Historical Recordings from Azerbaijan - Part III - Kececi Oglu Mehemmed (1864-1940) - LP published in Azerbaijan in 1991

The third LP of a series of three LPs, published in Azerbaijan in 1991, with historical recordings from the beginning of last century by three of the greatest Mugham singers of those times, contains performances by Kececi Oglu Mehemmed (1864-1940). The recordings were made in 1906.  

Kecəci Oğlu Məhəmməd
(1864 - 1940)

Side 1:
1. Humayun (3:17)
2. Shushtar (3:12)
3. Shushtar Tesnifi (3:03)
4. Coban Bayati (3:05)
5. Heyrati Tesnifi (3:05)
6. Arak (3:05)
7. Segah (3:04)

Side 2:

1. Rahab (3:13)

2. Tac (3:01)

 3. Tehranim (3:02)

4. Yetim Segah (3:17)

5. Osmanli Tesnifi (3:04)

6. Qarabag Shikesti (3:07)

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Many thanks to Danny for bringing this LP from Azerbaijan.

Historical Recordings from Azerbaijan - Part II - Meshedi Mehemmed Farzelioglu ( ? - 1962) - LP published in Azerbaijan in 1991

The second LP of a series of three LPs, published in Azerbaijan in 1991, with historical recordings from the beginning of last century by three of the greatest Mugham singers of those times, contains performances by  Meshedi Mehemmed Farzelioglu ( ? - 1962) (also written as Məşədi Məhəmməd Fərzəli oğlu). The recordings were made between 1906 and 1914.  

Side 1:

1. Budaq Sari Genceli (3:13)

2. Hesar (3:01)

3. Shushtar (3:01)

4. Alma (2:58)

 5. Durn Gedek (3:24)

6. Bayati (3:08)

Side 2:

1. Bayati-Esfahan (3:49)

2. Celal Xaliq (3:14)

3. Ceyranim (3:02)

4. Yeri Dam Üste Yeri (3:05)

5. Bayati Ecem (3:20)

6. Tesnif (3:16)

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Many thanks to Danny for bringing this LP from Azerbaijan.

Historical Recordings from Azerbaijan - Part I - Cabbar Qaryagdioglu (1861-1944) - LP published in Azerbaijan in 1991

We start here to post a series of three LPs, published in Azerbaijan in 1991, with historical recordings from the beginning of last century by three of the greatest Mugham singers of those times. We start with the most famous: Cabbar Qaryagdioglu (his name is also written as Jabbar Garyagdyoglu).

"Jabbar Garyagdyoglu (Jabbar Mashadi Ismayil oglu’s stage name) was born on 31th of March in 1861 in Shusha and died on 20th of April in 1944 in Baku. The khanende (singer) is one of the eminent khanendes who played a big and important role in Azerbaijan music history. A newer stage of khanendes school is closely bound with his name. Jabbar Garyagdyoglu got his education in Shusha in Kharrat Gulu’s class.

Having a very wide diapason and charming voice he was compared with the well-known italian singer Caruso. Russian poet Sergey Yesenin called him “The prophet of Eastern music”. Getting well-known in Karabakh, Ganja, Shirvan, Baku mugam meetings Jabbar also became famous in Iran, Transcaucasia and in Middle East countries. 

Jabbar Garyagdyoglu was the first in music histort who sounded mugam from theater and concert stages. Thus, in 1897 Jabbar Garyagdyoglu was the performer of Majnun in “Majnun over Leyli’s grave” by Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev.

Khanende Jabbar created a trio which included in it tar player Gurban Primov, and kamancha player Sasha Oganezashvili and this trio performed for 20 years. During 1906-1912 Jabbar Garyagdyoglu’s performs was recorded by the “Sport-Record”, “Ekstrafon” and “Grammafon” stockholder companies in Moscow, Warsaw and in Kiev. 

Returning from Warsaw in 1912 he gave “Sharg konsertileri” (“Eastern concerts” name of program) in Moscow. Different from former artists Jabbar firstly sang gazals (poems) in mugams and tasnifs in Azerbaijan language. “Istekanin deshilsin”, “Tiflisin yollari”, “Irevanda khal galmadi”, “Nakhchivanin gediyinden asheydim” tasnifs was created by Jabbar. 

Jabbar Garyagdyoglu was the winner of the Transcaucasia Art Olympiad held in Tiflis (|Tbilisi) in 1934. Seyid Shushinski, Bulbul, Khan Shushinski, Zulfi Adygozelov and many others continued Jabbar Garyagdyoglu’s traditions."

from: http://www.mugamradio.az/performers/khanendes-singers/jabbar-garyagdyoglu

The recordings on this LP were made between 1905 and 1915.

