Khyal singer of Delhi Gharana. The Delhi Gharana of Tanras Khan is a branch of the Qawwal Bachche Gharana and in both there were many famous singers of classical Raga music and of Qawwali. For example the cousin of Bahauddin, Munshi Raziuddin, a very famous Qawwali singer, was the teacher of his nephew Naseeruddin Saami, an oustanding Khyal singer from Karachi and a cousin of Bahaudin, who used to live just opposite him in the same street.

In the 1950s and 1960s Bahauddin was, together with the legendary Munshi Raziuddin, part of the ensemble of Manzoor Ahmed Khan Niazi Qawwal of whom we had posted earlier an LP (see here). In 1965 Bahaudin formed with his brother Qutbuddin his own ensemble, as did also later Munshi Raziuddin Qawwal. These three ensembles were the great representatives of the old tradition of Qawwali. Today Munshi Raziuddin's son Farid Ayaz is the best one of those carrying on this tradtion.

The German musicologist, producer and festival organizer Peter Pannke brought Bahaudin Qutbuddin Qawwal several times to Germany and Europe. He also produced a CD by him and several beautiful compilations of Pakistani Sufi music like the double CD "Troubadoure Allahs", on which there are tracks by Bahauddin. These can be obtained from: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com.

See more about Bahauddin in the links given below. Here we present a beautiful cassette from Pakistan. It seems that the name of Bahauddin is not correctly written on the cassette (Bahaddin) but its definitely him.

Side 1 (29:06)

Side 2 (29:18) 

Download

Many thanks again to Danny for sharing this cassette.

for Bahauddin Qawwal see:
http://www.qawalbachchay.com/?page_id=34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qawwal_Bahauddin_Khan
see also the excellent blog: http://qaul.blogspot.com/2008/05/1969-mehfil-qawwals-raziuddin-niazi.html

For good articles on Qawwali:
http://www.qawalbachchay.com/?page_id=16
http://www.qawwalniazi.com/#!?page_id=23

Moulvi Ahmed Hassan Beranwale Qawwal & Party - Volume 2 - Cassette published in 1980 in UK

Wonderful Qawwali cassette I bought in the 1980s in Southall. The person on the picture is the senior member of the group and father of the singer Moulvi Ahmed Hassan Beranwale Qawwal. See article below.

Side A:

1. Ya Shah-e-Jillani Pa De Khair (10:34)

2. Dekha Ke Jhalak Tum Chup Hi Gaye (19:26)

Side B:

 1. Music (5:06)

2. Yeh Sach Hai Deegar Nabion Se (24:37)

Download

"Qawwali has been blessed with many unique voices. Some of them, like Nusrat's, Munshi Raziuddin's or Ghulam Fareed Sabri's,  are justifiably well known. Others, like Murli Qawwal's, Mubarak Ali-Niaz Ali Qawwal's or Rasheed Ahmed Fareedi Qawwal's , are probably not as widely acclaimed as they ought to be. One of the most unique voices in Qawwali was that of Maulvi Ahmed Hassan Akhter Bheranwale Qawwal. Emotive, raspy, mellifluous, with the ability to elicit tons of feeling out of a few notes. He performed mainly in the '70s and 80's with his father - who I'm 90% sure was named Maulvi Akhtar Hassan Qawwal, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - and his younger brother Maulvi Haider Hassan Qawwal, who currently performs with the remaining members of his elder brother's Qawwali party..

Maulvi Ahmed Hassan quit performing in the late 1980s, which is a real shame because he had a voice and a performance style that was second to none. Performing traditional sufi Kalam in Urdu and Farsi with the same verve and vigour as his Punjabi performances, Maulvi Ahmed Hassan was a true representative of the Punjabi school of Qawwali; imparting a distinctly earthy feel to whatever he sang. The studio recordings he made for OSA are brilliant, with my only gripe being the fact that the recordists didn't place a microphone in front of Maulvi Akhter Hassan, with the result that we can barely hear the senior Qawwal's voice in most of them." 

from: http://lalioutloud.blogspot.de/

Agha Bashir Ahmad Qawwal - Vol. 1 - Qawwali - Cassette from Pakistan

Beautiful old style Qawwali. His full name: Agha Bashir Ahmad Faridi Qawwal.

Side A (30:27)

Side B (30:01)

Download

Many thanks again to Danny who brought all these jewels from a trip to Pakistan many years ago.

Here some background information about the traditions he belonged to:

"Ustad Muhammad Ali Faridi Qawwal:

Ustad Muhammad Ali Faridi is a seminal figure in the history of 20th Century Qawwali, influencing everything from how it is performed to the position of the performers in a Qawwal party. Incorporating Classical Sufi texts with the tradtional Doaba ang of Punjabi gayeki, he created a potent style of Qawwali that proved popular both with the discerning listeners and the masses. Although his recordings date from the mid '30s to the late '60s, he started performing much earlier. Accompanied on his latter recordings by his son Abdul Rahim Faridi, the Ustad displayed a unique and very malleable voice that was very expressive in the upper registers and displayed glimpses of his rather formidable classical training. His list of shagirds includes giants like Agha Rasheed Ahmed Faridi and Agha Bashir Ahmed Faridi along with his son Abdul Rahim Faridi, who in turn instructed modern practitioners like Faiz Ali Faiz Qawwal. The Ustad's lineage continues through his grandson Moeen Ali Faridi Qawwal.

Baba Din Muhammad Jalandhri Qawwal:

When I wrote the earlier post on the Qawwals of the earlier half of the 20th century, I added Din Muhammad Jalandhri almost as an afterthought, because I didn't have any information about him that I could append to his rather wonderful recording. Over time however, I have come to learn a great deal about him and have come to realize his stature among the great Qawwals of the early 20th century. Apart from having an amazingly robust and vociferous andaz, Din Muhammad Qawwal, or Baba Deena Qawwal as the gentlemen over at Rehmat Gramophone House call him, is the forbear of not one but TWO illustrious Qawwali lineages. He was the uncle and ustad of arguably the greatest Qawwals of the 20th century, Fateh Ali - Mubarak Ali Qawwals (who are rightly called Ustadon ke ustad, which makes Din Muhammad Ustadon ke ustadon ka ustad). In turn, Fateh Ali-Mubarak Ali taught performers like the above mentioned Agha Rasheed Ahmad Faridi and Agha Bashir Faridi as well as Bakhshi Salamat Qawwal and of course, their successor Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. And in Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, we see the fourth generation of Baba Din Muhammad carrying the torch forward. His direct lineage too, is impressive to say the least. He was the father of the amazing Miandad Khan Qawwal. Miandad Khan Qawwal and his brother Hafiz Dad Qawwal were affiliated with the shrine of Hz Baba Farid (RA) at Pakpattan and performed till Miandad's death, after which the mantle was taken over by his son, the supremely gifted Badar Miandad Khan Qawwal, who unfortunately like his father, died at a very young age. His younger brothers Sher Miandad Qawwal et al currently perform all over the world."

from: http://lalioutloud.blogspot.de/2012_03_01_archive.html

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.