Jagannath Buwa Purohit (1904-1968) - Heritage - Cassette released in India in 1999

Here another cassette from the excellent Heritage Series. Jagannath Buwa Purohit was a legendary singer of the Agra Gharana and a prominent student of the great Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan of our last post. Very few recordings of him exist.

See on him:

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

http://everything.explained.today/Jagannathbuwa_Purohit/

and especially the article below.

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From: Rajan P. Parrikar (parrikar@ferrari.Colorado.EDU) 

Subject: Jagannathbuva "Gunidas" Purohit - Vamanrao's tribute Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical Date: 1999/01/08 

From "Between Two Tanpuras" by Vamanrao Deshpande Translation by Ram Deshmukh and B.R. Dekhney First published November 1967 Jagannathbuwa Purohit "Gunidas" by Vaman Hari Deshpande 

"Pandit Jagannathbuwa Purohit having completed sixty years is now in the sixty-first year of his life. He is a repository of a number of great qualities - exceedingly deep knowledge of music and willingness to impart it to others, devotion to his guru and deep affection for his own disciples etc. Several musicians have celebrated their entry into their sixty-first year. They were all greatly respected in their individual branches of music. However in Jagannathbuwa's case, there was no need to campaign for collection of contributions. As soon as news went round that there was going to be a celebration in his honour contributions came in pouring on an astonishingly large scale. I should not be surprised if this was the first celebration of its kind to bring in voluntary subscriptions on such a large scale. The very first thing that occurs to me while thinking about Buwa is that he is equally popular or respected throughout the various, sometimes discordant, layers of the world of music. He is equally at home in the company of scholarly music teachers like D.R. Deodhar and S.N. Ratanjankar, mehfil stars like Kumar Gandharva and Bhimsen Joshi, actor-singers like Suresh Haldankar and Ram Marathe or amateur singers like Baburao Joshi and G.N. Joshi. Besides, he is greatly admired by his numerous disciples spread all over in Bombay, Pune and Kolhapur. Obviously, he must be an artist of considerable stature. Naturally the persons belonging to these different layers make different demands on him. Some might be looking for a pleasurable conversation with him in which music figures prominently while others look for deep analysis of a particular raga. Some are collectors of bandishes of diverse origins. Some are fond of technical discussions. And disciples, of course, wish to continue to drink at the ever fresh fountain of his musical knowledge which does not dry up even after years of tuition. Unless a person has all the qualities expected of him he cannot achieve popularity in such diverse circles or, having earned it, retain it successfully. It is not enough to be a successful mehfil-performer - the person must be a capable artist and a capitalist in the sense of having a large fund of technical knowledge or a large repertoire of cheejs. In olden times 'capitalist' singers of this type were called Kothiwale (Literally those who have a large store-house of cheejs) singers. It is true that Buwa has an enormous stock of musical knowledge and cheejs made by different people at different periods. But in addition to that he has another special quality - his extraordinary creativity. The ragas and new compositions he has created are being enthusiastically learnt and taught. I wonder whether he has himself counted how many cheejs he has composed, in conventional ragas and ragas newly created by him, but I am sure they are at least 101. Why I say this is that sometime ago when some Kolhapur friends wanted to honour him, Buwa categorically told them that he would not attend any such function until he had composed at least 101 cheejs. Some of his compositions, e.g., Soogar bara payo (raga Jog-Kauns) or Sakhi mandarwa me (Bihagda) or Bega bega awo mandir (Ahir Bhairava) and many others have proved so popular that many renowned singers frequently sing them in Mehfils or they can be heard being sung on the radio every day. New compositions are not created merely because there is a will and an effort to create them-there must be inspiration behind them. A discussion of why or how such inspiration occurs would be out of place here. A number of cheejs never get completed because the composer does not know how to complete them. In some the sthayi (first part) is ready but the antara (latter or higher-key part) proves elusive for years. With some cheejs, the opening portion is composed but the rest of the cheej defies creation. All in all, the number of complete cheejs is rather small. Besides, the new composition must be neat and attractive; it must have a beautiful face, it must move attractively, its words and phrases must blend well with the rhythm and it must be playful and gay. It will be dear to a large number of singers only if it passes all these tests. Otherwise it would be consigned to some neglected and forgotten corner. All Buwa's musical offsprings, having passed through the various tests, not only vie with each other in beauty but they are also all chaste and have the classical ring. Their extraordinary popularity with singers is proof of their own attractiveness and it clearly establishes Buwa as a very successful composer. He was extremely particular in regard to his compositions - he did not regard a cheej as complete or teach it to his disciples unless he had himself sung it in mehfils and was convinced of its perfectness. The depth of his knowledge and extraordinary capability can be traced to his discipleship of great teachers in his youth. This training began in his early childhood and all his teachers were Muslims. Indeed Buwa had been so much under their influence that at first sight most people would be inclined to class him as a Muslim. He really belonged to a priestly Karhada Brahmin family; but since he was ten, he kept constant company with Muslim musician- teachers and indeed considered himself fortunate to be able to serve them. Buwa does not know where his priestly family originated or how many generations ago it emigrated to Hyderabad. But his entire childhood, youth and some of his middle age were spent in Hyderabad. He never married, so he never had any family ties. His mother died so early that he was too young to remember the event; his father died when Buwa was in his tenth year. While his father was still alive, Buwa received some elementary Marathi education, that is all! Otherwise he had no formal education whatsoever. For thirty or thirty-five years of his life, he had moved in purely Muslim circles; all his friends and acquaintances were Muslim musicians. It was but natural that he should have been steeped in Muslim culture. Really speaking, he should have been called 'Jagannath Khan,' rather than 'Buwa' or 'Pandit'. And truly he has the bearing of someone who was born in a family of a long line of respected Muslim musicians. it might be more appropriate to say that he belongs to an aristocratic Muslim mould. His only education was in music and that too not with ordinary singers - he was taught by several singers of great