Side 1:

1. Simai-Shems (2:46)

2. Mensuriyye (3:04)

3. Xumar Oldum (3:03)

4. Gyl Achdi (2:55)

5. Yetim Segah (3:13)

6. Deshti Tesnifi (3:03)

7. Manendi-Moxalif (2:44)

8. Mahur Tesnifi (2:58)

Side 2:

1. Qargamisham (3:08)

2. Mahur Tesnifi (3:08)

3. Arazbari (3:02)

4. Bayati Qacar (3:24)

5. Mirza Hüseyn Segahi (3:03)

6. Mahur Tesnifi (3:57)

7. Qarabag Shikestesi (4:07)

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Many thanks to Danny for bringing this LP from Azerbaijan.

Parisa & Ensemble Darvish - Bayat-e Tork - Copy of an Iranian Cassette from the 1970s

Parisa (or Parissa), born 1950, is one of the foremost female singers of Iran. She studied with the famous Radif master Mahmud Karimi (1927-1984) and with Ostad Dariush Safvat (born 1928). We present here a cassette we bought in the 1980s in an Iranian shop in London. This cassette has better sound quality than other edtions of the same recording circulating in the Iranian community, even better than the CD. This cassette, manufactured in England, contains the mode Bayat-e Tork recorded in Iran before the revolution. See more on the artist on her website: http://www.parissa.org/05_biography/biography.htm

The Ensemble Darvish was directed by Santoor player Reza Shafieian (born 1941). The Tar and Setar player might be Dariush Tala'i.

Bayat-e Tork (both sides joined into one track) (38:02)

1. Tasnif Mehrabani

2. Chaharmezrab Santoor

3. Avaz (singing) & Nay

4. Avaz & Tar (in reality Setar)

5. Avaz & Kemencheh

6. Tasnif Hamchu Farhad Shadeh

7. Chaharmezrab Nay

8. Zarbi Tork

9. Avaz & Tar

10. Tasnif

11. Zarbi Reng

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Yunus Rajabi (Rajabiy) (1897-1976) - Yunus Rajabi performs Uzbek National Songs - Double LP Melodiya

A double LP of solo performances, partly from the repertoire of the Shashmaqam (LP 1), by the great master of Shashmaqam (see here his complete Shashmaqam).

Side 1:
1. Bayyot I (Fuzuli) (8:51)
2. Bayyot II (Miskin) (4:18)
3. Dugoh I (Fuzuli) (5:22)
4. Qalandari (Mukimi) (3:20)

Ensemble of national instruments

Side 2:

1. Ushshok (Navoi) (7:14)

2. Chorgoh (Yu. Saryomi) (8:24)

3. Adoyi va Asiri (Furkat and Miskin) (7:04)

Quartet of national instruments (1)

Ensemble of national instruments (2, 3)

Side 3:

Uzbek national songs:

1. Kucha Bogi (Street garden) – I (Mukimi) (6:51)

2. Kucha Bogi (Street garden) – II (Navoi) (5:47)

3. Sarparda (Navoi) (6:52)

Ensemble of national instruments

Side 4:

1. Kuygay (Yu. Rajabi – Kh. Olimzhon) (2:51)

2. Girya I (national music, Navoi and Mukimi) (7:30)

3. Girya II (national music, Bobir) (5:20)

4. Koshki (If only) (Yu. Rajabi  – Navoi) (3:38)

Ensemble of national instruments (1-3)

Orchestra of national instruments (4)

Download LP 1 & Scans

Download LP 2

Thanks to Danny for sharing this double-LP

and to Berdak Bayimbetov for the translations and transcriptions.

Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009) - The Great Genius of Sarod - LP published 1983 in Germany

Side 1: 

Raga Lome (21:50)

Side 2:

Raga Bihag (21:40)

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Thanks to Danny for sharing this LP.

'Alan Faqir - Vol. 4 - Sufi Music from Sindh - Cassette from Pakistan

Another beautiful casette by the legendary Sufi singer.

Side A (23:57)

Side B (24:01)

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Many thanks again to Danny for sharing this cassette.

Zarsanga - Pashto Folk Music - Lok Virsa FK 0015 - Cassette from Pakistan

Beautiful folk music accompanied mainly on Rabab, Flute and Dholak.

Side A (31:10)

Side B (30:46)

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Many thanks to Danny for sharing this cassette.

