Anthems for the Nation of Luobaniya • 罗巴尼亚国歌: EMI

Showing posts with label EMI. Show all posts

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Nazakat Ali & Salamat Ali • Classical Music from Pakistan

Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan
Ustad Salamat Ali Khan
• Classical Music from Pakistan — Durbari, Kalavati
The Gramophone Company of Pakistan - CLP 1308 - P.1958 - 60?*

Side A

A1 Raag Durbari - 22'01
- Bhilampat - Jhumra Tal
- Durat - Tintal

Side B

B1 Raag Kalavati - 22'13
- Bhilampat - Tilwara Tal
- Durat - Tintal

Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (Born in 1934 in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, died in 2001), father of an entire family of vocalist-musicians, performed (at the age of nine), with his brother Nazakat Ali Khan, as the famed 'Ali Brothers'. They were internationally renowned as superstars in the 60's and 70's for their immense talent and artistry in the classical form.

Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan (1932? Older brother that died much earlier than Salamat)
(Most likely Tawfiq or someone else can fill in the dates here or I'll do it when I find them!)

Nazakat Ali - Salamat Ali

These two young artists, aged 26 years and 24* years respectively are well-known in the sub-Continent of Indo-Pakistan. They were taught by their father. Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan, a great exponent of classical singing, under whose able guidance they have attained for themselves a unique position among the exponents of classical music.

These two artists are followers of Sham Chroasi School of Music which has been in the limelight for many centuries, specialising in the faithful reproduction of the original form of each Raga (composition). Both, however, in adhering to the basic teaching have enriched their singing with new ideas giving a contemporary touch to their art.

The singing is accompanied by Tabla and a Sarangi. Tabla, played here by Ustad Allah Dutta, are a pair of drums — one treble, the other, bass. Sarangi played by Ustad Zahoori Khan, is a three-stringed instrument similar to a violin.

One of the most popular forms of classical music sung to-day is called “Khyal” which has two distinctive parts — the Bilampat (slow) and the Durat (fast). The invocation always starts in bilampat and gradually increases in tempo to end in Durat. Most classical singers are either able to sing well in Bilampat or in Durat but both Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali are equally proficient in both, which is a great achievement, In this recording, Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali treat you to two Ragas.

Side One : Raga Durbari

Raga Durbari is a composition of Tansen, the famous musician of Moghul Emperor, Akbar the Great, In this piece, which describes the Emperor's Court and all its pageantry, the young artists play Bilampat in 14 beats and Durat in 16. The mind and soul seem to be carried away into an atmosphere of purity and godliness.

The composition is as follows:

Do Rey me FA so LA See
Do See So me FA Ray Do

Side Two: Raga Kalavati

This piece was evolved recently by Maharashtrians and consists only of five notes. It expresses the loneliness and despair of a parted lover for this sweetheart. This is a rather sad and sophisticated piece and to be able to sing it well, the artist must first get into almost a trance as if he himself was the lover and it was he who was missing his sweetheart.

This Raga is made up of the following scale:

Do me So LA See
Do See LA So me Do

snipped from the backside of the record sleeve

* About the publishing date and birthdays please do your own math! I am lousy even at common addition!

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Bismillah Khan - Shenai Nawaz

Bismillah Khan - Shenai Nawaz

EMI India - EALP-1289 - P.1964

Side 1

A1 Malkauns, teental

Side B

B1 Des, teental

B2 Thumri, Tilak Kamod

Hope this one finds an equally interested audience as the last one. This album is one of the earlier recordings by Bismillah Khan, you just have to love the cover! As far as the presented ragas are concerned, they belong to the part of the day that also allows me to listen, namely the night! The three hours of night before midnight, I'm am usually still listening by the break of dawn, but the best part for listening is really the six hours around midnight.

Not in the South though, where everything mostly finishes up at the latest a little after ten in the evening. Though late nights work in Bombay, it is not so in Madras, where they get up real early. Actually they get up just around the time when I find it necessary to go to bed. Therefore I often miss the morning prayers and chanting by the tank and I always regretted that but, someone has to make sure the passage of night is made safe as well!

I love the intimacy of the Thumri at the end of side 2, and the Des preceding it has a magical ambience and although the surface noise in the beginning of the track is a bit annoying it does get better as the tune progresses and the quality of the music will certainly capture you anyhow. Again there is no visible wear on the copy and it is played but a few times, but alas vinyl is delicate...