renown from the age of eleven or twelve until quite recently. The teachers included Mohamed Ali Khansaheb (Sikandara Gharana), Tanras Khan's son Umrao Khansaheb and his son Sardar Khan and nephew Shabbu Khan, Bashir Khan (Gudiyana Gharana), Ghulam Mohamed Khan (Tilwandi Gharana) and finally Vilayat Hussein Khansaheb (Agra Gharana). The list itself is so impressive that any singer would be overawed by it. This is the secret of Buwa's successful music career. This is not a biographical treatise and I have no intention of going into its details. But it must nevertheless be said that very few people are so fortunate as to have received training for so many years from so many outstanding masters of music. He learnt accurate intonation from some; he picked up alapi from someone; he learnt bol-upaj from someone; kheencha-tani from someone else and adi-didi i.e., fast fractional movement, from yet another. And from everyone he picked up cheejs of different composers and different types. The surprising point is that all those renowned maestros were kind enough to impart them to him. Buwa, astonishingly enough, picked up all this knowledge despite his abject poverty. Buwa amassed all these riches on the strength of his ability to serve his preceptors. He possessed this quality in abundance and still does. In Buwa's youth, Hyderabad had a large number of talented artists such as the ones mentioned above except Vilayat Hussein Khan. (Buwa's father too was apparently a music-lover. Buwa recollects his father leading him by his finger to the mehfils of these Muslim singers as a child. The father must have really been fond of music otherwise why should be, an orthodox Brahmin belonging to a priestly family, frequent Muslim houses?) One thing Buwa knew was to render personal service to the Khansahebs. He had to do everything that goes with domestic service such as running errands, washing clothes etc. and also do all the 'bandobast' where his masters' predilections were concerned. Buwa had to become an expert in procuring cannabis, hashish, opium, other narcotics, toddy, liquor etc. whenever called for, and the rest of the paraphernalia. Buwa's expertise in these matters is sound enough to train any young hopeful who may be inclined that way. The only astonishing thing is that Buwa himself remained completely untouched by these vices. A server is all the more trustworthy and popular if he is himself free from vices. The credit for not falling a prey to these vices goes not so much to Buwa as to the Vedic orthodoxy of his family background. The important point is that although he had to handle liquor and things like that every day, he had full control over his own palate and his mind. Even his worst enemy cannot accuse him of having any vices. Being able to provide such services selflessly made him popular with his teachers and he could pick up everything they had to give. It is worth mentioning that the name 'Gunidas' (under which pen-name he composes his cheejs) was not chosen by him but by his Muslim masters. They used to say - "You are really a Gunidas - a worshipper of merit!" And the name stuck. Buwa, too, began to use it in his compositions. Buwa and I became acquainted about twenty years ago at Kolhapur when one evening Govindrao Tembe introduced us. On that occasion I had given a fair rendering of Jaitashri. I was also somewhat conscious of my musical prowess and the rigorous training I had taken. There was also a priggish inner feeling that I was way out of Buwa's class. ("What is he going to sing after my performance?"). It was Buwa's turn to sing next and in the very first rhythmic cycle of his Maru Bihag he completely floored me. Even today, I consider the manner in which, in that particular raga, he vaulted from sa to ri, to be debatable. That apart, I was enchanted by the design of the cheej, skill of presentation, alapi in which words of the cheej figured and by his boltan. Even today I find his boltan very beautiful. To arrive at the climax purely through the boltan, i.e., without having resort to emotional voice modulation and an ascending pattern of notes, seems to be a special feature of his style. We became friends in this first meeting and I also had the occasion to enjoy his hospitality. In the meetings that followed he sang for me numerous cheejs from little known ragas and he even passed on some of them to me by way of keep-sakes. Out of these I vividly recall a dhun (tune) from raga Shubhri Gouri to this day. Apart from the journeys he had to make for appearances in mehfils Buwa frequently moved his residence from place to place - Hyderabad, Pune, Kolhapur and finally Bombay. He has considerable experience of the film industry having worked in the music departments of Chhatrapati Cinetone, Hans Pictures, Shalini Cinetone and other film companies. In Atre's film Brahmachari, he even sang an arati 'Satrane uddane' along with the now famous G.D. Madgulkar. He was on terms of great intimacy with Govindrao Tembe and in many of his films he liked officiating as his deputy or to conduct rehearsals of the music staff, help Govindrao in composing songs, attend the recordings and participate in music practice with him. It was Govindrao who introduced Buwa to the Court of Yuvraj of Mysore and took him along when the Prince and his retinue went on tours of England, France and other European countries. These trips broadened the sum-total of Buwa's experience and gave him a new outlook. I have, of course, no personal knowledge of Buwa's early life at Hyderabad spent in the company of his great Muslim teachers. But during the last twenty or twenty-five years (counting from the time when Govindrao introduced us) I have met him fairly frequently. This was his 'Vilayat Hussein Khan period' which was noted as much for his own fulfilment as for a model of relationship of teacber-disciple tradition in the world of music. The saint poets wrote devotional songs for their deity: Buwa used his own medium for the worship of his guru. In terms of intensity I, at any rate, cannot see any difference between the two types of devotion, except that saints worshipped their God and Buwa equally devotedly worshipped his guru. In the former case, the devotion was expressed in abhangas or ovis (Metric form used principally for devotional purposes), in the latter it was expressed in a bandish, i.e., in a musical form. One has a literary value, the other a musical one. Buwa devotedly showered bandishs on Vilayat Hussein Khansaheb as one showers flowers; in the same way, Khansaheb pleased by the devotion of his disciple, blessed him by composing bandishs of his own. The tradition was handed down from Buwa to his disciples and they began to compose bandishes dedicated to Buwa. The bandishs came from the same mould as Buwa's own. Indeed had they not carried the names of the disciple-composers they could have been easily mistaken for Buwa's creations. Buwa's disciples showered him with bandishs and Buwa, pleased with his disciples' devotion, returned the offerings with bandishes of his own. I give below a few samples without any further comment. Buwa becomes restless, anxious on hearing that Vilayat Hussein Khansaheb is ill at Agra. He is particularly anxious because there is no letter from Khansaheb. He does obeisance to God and offers a prayer in the form of a composition: Raga: Abir Bhuirava Tala: Ektal Sthayi: Tero jiya sukha pawe Nisa dina mere gunavanta/ Antara: Binati Prabhuse 'Dasaguni' ki Juga juga jiyo mere pran // What the composition means in brief is that - "I, Dasaguni, i.e., Gunidas (Buwa's nom de guerre), pray to God that my 'Pran' (Pranpiya is Khansaheb's nom de guerre in bandishes) recover and live for countless years." Having said as much, Buwa is convinced that Khansaheb is better and prays to Khansaheb in the same raga: "You are well now, so let me see you soon." Raga: Ahir Bhairava Tala: Jalad Ektal Sthayi: Bega bega awo Mandir Bahut dinana beete/ Antara: Soojhat kachhu nahin mohe Nisa dina ghari pala chhina 'Gunidas' ko daras deeje O Pranpiya // The meaning is - "I am restless day and night, every minute, every second, etc. You are well now, so 0 Pranpiya, come and see me soon." I do not want to give too many examples - one should be enough. I did not select it deliberately - it was a random sample. Most of Buwa's compositions come from the same mould. Now let us take a look at Khansaheb's return gretings: Raga: Patadeepak Tala: Ektal Madhya laya Sthayi: Saach gurunanaki sewa Karat wohi pawe samadhan Antara: Prembhakta 'Pran' kahat Sun ho 'Gunidas' Ya dowu jaga me prabhu Fohe deta badho nam Briefly the meaning is as follows: "I, Pranpiya, say this to you Gunidas; listen - one who serves his guru he alone gets real satisfaction. Similarly it is my wish that you get increasing fame in both the worlds." (There is no third-nether-world among the Muslims.) Another cheej of the same sort (which I cannot recall now) was sung by Buwa on the radio at Bombay when Khansaheb was ill. Khansaheb heard Buwa sing it. When Buwa called on him, Khansaheb, until then completely confined to his bed, suddenly stood up. The two met in a hearty embrace. The eyes of the guru and the disciple were filled with tears; neither was able to speak. Finally Khansaheb, unable to control himself, said, "Buwa! Even my own sons did not do what you have done for me." With that Khansaheb once again broke into tears. I shall now give a sample of a cheej composed on Buwa by one of his disciples [the composer is C.R. Vyas "gunijAn" - RP] Raga: Malav Tala: Jalad Ektal Sthayi: Toohi rangila mera Karat jo hoo ranga Gunidas tumahi so paya/ Antara: Gane mein rasapran ko tumahi apanaya soN diya Janaguni ko barnee na jaya anmol tihari maya // Meaning: "You alone are my Rangila. Whatever little 'rang' I have acquired is, Oh Gunidas, through you. That 'rang' you obtained from your guru, i.e., Vilayat Hussein Khansaheb and gave it to us. No one can describe your great compassion and affection. It is priceless." This is what the disciple writing under the pen-name of Gunijan (in ordinary life C.R. Vyas) says. Another composition from Vyas: Raga: Nata Bhairava Tala: Trital Sthayi: Suraj chanda jab tak phire Saban tore nam sumiran kare/ Antara: Gunidas tum kiyo Amar dhun sach sapta surana me Sunat sab log Janguni mana hare // Meaning: "As long as the Sun and the Moon shine in the sky people will remember the immortal tunes you have composed. i.e., Oh Gunidas, you have composed such tunes in seven notes (i.e., in music) as captivate the hearts of music lovers as they do the heart of Gunijan (i.e., me) too." Buwa returns the compliment by a composition offered as blessing to his disciple: Raga: Jog Tala: Rupak Sthayi: Mora ladala, nahin gunan mome Kahe karat mose neha/ Antara: Kahat Gunidas suna ho Gunijan Jawo vahin jahan vidyadhana payo Tero sacho guru 'Rajaram' // Meaning: "My dear disciple, why do you love me so much when I have no great merit? I, Gunidas, say this to you: Oh Gunijan - one who gave you so much wealth of learning for so many years, viz., Rajaram (i.e., Rajarambuwa Paradkar) is your real guru." That is enough of these samples. There is no end to this exchange of compositions and musical dialogue between Buwa and Vilayat Hussein Khan and Buwa and his disciples. Note: After reading about the musical conversation between guru and disciple in the above article, readers should not reach the mistaken conclusion that the meaning of cheejs has any great significance in music. A cheej is not literature or poetry, it is a bandish. When a bandish is sung the expression of musical quality pushes the verbal meaning into background; it is drowned by music and rightly so. It was the same in Buwa's music. The verbal meaning of a cheej at the most establishes a certain mood; once that happens its only function is to step back into the wings and let music hold the stage. The writer thought it necessary to add this note lest anyone felt that what he has said here contradicted statements made by him on this subject elsewhere, Finally, on this auspicious occasion while offering my best wishes to Buwa, a thought occurs to me which I shall share with you before I close. Most of the well-known singers, male and female, who are under forty, are Buwa's disciples. The list includes a galaxy of musicians like Ram Marathe, Suresh Haldankar, Jitendra Abhisheki, C.R. Vyas, Balakram, Jitendra Dhanal etc. who vie with each other in excellence. Similarly there are female musicians like Manik Varma, Malati Pande, Poornima Talwalkar etc. All these disciples have enhanced Buwa's fame. Buwa really started his music career as a tabaliya (percussionist). He had received training from the late Thirakawa Saheb and Amir Khansaheb and had made a name for himself as a tabaliya. He has a host of disciples in the percussion field as well. Out of these, Gaitonde and Nana Mule are in the limelight. Prof. B.R. Deodhar happened to make an observation the other day which is rather pertinent in this context. He said the teacher's artistic talent draws inspiration through the instruction he gives to capable disciples - it is really they (the disciples) who make their guru great. There is no doubt that Buwa's disciples have added to the knowledge and fame of their preceptor and inspired him. But there is a further stage beyond this. A careful observer can easily see that Buwa is gradally moving towards it. This last stage is particularly arduous and difficult to reach. It involves being accepted as a guru by all other contemporary singers. Every era has to have a great singer who is treated with the respect due to a guru by all top performers in mehfils of that period whether or not they have received training from him. This ultimate guru is rather like a Reserve or Central Bank which guides other banks and comes to their rescue in times of need, in as much as he acts like a guidepost to all contemporary singers. He can only do this if he has a rich experience of countless mehfils, an immense collection of cheejs and a sound judgement with which to analyse the nature of ragas and other qualities. It is only if a person possesses all these qualities that he can perhaps attain such supreme position and that too after he has crossed sixty or sixty-five years of life. In my knowledge the late Alladiya Khansaheb adorned such a position of the guru of all singers. After him Faiyaz Khansaheb held this honoured position and later Vilayat Hussein Khansaheb. Buwa is moving in the same direction and he is undoubtedly endowed with the necessary knowledge, talent and analytical ability. Before closing my congratulatory piece I, therefore, express the hope that Buwa, in the evening of his life, may acquire such a position at an early date."

