The great Ustad Aslam Khan (1940-2018) passed away on 21st of March 2018

We just received this morning the sad news that the great Ustad Aslam Khan (1940-2018) passed away already on 21st of March 2018. May he rest in peace. We always were very fond of this outstanding singer with a very rich background and a huge, extremely beautiful repertoire. For us he was one of the two or three greatest singers of his generation and perhaps the most interesting. Unfortunately he was only well known amongst the real connoisseurs. He had quite a number of cassette and CD releases during his long career.

In 2013 we posted two cassettes by him.

"A grand Condolence Meeting was organised to mourn the sad demise of Legendary Musician Ustad Aslam Khansahab Khushrang arranged by Pandit Nayan Ghosh, Sangit Mahabharathi and all the Fans Friends Colleagues, Students and disciples of Ustad Aslam Khansahab on the 18th April 2018 Wednesday 7. pm at the Sangit Mahabharathi Hall JVPD Mumbai. It was well attended by many eminent Musicians Followers and Close Associates of Late Aslam Khansahab. It included Pandit Nayan Ghosh (Introductory Speech) His Holiness Shyam Baba. Swami Chaitanya Swarup. Ustad Yakub Hussain Khan. Mr. Ramdas  Bhatkal. Ustad Vajahat Hussain Khan. Prof. Jamil Kaamil. Ustad Raja Miyan. and Pandit Amrendra Dhaneshwar.Two Minuites Silence was observed in the begining of the Meeting to pay homage to the departed Soul.Ustad Aslam Khansahab was a Musicians Musicians  and possessed a very rich repertoire of Indian Classical Ragas and Bandishes. He taught more than 500 Students and many of his disciples are in the frontline performers as on date. Aslam Khan belonged to the very famous Gharanas like  Hapur. Khurja. Atrauli=Jaipur Agra and the Delhi Tanras Khan Gharana.like his Guru the famous Gayan Samrat Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan Dilrang he served the Indian Music till he breathed last. He was an Awarded and Rewarded Musician.He precious recordings are preserved and recorded extensively by Sangit Natak Akademi. ITC Sangit Research Academy. N.C.P.A  Samvad Foundation. Goa Kala Academy. Saptak Sangeet Ahmedabad. Agha Khan Foundation New Delhi and All India Radio Akashwani Mumbai. New Delhi,  CPC Doordarshan. VividhBharathi Mumbai and many other Music Institutes.His prominent disciples include. Ustad Vajahat Hussain Khan. Anwar. Manhar Udhas. Usha Amonkar. Vrinda Mundkur. Bhal Patil. Chandra Kothari. Angna Kothari. Kamla Jhangiani.  The treasure of Music which Ustad Aslam Khansahab has left behind will be of great use for posterity and knowledge for the young generation of India. May his soul rest in peace. Website. www.dilrangacademy.org"

See the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIATf6NIKGQ&feature=youtu.be

There are in total 6 videos there.

On the artist:

http://dilrangacademy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=12

https://www.esamskriti.com/e/Culture/Music/Down-The-Memory-Lane~-A-Journey-Into-The-Repertoire-Of-The-Living-Legend-~-Ustad-Aslam-Hussain-Khan-Saheb--colon-Khushrang-colon--1.aspx

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/aslam-hussain-khan-an-honest-blend-of-six-hindustani-gharanas/309908

As a tribute to this great master we post here another cassette published in India in 2000:

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Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011) - Rudra Veena - Echoes of Ancient Music - Cassette published in India in 1990

Here a beautiful cassette by the artist, shared generously by our friend Werner Durand. Many thanks.

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Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011) - Rudra Veena - Raga Bihag - Concert in Nürnberg, Germany

Here we present a concert recording of Raga Bihag. The concert took place in Tafelhalle, Nürnberg, Germany. The recording was broadcast by WDR on 15th of november 1995. The Pakhawaj player was Mohan Shyam Sharma.