I'll post some more instrumental records before I get on to all the vocalists I mentioned before and that I want so much to share with you.

So much music! So little time!

Here anyhow, you can listen to one more great Bismillah Khan!

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Bismillah Khan - The Soul of Shahnai

Bismillah Khan - The Soul of Shahnai

EMI India - ECSD-2833 - P.1979

Tracks

Side A

A1 Vignettes of Poorab Tradition - Kajri

A2 Vignettes of Poorab Tradition - Poorbi

A3 Vignettes of Poorab Tradition - Chaiti

Side B

B2 Melodies of Love - Raga Tilak Kamod - Jhaptaal

B1 Melodies of Love - Raga Jogiya - Tritaal

I promised before to post more Bismillah Khan! He is one of the musicians who more than many, over the years, since I first heard his mellifluous but never frivolous shenai in the sixties, that constantly have helped me in my life! The compassion and warmth that I feel emanating from his person and his breath through the reeds, have helped to clean both my ears and mind from the travails of this dusty world. To many listeners to the musics of this blog he needs no description, and the long artistic career beginning all the way back in the third decade of last century and spanning into the first of this one. Fortunately his recordings proliferated during the late sixties and early seventies as those recordings, to my ears are his prime ones. There certainly were many good recordings over the years to follow, although I think many of those had the Ustads shenai drowning by the sound of the "Party" and by poor mixing, where percussion was given too much prominence.

I will continue to post some more LP's of mostly indian pressings, and although almost all of them are still in mint condition, there is the occasional surface noise, some pops and other artifacts due to pressing technology of the times. I am not trying to filter or edit anything except pops and clicks between tracks. I may update some of the more valuable posts later if I get enough time to do any filtering and editing, but as it stands all my rips will be left as intact as possible! On occasion there is slightly more noise in the beginning of an LP-side but that often just goes away after a few seconds into the record.

The music is anyhow magnificent regardless and I hope you will enjoy this as much as I and his Excellency with whom I share my great admiration both for the person and the musician Ustad Bismillah Khan! And some more good news is that his Excellency has already committed some other items from his collection for me to share with you later on.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib (Urdu: استاد بسم اللہ خان صاحب; March 21, 1916 ? August 21, 2006) was an Indian shehnai maestro. He was the third classical musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna (in 2001), the highest civilian honour in India and gained worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades.

Bismillah Khan was perhaps single handedly responsible for making the shehnai a famous classical instrument. He brought the shehnai to the center stage of Indian music with his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Conference in 1937. He was credited with having almost monopoly over the instrument as he and the shehnai are almost synonyms.

Khan is one of the finest musicians in post-independent Indian Classical music and one of the best examples of Hindu-Muslim unity in India and had played shenai to audience across the world.He was known to be devoted to his art form that he referred to shehnai as his begum, wife in Urdu, after his wife died. On his death, as an honour, his shehnai was also buried along with him.He was known for his vision of spreading peace and love through music.

Khan had the rare honor of performing at Delhi's Red Fort on the eve of India's Independence in 1947. He also performed Raga Kafi from the Red Fort on the eve of India?s first Republic Day ceremony, on January 26, 1950. His recital had become a cultural part of India's Independence Day Celebrations, telecast on Doordarshan every year on August 15. After the Prime Minister's speech from Lal Qila (the Red Fort,) in Old Delhi, Doordarshan would broadcast a live performance by the shehnai maestro. This tradition dated from the days of Pandit Nehru.

[edited from the Wikipedia]

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Saturday, June 19, 2010

Ustad Amir Khan - Great Master Great Music

Ustad Amir Khan - Great Master Great Music

EMI - ECLP 2765 - P.1976

Side 1

A1 Khayal Bilaskhani Todi

Side 2

B1 Khayal Abhogi

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Festival of India Presents - The Great Tradition - Masters of Music

Festival of India Presents - The Great Tradition - Masters of Music

EMI HMV India - EALP 1453-54 [2LP] - P.1984

Hindustani

1-01 Bhopali [1911] 3.16 Zohra Bai

1-02 Bhairavi [1948] 4.22 Bhundu Khan [sarangi]

