Tuesday, 19 December 2017

Boris Namatiev (Namatiyev) - Zulfi Pareşon - LP published in Uzbekistan/Tajikistan in 1988


Here we present an LP by a well-known Jewish Shashmaqom singer from Uzbekisten, who lived apparently most of his life in Dushambe, Tajikistan. We posted in 2016 a MP3-CD with classical music from Bukhara containing 5 folders. One of these folders with 12 tracks is devoted to our artist. See here. We couldn't find much information on the singer in western languages, but there seems to be some in Russain, like here in the liner notes of the LP. Perhaps someone is so kind to translate the liner notes for us.

And here is already a translation of the liner notes by kkrka kr:
"Boris Namatiev, the Honored Artist of Tajik SSR is an actor of the A. Lakhuti State Drama Theater. During his 40 year career in the theater he has starred in numerous productions of classic plays, as well as plays by Soviet and Tajik playwrights.
Thanks to his solid vocal skills, he was particularly celebrated as an actor in musical plays, such as "The Exam" by F. Ansori (Sharif Ismati), "Arshin mol alan" by U. Gadjibekov (Asker), "The 30 kopeks charge" by Sh. Kiyamov and Farkhad (Kamal - police sergeant), and others.
B. Namatiev has done an outstanding deed in preserving and promoting the musical treasures of the Tajik Shashmaqom. He has made recordings of the most difficult/complex parts of this true pearl of folk art. The present record is the result of a long creative labour by a wonderful Tajik artist."
The recordings were made in 1985-87. Track titles are given in Tajik (which I unfortunately do not speak), followed by bracketed words "classic melody - [poet] (e.g. Hafez, Bedil...)" and once in A4 it says "folk melody".
Many thanks for the translation. Very appreciated!

On this LP the repertoire is from Shashmaqom. The ensemble plays a little in a more contemporary style bordering on Khalq (from or of the people, folk) music.

Here what we found in the internet on the artist (more focused on his acting career):
"NAMATIYEV, BORIS-ABO DAVIDOVICH (1930, Kerki, Turkmenistan). Actor, singer, and producer. Honored Artist (1970) and People’s Artist of Tajikistan (1989). Graduated from the Artistic-Musical  College (1954). Since 1948 - soloist of the orchestra  of  folk  instruments.  Actor of A. Lakhuti  Tajik  State Dramatic Theater. Played more than 100 various roles. Soloist at the children’s Ensemble “Pamir”. Participant of the decade in Moscow in 1957. Engaged in concert production, performing fragments of shashmakom. Repatriated  to Israel in 1992. Created the М.Tolmasov and G.Mullokandov Bukharian-Jewish Theater (1993-2002), where he plays in scene and produces performances: “Yosef-Ha-Tzadik” (by  A.Shalamayev), “Arshin Mal  Alan” (1994), “Esther-ha-Malka” (“Queen Esther” by А.Shalamayev, 1996), “Sacrifice of Isaac” (by B.Namatiyev and N.Yukhananоv, 1998), “Haft Barodaron” (“Seven Brothers”, 1999); “Apa Kalmoki Kaimok” (“Aunt Kalmok”) and “Gardishi Davron” (“Whirlpool of the Times”) – on the plays of А.Shalamayev. From 2002, the theater is renamed as “Theater  of Boris Namatiyev”. His creativity is described in P. Niyazov’s book “Theater of Boris Namatiyev” (2000)."

Saturday, 16 December 2017

Mamat Karimov - Old Masters of Arts of Uzbekistan - Vol. 8 - LP published in Soviet Uzbekistan in 1980


Here another volume of the "Old Masters of Arts of Uzbekistan" series in which older LPs of great masters were reissued. I don't know anything about the singer except that he is the same singer who also goes under the name of Muhammadjon Khoji Karimov. Here the cover of a MP3-CD by him, which we might post one day: 


I guess that he belongs to the tradition of Maqom of the Ferghana Valley. The recordings seem to be well before 1980. His voice is much softer then the very powerful voices of most of the other Maqom singers of those times. Here noteworthy is also the small ensemble with its perfect balance and retained minimalism, so typical of older Uzbek Maqom music.




Sunday, 10 December 2017

Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev - The last great master of the Maqom of the Ferghana Valley - MP3-CD from Uzbekistan



Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev (Fatahkhon Mamadaliev, Fattohxon Mamadaliev, Fattohhon Mamadaliyev, Фаттоххон Мамадалиев) was the last great, complete master of the Maqom of the Ferghana Valley. I think he was a disciple of the great Orifxon Xatamov. See our posts from 2012 and 2015
In 2011 we posted already a cassette by Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev
On the CD "Traditions Orales d'Ouzbekistan - Oral Traditions of Uzbekistan", released 1997 by the French label Playasound, was one solo track by him and two tracks accompanying one of his students on Tanbur. On the CD accompanying the book "Musiques d'Asie Centrale - L'Esprit d'une Tradition" by Jean During is one track by him. These seem to be the only recordings published in the West. The book is an excellent introduction to the music of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. 