from: https://www.parrikar.org/music/misc/Gunidas-II.pdf

Hindustani Vocal Music - Agra Gharana - Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan (1895-1962) & Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - Private CD said to be a limited edition published in India in 1992

A very dear friend, a great collector of classical Indian music and a frequent visitor to our blog, was so kind to share with us this recording. It is part of a series. Here what he said about this CD: 

"These were all definitely CDs. They are still in my family's & family friends collection back in India. I have not seen the LPs, but our family friend who was an executive with AIR, and helped us procure these CDs told us that the CDs were LP reissues."

I personally think that this is another of these CDs done by an Indian collector who made out of these recordings from AIR a private CD and created covers for it. This person seems to take a great pleasure in creating covers and to let them look like real ultra rare releases. Which is sort of funny and sympathetic. And looks nice. But can create some confusion amongst music lovers and collectors.

By both of the artists we had posted in the past already quite a number of recordings. See for Vilayat Hussain Khan and for Sharafat Hussain Khan by klicking on the links.

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Note:

As a visitor to our blog was so kind to mention in a comment, the first Raga on this CD should definitly be Raga Lankadhan Sarang.

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 Faiyaz Khan (1886-1950) - Great Master Great Music - Raga Bhankar & Raga Des - LP released in India in 1971

Here one of my most favourite LPs with recordings - from the archives of All India Radio - by the great Ustad Faiyaz Khan. In 2011 we had already posted by him a cassette and an LP.

This was the first time that longer pieces by the artist were published. I bought this LP on my first trip to London in the huge HMV shop on Oxford Street. That might have been in 1974 or a year earlier.

I was completely blown away by the sheer beauty of these recordings, very close to Dhrupad, and the majestic architecture of the pieces. In effect, Ustad Faiyaz Khan was the towering figure in the first half of the 20th century and with his death a whole era came to a close. Never again afterwards such majestic and dignified music was created again.

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Ganesh Ramchandran Behre known as Behrebua (1890-?) - Recordings from All India Radio from the 1950's and 1960's

We present here some recordings by the legendary singer Behrebua, who was a direct disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and of whom one says that his music reminds listeners of the sad, doleful and very emotional air with which Ustad Abdul Karim Khan could sing. These recordings were boradcast in the 1950's or 1960's by All India Radio.
He was also known under the name Ganpat or Ganpatrao Ramchandra.

The Indian label Meera Music released a couple of years ago two CDs with recordings by him. Nowadays it is nearly impossible to get these CDs. But they can be downloaded as MP3-320 files from CD Baby Music Store.