Zarsanga is a famous Pashtu singer widely known as The Queen of Pashtun Folklore. She was born in 1946 at Zafar Mamakhel, a small village of Lakki Marwat. She belongs to a nomadic tribe that used to settle in Afghanistan in summer and stay in Lakki during the winter. In 1965, she married Mulajan, a resident of Sarai Naurang (Bannu) who was also a nomad. Many people believe she is married to popular folk singer Khan Tehsil, but she denies the rumours:

“Actually I sang with him on many occasions and most of our joint songs got immense popularity. He is not my husband he is just like my own brother”.

Zar Sanga has four daughters and two sons. Only Shehzada, her second son, has stepped into the world of music. At the start of her career, Zar Sanga would listen to the songs of Gulnar Begum, Kishwar Sultan, Bacha Zarin Jan, Khial Mohammad, Ahmad Khan and Sabz Ali Ustad. “I liked all of them, but I have maintained my own traditional way of folk singing. The people would earnestly enjoy my songs on both sides of the Durand Line (Pakistan-Afghan border). “I got no education so I cannot sing from a written paper. Most often I sing the songs that are composed and created by the common folk. However my husband also wrote some of my popular songs”, she said. A French researcher, Miss Kia, who worked with Radio France, once said Zar Sanga’s voice was the only mountainous voice in the Pashto language. Miss Kia took Zar Sanga to France for a musical concert. In France, many people were fascinated by her sweet melodies. The Pashto singer described a concert in London: “I was singing a traditional folk song in Pashto about the mountains and gypsy life of the tribals and when I finished it, a British person came close to me and proudly remarked that he was also a gypsy.” The famous numbers of Zar Sanga, which she never misses at any musical event she plays are Da Bangriwal Pa Choli Ma Za (her first-ever song on radio), Zma Da Khro Jamo Yara, Rasha Mama Zwi De, Zma Da Ghrono Pana Yara, and Kht Me Zanzeri De. Zar Sanga has been to Germany, Belgium, Iraq, Dubai, America, France and UK and has enthralled thousands of Pakhtuns and local people with her voice.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarsanga

'Alan Faqir - Vol. 1 - Sufi Music from Sindh - Cassette from Pakistan

Side A (23:05)

Side B (23:22)

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Many thanks to Danny for sharing this cassette.

'Alan (Allan) Faqir (1932-2000) was one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music in Pakistan. He was particularly known for his ecstatic style of performance marked with extreme devotional rhetoric and sufi dance singing. Deprived of a mother's love, he went off in search of someone who could replace that love. He arrived at the tomb of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit Shah and started living there. Faqir's memory was sharp even though he could not read and write. Hearing the traditional Latifi Raag sung every night touched his heart. Encouraged by Faqir Zawar Qurban Ali Lanjwani and Moolchand Maharaj, he began singing Bhitai's poetry at the shrine and ultimately spent twenty years there until meeting Mumtaz Mirza, who introduced him to Radio Pakistan and ptv in Hyderabad and helped him to learn the correct pronunciation of Bhitai's poetry. Eventually, he became a performing legend. 

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Fakir

More Rudra Veena - Anant Bedekar (1921- ? )

Side 1:

Raga Malkauns - Alap (6:41)

Side 2:

Raga Malkauns - Jod (6:24)

Additional tracks:

Raga Madhukauns - Alap (4:50)

Raga Madhukauns - Jod (12:56)

Download

Many thanks to KF for sharing generously these rare recordings.

"Born in a family of music lovers, Anant Bedekar also played the sitar and the surbahar. His music, he said, was neither in the dhrupad nor in the khyal style. His expressive playing technique and the singular sound of his bin made him an original binkar at any rate, unjustly condemned to obscurity.

Anant Bedekar (1921 - ?), doctor and binkar, enjoyed the mixed instruction of Laxman Rao Chavan, son of Balvant Rao Chavan, one of Bande Ali Khan’s disciples."

from: http://www.rudravina.com/html_gb/musi_02.html

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar dies at 92 on December 12 - In his memory: a less known LP from 1972/73

Ravi Shankar, composer, sitar player and worldwide music legend, has died surrounded by family near his home in southern California. He played at Woodstock, collaborated with the Beatles and fathered Norah Jones.

Ravi Shankar passed away in the presence of his family late on Tuesday in California aged 92. He had undergone successful surgery last Thursday, but was unable to recover from the operation. Shankar's family confirmed the news.

"Although it is a time for sorrow and sadness, it is also a time for all of us to give thanks and to be grateful that we were able to have him as part of our lives," his family said.

"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the surgeons and doctors taking care of him, his body was not able to withstand the strain of the surgery. We were at his side when he passed way," Shankar's wife Sukanya and his daughter Anoushka said.