Here we present a MP3-CD by the great master. The CD contains two folders: one by Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev with 39 tracks and another one by Inomjon Mamadaliyev, probably a son of Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev, with 16 tracks. One can see here very clearly the difference between the old generation and the new one. Only very few musicians keep today the traditional music, especially the small traditional ensemble with its perfect balance and very retained minimalism (a perfect example is the exceptional Munajat Yulchieva). The old singers had a great and very subtle art to build up culmination points. Their music was like an unlimited ocean alternating constantly between high tide and low tide, constantly building up new culminations. That is the reason why this format of MP3-CDs of many hours length is the perfect format for this music: the longer one listens to this music the more one gets into it and the more difficult it becomes to leave this universe of beauty and depth. 
I include here the folder by the son just for comparison. It is still good music, but compared to Fattoxxon Mamadaliyev it completely fades and lacks the fathers greatness.
My dear friend Danny brought this CD years ago from a trip to Uzbekistan. Many thanks to him for sharing so generously.


Thursday, 7 December 2017

Munojot Yolchieva - MP3 To'plam - MP3 Collection - MP3-CD from Uzbekistan


Here a wonderful MP3-CD by the great Munajat Yulchieva, today the greatest voice of Uzbekistan. Unfortunately 2 or 3 tracks have some minor defects. Such great intense music! Earlier this year we posted an LP by her. See here. Our dear friend Danny brought this CD from a trip to Uzbekistan. Many thanks to him for sharing so generously.

Monday, 4 December 2017

Wahid Hussain - Sarangi - Great Masters Great Instruments - LP published in the US in 1978


Here we post another LP from the "mysterious" Pakistani label Oscar Records/Asghar Records, based in New York. For more details and other releases from this label see our post of an LP by Salamat Hussain.
About the musician I don't know anything. There are some additional recordings on the excellent Sarangi site: https://sarangi.info//?s=Wahid+Hussain&search=Go.

Addition on 9th of december 2017:
As already a couple of times, Dr. Kashyap, the Sarangi expert and player, student of Ustad Sultan Khan, helped us out for some very valuable pieces of information on the musician and also a photo:
"Here is info about U. Wahid Hussain with kind permission of my friend Mr. Ali Zafar from Lahore. His photo is also there. 
Wahid Hussain born in 1927 in Moradabad, became the disciple of sarangi player Ustad Tajammul Hussain Khan. Following Partition, he settled in Karachi where he worked at Radio Karachi as a staff artiste. Radio Pakistan provided the maestro with ample opportunities to perform with vocalists of the stature of Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan - Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan - Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Farida Khanum, Taj Multani and Mehdi Hassan. He was in particular the regular accompanist to Farida Khanum during her performances in Karachi. Wahid Hussain Khan also made his mark as a composer and poet. Ghazal singer Azra Riaz is amongst his most prominent disciples. Wahid Hussain Khan passed away in Karachi in 2004. (Received his profile from Mr Riaz Burney in October 2007. Interview of his son Zaheer Hussain by Ali Zafar, October 2009, Karachi.)"





Sunday, 26 November 2017

Ram Narayan plays Sarangi - A Treasure from Solomon's Mines - A very rare 10" LP published in India in 1957


I never came across another copy of this very rare LP except for the one I was able to buy recently. A couple of years ago I even never had heard that this LP exists. In july 2012 we posted another 10" LP by the same label, their very first one, by the great Vilayat Khan. These were the first LPs ever published in India.
See: http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.de/2012/07/vilayat-khan-treasure-from-solomons.html





Thursday, 16 November 2017

Imrat Khan - Surbahar & Sitar - Music from India Series 10 - LP published in Great Britain in 1969


Here another LP from the Music from India Series, in which between 1965 and 1969 a number of beautiful recordings were released, which were at the time amongst the most easily available recordings of classical Indian music in Europe. Earlier EMI - His Master's Voice had already released a number of other LPs. We had posted recently two by Vilayat Khan from 1962 and 1963.
See here a complete discography of the Indian releases in the British ASD series: 
http://discog.piezoelektric.org/hmvindia/index.php?prefix=ASD
This our 7th LP by Imrat Khan.




Monday, 13 November 2017

Vilayat Khan - The Genius of Vilayat Khan - LP published in India in 1962


Here our last LP - for now - by the great Vilayat Khan. The two Ragas are from the same recording sessions as the ones on the LP with Tilak Kamod and Bhairavi which was released in 1961. In effect it seems that there were two recording sessions, one with Mohammad Ahmad on Tabla and the other with Santa Prasad on Tabla. The Ahir Bhairav here and the Tilak Kamod on the LP from 1961 are with Mohammad Ahmad and the Khamaj on our LP here and the Bhairavi on the LP from 1961 are with Santa Prasad.


These two LPs are amongst the very first LPs of classical Indian music published by the Gramophone Company of India. The EALP series started with the number 1251 (Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan) in 1960.





Wednesday, 8 November 2017

Vilayat Khan - Music of India - Vilayat Khan - No. 2 - LP published in Great Britain in 1963


The first volume from 1962 we had posted in 2016. See here. On the back Imrat Khan is also mentioned as playing the Surbahar. But this was true only for the first volume.





Thursday, 2 November 2017

Vilayat Khan - Music from India Series 11 - LP published in England in 1969


We continue now our series of LPs by the great Vilayat Khan. Here we post the English edition of an LP which was released also the same year in India, but with a different cover:


The reason why we choose the English edition, though we have the Indian edition in our collection, is that English pressings are of better quality.
This English edition we received from LF from Scotland. Many thanks to him for sharing so generously.