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Here another great recording by the legendary Behrebua, a long Raga Bihag, recorded by All India Radio on 03.11.1962. Unfortunately the sound is quite distorted in the first minutes of the recording, but then it gets much better.

Our friend DM made out of these recordings many years ago two private CDs. Many thanks for sharing them so generously.

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Purabi Mukherji - Rare Compositions of Ustad Amir Khan - LP released in India in 1979

Here a nice LP by a disciple of Ustad Amir Khan, performing some of his compositions.

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Ustad Amir Khan - Pathfinders - Cassette released in India in 1995

 

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Ustad Amir Khan - Memoral Evenings with Ustad Amir Khan Saheb - A box of 4 cassettes released in India in 1989

Here a box of four cassettes with wonderful recordings from a private collection. These recordings were also released the same year as four LPs. Our dear blogger friend Bolingo posted them in mp3 format in 2010. 

See: http://bolingo69.blogspot.com/search/label/Amir%20Khan

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Ustad Amir Khan - Raga Ahir Bhairav & Raga Bageshree - LP released in India in 1984

Here an LP with two other very beautiful recordings from the archives of All India Radio.

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Ustad Amir Khan - Great Master Great Music - LP released in India in 1976

After the untimely death of Ustad Amir Khan many LPs and later also cassettes and CDs with recordings from the archives of All India Radio or concert recordings saw the day. Here a very beautiful one from AIR.

Ustad Amir Khan recorded onyl three studio LPs. The other two ones (1968 & 1970) we might post in the future.

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Ustad Ameer (Amir) Khan (1912-1974) - Raga Marwa & Raga Darbari Kanada - LP released in India in 1960

We start now to post a number of recordings by the great Ustad Amir Khan. Here his very first LP, the third LP of classical Indian music released by the Gramophone Company of India. 

I bought it in the first half of the 1970s in the HMV shop on Oxford Street in London. I never had seen before so many LPs from India. I spend all my money there. If I remember correctly I bought about 20 LPs. Many of them vocal music by artists I only had read about till then and saw there for the first time LPs by them. Only the following year I made it to Southall, a small town next to London with a mostly Indian and Pakistani population. In Southall there were 3 or 4 Indian-Pakistani record shops and that was then even more paradise for a collector.

On the artist see the two articles below and these links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Khan_(singer)

https://sites.google.com/site/amirkhanikhayal/indoregharanaofustadamirkhan

http://personal.psu.edu/muh10/amirkhan.html

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From: Great Masters of Hindustani Music by Susheela Misra.