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Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011) - Rudra Veena - LP published in India in 1978

Here we present the only LP by the other great Rudra Veena master of recent decades, Ustad Asad Ali Khan. This LP was also a very exciting discovery for us as we were able to listen for the first time to the old Rudra Veena, before it was modified by Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. It is very difficult to say which one to prefer: both have their beauty and are in effect two different aural worlds.

In the 1990s and the 2000s I had the good fortune to experience Asad Ali Khan quite a couple of times in concerts in Germany and in Holland. I also had opportunities to talk to him and experienced him as a person extremely enthousiastic and proud of the tradition he belonged to. It was exciting to listen to him. I always was very impressed by his exquisite musicianship and his perfect technique, especially his playing with three fingers, which I never had seen before with any other musician.
Ustad Asad Ali Khan has quite a number of CD releases.
His German student Carsten Wicke, now living in Kolkata, has on his YouTube channel a good number of excellent videos of his concerts in Germany and Holland.

In 2011 we posted a recording of a concert in Germany on the occasion of his passing away. We added now a flac file and covers. We will post next another concert from the same tour.

In the winter 2016/2017 I had a little mouse in my appartment and this tiny mouse decided to build its nest behind one shelf of my LP collection. It made confetti out of parts of the covers of my LPs (about 20) to make its nest more comfortable. Luckily most of the covers I had already scanned a while ago, but this one not. One can see on one side the marks of the sharp teeth of that little mouse. The mouse fed on the food of my bird at night. It took a while until I noticed its presence. Finally I was able to trap it into a box and set it free outside in the garden (it was already beginning of spring then).

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Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) - Rudra Vina - Private double CD containing two cassettes from the 1980s

Here we present a private double CD from the collection of our friend KF. The two CDs contain two cassettes:

1. Cassette MA 8508 published in Holland in 1988: Raga Yaman Kalyan from the concert in Mozes and Aaron Church in Amsterdam on 19th of june 1982.

2. Cassette published by Swarashree Enterprises (CBS) in India in mid 1980s: Raga Ahir Bhairav & Raga Malkauns. As the sound of the cassette is not so good we decided to take the recordings from the re-release on CD published in 2008 which is no longer available. KF reversed the order of the two Ragas of this cassette, probably in order to have a logical succession of Ragas on CD 2 from evening and midnight to morning. We kept his order.

Here the original covers of this cassette, thanks to WD:

Many thanks to KF for sharing the recordings and creating the covers. Unfortunately the covers faded over the years.

CD 1 - flac

CD 2 - flac

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CD 2 - mp3

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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Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) - Rudra Veena Recital - LP published in India in 1974

Here another very beautiful LP by the great master. I bought this one in mid 1970s in one of the Indian record shops in Southall, UK. An additional highlight on this LP is the great Pakhawaj master Swami Pagal Das. His solo is outstanding.

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Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) - Raga Mangeyabushan - Re-release of an LP originally published in France in 1974

This LP was one of the greatest discoveries ever for me. I still remember vividly how I first saw the cover hanging in the window of a record shop in Cologne and discovered that it was a Rudra Veena recording. In effect, it was the very first Rudra Veena LP ever. I immediately bought the record. At home when I put the record on I was completely taken by the sheer beauty and majesty of the sound of the instrument and the exquisite musicianship of the artist. For many years it was my favourite record and till today it always kept a very special place in my collection. The LP I bought then was the first edition (see its cover below), but when the second edition was published a couple of years later I bought that one too, as I wanted to make sure never to be without this recording, if ever the first LP got damaged. I sold the first one when I had to reduce my collection as I had planned then to move to New York, which finally never happened.

An alternate take of this recording was published in 2001 on CD. According to the information given there the recording was done in Chembur, Mumbai, January 31, 1968. Also according to the information there the correct name of the Raga is Gangeyabushan. This CD can still be obtained on Discogs though the label doesn't exist anymore for quite some years.

We had recently posted a cassette from 1989 by the artist. More recordings will follow.

On the artist see:

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

http://countryandeastern.se/artists/zia-mohiuddin-dagar/

On the website of Raga Records you can read the booklets to the two CDs by the artist: Raga 219 & Raga 222.