DW.DE

Shankar is as famed in the western hemisphere as in his native India, and is broadly credited with popularizing Indian music in the rest of the world - by virtue of his nimble fingers and the distinctive sound of the sitar.

Intercontinental icon

A three-time Grammy winner, Shankar played at the 1967 Monterey Festival and at Woodstock. He collaborated with violinist Yehudi Menhin and with the Beatles in the same era. He taught band member George Harrison, one of the more famous guitarists ever to have lived, to turn his hand to India's stringed equivalent. 

Shankar has also fathered a Grammy winner, the eclectic vocalist Norah Jones who has been honored with jazz, pop and country music accolades during the last decade. 

One of Shankar's first international awards was secured in Berlin at the 1957 Berlinale film festival, where he secured the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize for composing the score for the Bengali movie Kabuliwala. 

His influence touched almost every corner of the music industry, including fellow legends in the business. Jazz saxophone master John Coltrane named his son Ravi Coltrane. 

Shankar also served as an unelected member of the upper chamber of India's parliament. 

msh/dr (AFP, dpa, Reuters) 

http://www.dw.de/sitar-maestro-ravi-shankar-dies-at-92/a-16445458

Ustad Zakir Hussain said it beautifully: "Beings like him don't die, they just go back to heaven to take their rightful place amongst the Gods. Today, with his presence heaven is enriched."

Side 1:

 Raga Alahiya Bilawal (21:29)

Side 2:

Raga Patdeep (21:25)

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Mugam Trio Djabbar Karyagdyoglu - Mugam from Azerbaijan - LP from 1991

Zakhid Kuliev - Vocal, Naqara

Mokhlat Muslimov - Tar

Fakhratdin Dadashev - Kemanche

Zakhid Kuliev - his name is transcribed sometimes as Zahid Guliev or Quliyev - is
next to Alim Qasimov perhaps the singer with the most amazing and beautiful
voice of his generation.

Side 1

Maxur – Xindi (Mahur-Hindi)

(folk music – A.Vakhid) – 22.26

Side 2

Simai – Shems

(folk music – D.Vasif) – 10.30

Heiraty – 6.45

Gyullyu Gafiya – 3.18

(folk music and text)

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Liner notes:

Classic Azerbaijani “mugam” dates back to a long history. It was developed, polished and passed from mouth to mouth. The only thing that wasn’t changed is the creative task of bearers of mugam, which comprises the ability of joining the strict rules of formations and freedom of its interpretation. A mugam performer sings and plays traditional variant of classical composition while demonstrating at the same time his ability of improvisation to listeners that adds a unique colour to the sounds of popular melodies.

Traditional mugam ensemble is a trio, casting a singer-hanende and performers on Azerbaijani national musical instruments “tare” (stringed) and kyamanche (bow). Drumming (“def”) party of music is performed by a singer himself.

From the earliest times Azerbaijani mugam art presents three main performing schools – Karabakh, Shirvan and Baku. Each of them added their amazing tints to the development and formation of this Azerbaijani “dastgyakh”.

The performance of “dastgyakh” can be compared with climbing to the Everest from all slopes by the strongest, skilled and well trained professionals.

Mugam trio named after Djabbar Karyagdyoglu offers organic blending of tastes of two schools: lower-Karabakh (in its turn Karabakh School has three trends: gorno- (mountain), middle- and lower-Karabakh) – singer-hanende Zakhid Guliev and Baku stringed musical instrument player Mokhlat Muslimov, and a bow player Fakhratdin Dadashev. Each of them, possessing an impressive individual performing aspect, tactfully locates the orientation of the improvisatory fantasy of a partner in the ensemble.

A repertoire of classical Azerbaijani mugam ensemble consists of mugams, zerbi-mugams, Azerbaijani-mugams and even traditional ashug (Caucasian folk) melodies.

Ancient land of Azerbaijan has been always generous with talents. Majority of them glorified this beautiful land to the world, entering to the golden foundation of world musical art. Safiaddin Urmevi, Abdul Kadyr Maragi, Uzeir Gadjibekov, Sadykhdjan, Djabbar Karyagdyoglu, Mirza Mamed Gasan, Kurban Primov, Bakhram Mansurov and other Azerbaijani musicologists and performers are the stars of “mugam galaxy”. Undoubtedly, we are the spectators of appearance of new stars, flaring with special glitters.

Gasan Adigezal-zade

Many thanks to Berdak Bayimbetov for the translations and transcriptions, especially the big work of translating the liner notes.