Ustad Amir Khan by Susheela Misra

Fourteenth February 1974 was an ill-fated day for Hindustani music because it lost two great stalwarts on the same day. Pt. Srikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar succumbed to protracted illness. Ustad Amir Khan in the height of his form and fame, was tragically killed in a car accident. Although in his early sixties the Ustad was still a force to reckon with in North Indian music, and had it not been for that grievous accident, he might have easily gone on dominating the music world for another decade or so. The world of Indian music went into mourning on l3th February 1974, and there were public condolence-meetings in numerous cities. Programmes of tributes to the two departed maestros were broadcast from all the important Stations of All India Radio.
Born in April 1912 in Kalanaur, Amir Khan began his musical training as a Sarangi- disciple of his own father Ustad Shahmir Khan, a noted Sarangi player who had learnt his art from Chajju Khan and Nazir Khan of the Bhindibazar gharana. Amir Khan’s early grooming in Sarangi was only the foundation of his musical edifice. He had a vision and imagination of his own for higher artistic flights. Being a reputed artiste and a warm friendly person, Shahmir Khan’s hospitable home was a veritable rendezvous of many great contemporary maestros like Ustads Allabande Khan, Jafruddin, Nasiruddin Khan, Beenkar Wahid Khan, Rajab Ali Khan, Hafeez Khan, Sarangi- nawaz Bundu Khan, Beenkar Murad Khan and several others. Thus, although Amir Khans’s early musical training commenced with Sarangi, the impressionable and intelligent youngster was constantly exposed to the various vocal gharanas of the times. Gradually, Shahmir Khan himself began to devote more time to Amir Khan’s vocal training in which merukhand (or Khandmeru) practice and sargam-singing were specially emphasised. Moulded by the styles of three great giants of his younger days, namely, Ustads Bahre Wahid Khan, Rajab Ali Khan and Aman Ali Khan, Amir Khan evolved his own stylistic school which came to be known as “the Indore Gharana.”
In fact, Amir Khan was a self-taught musician. He assimilated the distinctive features of the gayakis that appealed to his aesthetic sense and were in perfect accord with his voice. The style that he evolved was a unique fusion of intellect and emotion, of technique and temperament, of talent and imagination. His style was a synthesis of three different styles. He assimilated the colour and spirit of Wahid Khan’s style, (with its chastity of swara intonation and a richly soporific effect of melodic elaboration) so well that Ustad Wahid Khan blessed him. “Long shall my music live in you after I am gone”. The slow Khayal is rendered in such a slow tempo that it has “the langour of unfinished sleep.” This style originated in the Merukhand style of the Bhindibazar-gharana. This generally strove to produce the permutations and combinations of a given set of notes. These are like mathematical exercises with little artistic effect in a concert. The development of the Vilambit Khayal was marked by deep serenity. The concept of an extra slow tempo with a slow and meticulous unfolding of the raga and the “cheez” was taken from Ustad Bahere Wahid Khan. His taans were clearly influenced by the eloquent ones of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. In sargam-singing, he revealed his admiration for Ustad Aman Ali Khan. During his early sojourn in Bombay, Amir Khan had be come a close friend of Late Aman Ali Khan. Amir Khan always maintained that had Aman Ali Khan lived longer he would have been the former’s “confrere in the world of music”. This newly amalgamated “Indore” style of Ustad Amir Khan captivated and influenced a whole generation of younger musicians of all categories through the contemplative and reposeful beauty of his slow, leisurely Badhat (elaboration) enlivened by the “exuberance of his proliferating sargams” and rushing taans. So tremendous has been the impact of his distinctive “gayaki” on the rising generation of young Hindustani vocalists that Amir Khan commanded a large following among the younger aspirants. He no longer remained as an isolated individual.
For years, he remained one of the most sought after classical vocalists of his times. What set him apart from his contemporary artistes was the fact that he never made any concessions to popular tastes, but always stuck to his pure, almost puritanical, highbrow style. “His music combined the massive dignity of Dhruvpad with the ornate vividness of Khayal”. There are some musicians of the Kirana school who argue that the words of the Khayals are of no importance ! But Amir Khan held different views. He used to say: “The poetic element in Khayal is as vital as its melodic element. An artiste has to have a poet’s imagination to be a good musician”. Amir Khan has proved that “chaste refined music does not lack listener-response”, for, he strictly remained uncontaminated by the present craze for showiness. The tall, handsome Ustad had a dignified concert presence. His dignity of bearing and his posture of Yogic calm on the stage struck a perfect accord with the serene grandeur of his music. It was as though his musical thought was in tune with some ideal of beauty and he was striving to communicate it to his charmed audience”. As Prof Sushil Kumar Saxena wrote (in the Sangeet Natak Akademy Journal 31) “An Amir Khan swara was at once a tuning of the self, a calm that spreads while Ghulam Ali’s glows with a pulpy luminosity.”
Amir Khan’s forte was the exaggeratedly slow or ati vilambit Khayal which he developed in a most leisurely mood with deep serenity and contemplativeness. While his ardent admirers found this part of his concert absolutely engrossing, there were others who found it “excruciatingly slow” or even “insipid”! He always avoided Sarangi accompaniment, and wanted nothing more than a steady, plain Theka from his Tabla accompanist. His favourite slow talas were Jhoomra and Tilwada. Words were subservient to the “absolute music” that he sang, and naturally, “bol-alaps” and “Bol taans” were conspicuously absent in his singing. In the course of his prolonged unfoldment of the vilambit Khayal asthayi, Amir Khan would sometimes render flashing “meteoric taans”. His “taans” were marked by many graces like elegant gamaks, lahak and clear “daanas” (clarity of each note). It was natural that the Ustad always chose highly serious, expansive, traditional ragas like Todi, Bhairav, Lalit, Marwa, Puriya, Malkauns, Kedara, Darbari, Multani, Poorvi, Abhogi, Chandrakauns and so on. Even the lighter ragas like Hamsadhwani acquired a serious expansive mood when rendered by Amir Khan. His rich, mellow voice was at its best in the deep, dignified “mandra” notes (lower notes). His voice had some inherent limitations, but he shrewdly evolved a style to suit his voice.