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Here the cover of the first edition:

Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - In Memoriam - Cassette published in India in 1987

To close our Dhrupad Series (for now), which became much longer then originally intended, we present here a cassette by the great Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, who was, next to his teacher Ustad Faiyaz Khan, amongst the few outstanding singers of the Agra Gharana, who still sang reguarly long Alaps in the Dhrupad style, most times followed by a Khayal compostion. But Ustad Faiyaz Khan sang also Dhrupad compositions, mostly Dhamar. See our post of a cassette by Ustad Faiyaz Khan. 

Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930 - 1985) was amongst the most brilliant Khayal vocalists of the post-independence era. He represented the Agra Gharana (stylistic lineage), and was unanimously regarded as the most illustrious heir to the legacy of his principal mentor, the legendary Ustad Faiyyaz Khan (1886 - 1950).

Here on this cassette the complete Side A is filled with a long Alap in Raga Jaijaiwanti, followed on Side B by a Khayal composition in the same Raga.
In 2011 and 2015 we posted already four recordings by him, partly also with long Alaps. See here.

The Agra Gharana was originally a Dhrupad Gharana. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra_gharana

https://www.sahapedia.org/the-agra-gharana-of-hindustani-music

Here two pages from the book "Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition" by Guy L. Beck, on which some information on the Dhrupad background of the Agra Gharana is given:

from: Google Books

Addition on 25th of may, 2018:

Here a link from Saptak Festival 2018, devoted to Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, containing a beautiful  article on the artist and a CD published on that occasion:

http://www.saptakarchives.org/artist-bios/ustad-sharafat-hussain-khan/

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Falguni Mitra - Cassette published in India in 1992

"A foremost vocalist of North Indian Classical music and an outstanding exponent of its oldest and most revered genre, Dhrupad, Falguni Mitra has been a performing artiste since the age of 12. A Guru, and until recently also the Prefect, of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (Kolkata, India ) Falguni Mitra brings impeccable musical credentials and rich experience as a concert performer, teacher and administrator. 

Falguni Mitra was initiated into music by his father, Sangeetacharya Shib Mitra at the age of five. Shib Mitra was a disciple of Sangeetacharya and Mridangacharya Bholanath Pathakji of Varanasi, a doyen of the Bettiah tradition, a school known for its expertise in the four Banis of Dhrupad that find expression in Falguni Mitra’s music. Shib Mitra also had the privilege of receiving training in “Alapchari” from Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Sahib, the patriarch of the Dagars. Thus Falguni Mitra presents a distinctive style of Dhrupad, blending elements of the Dagar style of Raga delineation and the Bettiah style of Dhrupad and Dhamaar, with an aesthetic balance that reflects his musical ideals.

Possessing a rich and sonorous voice, Falguni Mitra’s music is marked for the depth and sensitivity of alap, majestic compositions in all four Banis of Dhrupad, intricate layakari keeping intact the text of the composition, and an extraordinary sense of proportion giving an overall effect of great completeness and charm. Rooted in tradition, he is refreshingly innovative as his own compositions reveal.

Featured at prestigious music festivals in India and abroad, Mitra is the recipient of many titles and awards, and is a regular artiste of Akashvani and Doordarshan. A thoughtful musician and a wonderful teacher, his concerts, lecture demonstrations, workshops and articles in various journals receive unqualified appreciation from all. In Chennai for over a decade until 1998, he was a frequent speaker at the annual December conferences of Indian Fine Arts Society and the Music Academy, Chennai. He composed and directed the music for the dance ballet “Meera” choreographed by Smt. Rukmani Devi Arundale and presented at Kalakshetra’s prestigious Annual Arts Festival.