Summing up the essence of his father’s vocal style, Ekram Ahmad Khan (the eldest son of the Ustad) wrote: “Amongst the elder maestros of music, Khan Saheb was intensely devoted to Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas, and Aman Ali Khan of Bhindibazar. He also studied the styles of Bahere Wahid Khan and Abdul Karim Khan and amalgamated the essence of the styles of these four maestros with his own intellectual approach to music, and conceived what is now known as the Indore gharana of music”.
During the first 25 years of his life, Amir Khan devoted considerable time to sargam- singing, what is known as “Merukhand practice” consisting of varied permutations and combinations of kaleidoscopic swara-patterns. These complicated “Khandameru” sargams, and flashing meteoric taans brightened his reposeful vilambit Khayals now and then. The ”Merukhand” style of singing is mentioned in the l4th century Sanskrit classic Sangeeta-ratnakara of Sarangdeva.
Another significant aspect of Amir Khan’s art imparting it a unique quality, was his refined voice and the way he moulded it to suit his chosen style. Endowed with the face of an intellectual, his temperament, like his music, was serene, unruffled. He never lost his temper. He extended the same courtesy to all, big and small, and listened attentively to even lesser artistes. Humility was native to him, his judgements were generous, and he was above petty jealousies.
Although Amir Khan never rendered Thumris in his concerts, his disciples speak of the exquisite way in which he rendered Thumris for them in his intimate home-circle. His “cultured” voice was suited for the melodious Thumri style also. Amir Khan’s sole concession to the speed-loving contemporary listeners was the Tarana in which he did considerable research. According to him, the Tarana-syllables have a mystical significance. Although his voice was at its best in the lower notes, it could also soar and sweep across far-off swaras with nimble grace. Such was the influence of his music that in an era of impatient listeners, Ustad Amir Khan was able to instil, by the example of his own art, a genuine and widespread love for serious, contemplative music into the hearts of young music lovers all over the country. He was strongly against the idea of any short-cuts to success in music.
Even when Amir Khan did playback singing for some films, he refused to cut adrift from his classical moorings. The songs he rendered were always in highly classical style and in ragas like Darbari, Adana, Megh, Desi, Puriya Dhanasri etc. In his tribute to the Ustad, Prof S.K. Saxena writes in the Sangeet Natak Akademi Journal: “Amir Khan was different and solitary because of his absolute indifference to the reactions of his audience while he was singing. He never seemed to make a conscious endeavour to please the audience. He faced them majestically, with his music alone, and with pure classicality. Often his music seemed strangely disembodied from raga-tala distinctions into a kind of musical incense borne aloft on the very wings of devotion. His music, at its best, was rarely a dazzle. It would be rather an influence, an atmosphere which would just be with us till long after the recital”.
There was a time when Amir Khan was a rage in Calcutta and no music conference there was complete without his recital. The Films Division of the Government of India has brought out a documentary film on his life in recognition of his great contribution to Hindustani music. For his eminence as a performing artiste and for his significant contributions to classical music, he was crowned with many honours such as the Fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Presidential Award, Padma Bhushan (1971) and the Swar Vilas from Sur Singar Samsad (1971). But these honours and his large following in the music world left him untouched. Amir Khan continued to be a very simple individual “accessible to all and sundry”, and he never assumed any airs like some of his contemporaries. Though not educated in the formal sense, he was a highly sophisticated person who moved with dignity in the highest society where he was genuinely revered. It was considered a privilege to be his friend. Through his own efforts, he learnt Hindi, Urdu, Persian and a bit of Sanskrit, and he studied the writings of Guru Nanak, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and others. Khan Saheb’s son Ekram Ahmad Khan writes that it was these studies and his close friendship with Narayan Swami (of Calcutta) that led to his unique blend of Sufism. “Khan Saheb”, writes his son, “was a Sufi in the true sense of the word - a man without any specific religious ties, a man totally devoted to the oneness of mankind, a true citizen of the World”. Amir Khan was a good composer and some of his compositions reflect these religious convictions of his. One instance is “Laaj rakh lijyo mori, Saheb, Sattar, Nirankar, Jai ke Daata, Tu Raheem Ram Teri maaya aparampar, Mohe tore karam pe aadhar Jag ke daata.” Whenever I heard Amir Khan singing the Khayal in Bairagi beginning with the words “Man sumirat nis din tumharo naam”, I felt that the words and the spirit of the raga were most aptly suited for Amir Khan’s musical temperament.
Since 1968, Khan Saheb used to go to U.S.A in alternate years to spend the summer with his son Ekram Ahmad Khan, a graduate in chemical engineering from McGill University who has settled down in U.S.A as an Engineering Manager in Canada. [Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Maybe he lives in Buffalo and drives to Toronto for work:-). I wonder where Ekram is today and if he has any private unissued recordings of the Khansaheb – RP] Amir Khan also used to go as a visiting professor of music at the State University of New York at New Paltz where “he planted not only the seeds of his music among the students, but also left behind the legacy of his Sufi philosophy”.
Unassuming in his ways, Amir Khan had the capacity to adjust himself perfectly to his environments. He seemed equally at home among the humble as well as among the highly sophisticated. What a pity that this great artiste was snatched away in the peak of his career! Here was a rare classicist who sustained his art by pure devotion, and yet enjoyed wide popularity. Even now, more than 7 years after his untimely death, Amir Khan’s music is still a living force because his voice is being frequently heard over AIR through his recordings in the Archives and his Long Playing Records. The Indore gharana of Amir Khan continues to live on through his pupils like Amarnath, Kanan, Srikant Bakre, Singh Brothers, Kankana Banerji, Poorabi Mukherji and others. There are many others whose singing has been obviously coloured by the style of Amir Khan. The singer is gone, but his music is still with us.

*****

USTAD AMIR KHAN by G.N. Joshi

The death of Ustad Amir Khan in a tragic motor accident in Calcutta a few years ago has created a void in the world of Hindustani classical music. At the present time, when there is a dearth of such gifted artists, his death is an irreparable loss. Had he lived longer he would have had, at least, a number of able and talented disciples to carry on the tradition of his gharana.
In the last 25 years some artists have, by their revolutionary spirit, progressive outlook and creative faculties brought about radical changes in the style of presentation of classical music. Ustad Amir Khan was such an artist. Like Kumar Gandharva. Amir Khan disregarded the age-old, conventional traditions, and with his intelligence and talent evolved an entirely original style of presentation. He also succeeded in gaining the approval and recognition of critics and connoisseurs.
Amir Khan was born at Indore in 1912. Music was in his blood; his ancestors had been musicians in the Mughal courts. His father was an expert sarangi and veena player. A mehfil of Amir Khan’s was always a pleasant experience. He had a very impressive and magnetic personality. At his concerts he would always sit in the posture of a yogi doing his tapasya, with closed eyes and deep meditation. He maintained the same position till the end of his concert. His smiling countenance, a total lack of gesticulation or facial distortion, his absolute concentration on the song, and the slow, gradual build-up of a raga picture invariably kept his audience completely engrossed. He had, for accompaniment, two tanpuras tuned to perfection, a subdued harmonium and a tabla with a straight, simple but steady laya. An atmosphere of solemnity and tranquillity pervaded his concerts, in striking contrast with the noisy and sometimes unmusical gymnastic bouts some singers have with the tabla players that entertain listeners with acrobatics rather than providing them with aesthetic delight.
He had cultivated his voice till it was as exquisitely chiselled as a piece of sculpture. While presenting a raga he unfolded it with extreme skill, delicacy and purity. At times, when an ascending note appeared to be suspended in mid-air, he unexpectedly made a lightning play on that note, holding the audience spellbound. Because of his inborn, instinctive knowledge of avakash, kal and laya he was able to make his voice sound as if he was singing swaras from two different octaves simultaneously, treating his audience to a unique celestial experience. His mastery over layakari and the swaras was complete. His taans though complicated, and full of artistic twists, were executed in an easy and graceful way. He had an amazingly wide range of pitch, and he moved majestically through this span with his liquid golden voice. Listeners were always favourably impressed by his gayaki and skilled display of tonal beauty. He did not agree with the popular notion that the tarana was just a tongue-twisting exercise with a meaningless cluster of words, involving a lot of vocal jugglery in an ever-increasing tempo. He always put into a tarana a Persian couplet interwoven in the apparently meaningless ‘Dir tun, tan, din yalali, yalallum’, and honestly believed that these syllables did have some mysterious and mystic import. According to him it was the Persian scholar Amir Khusro who invented the tarana. Amir Khan was very keen on establishing this theory by carrying out research to unravel the hidden meanings of the tarana. But cruel destiny snatched him away and his mission was left unaccomplished.
Amir Khan’s presentation was always thoughtful and methodical and he rarely indulged in repetitive phrases. The thorough treatment he gave each raga naturally required considerable time for flawless elaboration. It was well-nigh impossible to get a satisfactory exposition from him in just 3 minutes. It was therefore only in the late 1960s that I could have him to record for a long-playing disc (in effect, it must have been in the late 1950s and the recordings in question are the ones we post here on his very first LP). It was not an easy job to bring him before the mike, though obtaining his consent was not all that difficult. Even to approach him posed a very big problem for me. Amir Khan lived, in those days, in very disreputable surroundings, where it was considered very objectionable for any gentleman to go, even during the day. This is the locality a little beyond and opposite the Congress House on Vallabhhhai Patel Road, near the Kennedy bridge. It is inhabited by professional singing and dancing girls, as well as prostitutes. Amir Khan was giving tuitions to some of these singing girls for his living and therefore had to stay in one of the buildings on the third floor. Later, when his financial position improved, he shifted to a flat on Peddar Road. Just beyond the building where Amir Khan lived was the residence of an elderly singer by the name of Gangabai. Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan and Ahmad Jan Tirakhwa often stayed with her. This shows that even women of these professions were treated with respect as artists, in artistic cirles. As the recording executive of H.M.V. I had to contact artists regardless of time and place.
To obtain Amir Khan’s agreement for the recording I had to meet him, and, therefore it was incumbent on me to visit his residence. I was greatly put off when I learnt about the locality where he stayed. I was afraid of what people would say if they observed me entering a house of ill repute. Any outsider would naturally draw his own conclusions, not knowing that an eminent singer was living in that building. If I had, out of fear of social stigma, refrained from going to visit Amir Khan, his great artistry would have gone unrecorded. The idea of securing his consent for recording together with a keen sense of duty prompted me to enter the building, eyes downcast, not looking about me till I entered Amir Khan’s room on the 3rd floor. Once in his room I cheered up, and I talked to him for an hour or two. After that I visited him often. We exchanged views on music and gharanas, and such visits gave me opportunities to study his likes and dislikes. These visits also gave him confidence in me. After a couple of months and 4 or 5 such visits, he agreed to come for a recording. Some more time was lost in persuading him to agree to the terms of payment. Finally this hurdle too was crossed. Yet Amir Khan went on cancelling dates, giving fresh ones and then again postponing the recording on some flimsy ground. I got fed up with his dilly-dallying and, in spite of my great regard and respect for him, I justifiably felt very annoyed. Ultimately one day I plucked up my courage and said to him, ‘If I had approached God Almighty as many times as I have come to you, he would have blessed me, but all I can get from you is the promise of a future date.’
Seeing my exasperation he became thoughtful, smiled a little and replied, ‘Please do not disbelieve me. Name any day of this week and I will keep the appointment.’ True to his word he came on the day I named, and I got from him his first long-playing disc. His favourite ragas were Marwa, Darbari Kanada and Malkauns. It is indeed rare these days to hear Raga Marwa as it was presented by Bade Gulam Ali and Amir Khan. His first LP was received with tremendous enthusiasm by the public. This delighted Amir Khan, and he was more than ready for another recording. In spite of this I had to put in a lot of effort and time to bring him to the studio again. This time he made an LP containing ragas Lalit and Megh and this was all that could be obtained from him before he was lost to the world.
It was my ardent desire to record as many eminent artists as was possible and to get out of each as much as I could to preserve their art for posterity. Bade Gulam Ali, Alla Diya Khan, Amir Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar, Rajaballi, Amanat Ali, all these and others of that generation had extremely old fashioned, conservative outlooks and were peculiarly obstinate when it came to recording their talents. This attitude prevented me from fully achieving my goal, and a wealth of art vanished along with these great singers.
I felt very distressed at Amir Khan’s sudden death. I still have feelings of great disappointment and frustration when I think of the number of opportunities I lost.

Both articles are taken from: https://www.parrikar.org/vpl/?page_id=353

Roshan Ara Begum (1917-1982) & Gandhari (Gangoobai) Hangal (1913-2009) - Classic Gold - Cassette released in India in 1998

Here two other great female voices of the Kirana Gharana. By both we had posted already recordings before. On the cover are mentioned only 6 tracks for side 1 and 8 tracks for side 2. But there are 8 tracks on side 1 too. Here the correct track list for side 1 taken from a CD released in 2009:

In the future we will post more volumes from the "Classic Gold" series.

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