Pandit Mitra is associated with various Universities such as Viswabharati University, Rabindra Bharati University, Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, and the Annamalai University as an expert scholar, advisor and external examiner. He is a member of the experts Committee of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, a panel member of West Bengal State Music Academy and the Audition Board of All India Radio."

from: http://www.gharanafestival.com/falguni.htm

See also: http://srutimag.blogspot.de/2012/05/falguni-mitra.html

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/into-the-world-of-banis/article8309827.ece 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=380172368683963&id=191224820912053

On Bettiah Gharana:

http://www.itcsra.org/Gharana-Details.aspx?GharanaId=37&Type=B

http://www.indiaifa.org/sumitra-ranganathan.html

On Indra Kishore Mishra, who seems to me to be the more authentic representative of the Bettiah Gharana:

http://swaratala.blogspot.de/2011/05/indra-kishore-mishra-vintage-flavour-of.html

http://swaratala.blogspot.de/2007/05/indrakishore-mishra-everyone-thought.html

https://anadfoundation.org/guru-gaurav-350/performers/ransubai/indra-kishore-mishra/

Here you can purchase recordings by Indra Kishore Mishra for a very low price:

https://www.discogs.com/seller/Tawfiq49/profile?q=Indra+kishore+mishra

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Shiv Shankar Mukherjee (1928-2004) - Gouhar Bani style of Dhrupad - Raga Bhairo

Not much is known about this Dhrupad singer, except for the notes on the back side, taken from the booklet of the only commercial CD by the artist, published in 2004 by Makar Records in Paris (see below). Amongst his students are Satinath Bhattacharya & Durga Shankar Acherjee. 

I don't remember anymore if the recording is from my collection or the one of KF. Anyway, my friend KF made a CD out of this recording and created the covers. Many thanks to him.

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Here the commercial CD by the artist:

It can be obtained for only 6 Euros here: https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/651233613

At the same Discogs shop can also be obtained other Dhrupad releases from Makar Records:

https://www.discogs.com/seller/Tawfiq49/profile?q=The+Lyrical+Tradition+of+Dhrupad

Temple Dhrupad - Recordings from the Dhrupad-Mela in Vrindaban in 1982 - From broadcasts by WDR, Cologne, Germany

Painting of Swami Haridas teaching Miyan Tansen in the presence of Emperor Akbar.

Here some more recordings from the Dhrupad-Mela in Vrindaban, recorded by Peter Pannke in 1982 on behalf of WDR, the West German Broadcasting in Cologne. Peter Pannke made 7 broadcasts out of these recordings:

Dhrupad-Mela Vrindaban · 7 Folgen · WDR 1982

Dhrupadas aus Darbhanga

Dhrupadas aus Braj

Asghari Bai - Die letzte der Baijis

Pakhawaj - Die Trommel mit dem satten Klang

Bhutji - Der singende Dämon

Holi - Das Fest der Farben

Der gestohlene Ring - Ein traditionelles Musikdrama 

The first program we had already posted recently under the title "Nicht einmal Gott steht höher als der Klang". As I don't have recordings of the complete broadcasts with the announcements and comments I don't know from which ones the recordings of this post stem. Only the recordings of one of the singers, Kundanlal Sharma, seem to be from the broadcast "Bhutji - Der singende Dämon".

The origin of Dhrupad are the temples, before it turned into court music. But there was always a Dhrupad tradition which stayed in the temples. Here we have recordings from three different of these traditions:

1. Kundanlal Sharma "Bhutji" (Bhootji) (tracks 1 to 4) was, according to a recent talk to Peter Pannke, a leading senior temple Dhrupad singer from Punjab.

2. The Caturvedis (tracks 5 & 6), popularly known also as Caube, are representing an old form of Dhrupad sung in certain temples in Marutha and Vrindaban, belonging to the Mathura Gharana of Dhrupad. Our two artists of this tradition, Lakshman Caturvedi (Caube) and Balaji Caturvedi (Caube) have been in the 1980s eminent artists of this tradition. 

See here on this tradition some excerpts from "Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition" by Guy L. Beck:

3. Swami Shriramji Sharma (track 7) was the director of the Krishna Ras Leela Mandal troupe in Vrindaban in the early 1980s and, according to Peter Pannke, had some knowledge of Dhrupad, probably of a tradition similar (if not the same) as the Caturvedis, and performed it on the Dhrupad Mela.

We received these recordings from our friend KF. Many thanks for the sharing.

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