1-03 Shudda Kalyan [1949] 4.23 Abdul Karim Khan

1-04 Lalit [1940] 3.18 Fayyaz Khan

1-05 Nat Kamod [1946] 4.09 Kesar Bai Kerkar

1-06 Dev Gandhar [1964] 4.11 Krishnarao Shankar Pandit

2-01 Gujri Todi [1951] 3.11 Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

2-02 Hori [1962] 4.39 Siddheshwari Devi

2-03 Gaur Sarang [1961] 4.50 Mallikarjun Mansur

2-04 Ramdasi Malhar [1965] 6.35 Amir Khan

2-05 Asavari [1960] 4.12 Gangubai Hangal

3-01 Shree [1965] 6.25 Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan [Sitar & Sarod]

3-02 Tilak Kamod [1961] 4.09 Vilayat Khan [Sitar]

3-03 Bageshwari [1964] 2.55 Kishori Amonkar

Karnatic

3-04 Kasiramakriya [1950] 4.02 Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar

3-05 Saramati [1971] 3.15 Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu [Violin]

3-06 Mohanam [1956] 4.01 Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer

4-01 Todi [N.D.] 3.36 T.N. Rajaratnam Pillai [Nagaswaram]

4-02 Kalyani [1965] 4.10 Madurai Mani Iyer

4-03 Adi Tala [1969] 3.53 Palghat Mani Iyer [Mridangam]

4-04 Mayamalavagaula [1975] 2.45 D.K. Pattamal

4-05 Vachaspati [1982] 3.31 Doreswamy Iyengar [Vina]

4-06 Nata [N.D] 4.04 M.D. Ramanathan

4-07 Sankarabharanam [1970] 4.04 T.R. Mahalingam [Flute]

Early on, also in the mid to later part of the sixties, an intellectual engineer that had been deported to the little community where I grew up, together with a few local students, and of course I was one of them, that had already been singled out as impossible to use for the footballteam, or most any other normal social activity like pair dancing, drinking and fighting, started a film club that graciously borrowed the local Movie theatre when nothing else was showing started to arrange screenings of movies by Fellini, Bergman and Bunuel and several Japanese and some Indian movies among them the Satjayit Ray movie Jalsaghar The Music Room witch had a big impact on me, I was more or less ignoring the underlying message of the movie and focused happily on the music and dance parts.

Well, it is a bit confusing to try to come up with a first post of Indian vocal music as there are so many wonderful singers!

How to choose, when each one of these singers has opened up a new universe to me. And as I mentioned in previous posts, I had, after indulging for some years in the instrumental music, more or less completely abandoned any other listening after I finally made contact with the vocal music.

The first I heard was really the greatest singers in all of hindustani music. Each absolutely phenomenal! The first records I remember came from two friends, that very quickly, one after the other, lent me some EMI HMV India LP's of Abdul Karim Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, D.V. Palushkar, Amir Khan, Vilayat Hussain Khan and Kesar Bai Kerkar. Can you imagine anything to surpass this? It was impossible to choose one before the other, so I immediately fell in love with all of them! They very soon to be followed by Omkarnath Thakur, Bhimsen Joshi , C.R. Vyas, Dagar Brothers, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Ghandarva, Amanat & Fateh Ali Khan, Nazakat Ali & Ustad Salamat Ali and Lakshmi Shankar. Even the then by the purists shunned Parween Sultana reached my ears and I found also her singing to be delightful but that was before she hooked up with the to Dilshad Khan who in my opinion were not at all up to her standard. It went further and a little later I was also listening to real obscurities like Mushtaq Hussein Khan, Rajab Ali Khan.

I tried to understand something about the different gharanas and must say that at my young age I failed. There was very little guidance and very hard to do any comparative listening, but it did not matter because my ears and heart was open and I was filled to the brim with this music, I was breathing it like someone that had been held under water for a very long time and finally came up for air!

This went on for a long while and I was far from satiated but then the Karnatic sky opened with another downpour of fantastic artists and much like I had been totally enchanted by the reeds of Bismillah Khan I was now blown to pieces by the exploding tavil and fantastic Nagaswaram of T.N. Rajaratnam Pillai and Karukurichi P. Arunachalam. And now and then when the tempo was getting too excited, I was mildly brought back into a state of peacful bliss by the mercyfull voice of M.S. Subbulakshmi and only quite a bit later did I find the male singers like Madurai Mani Iyer, Alathur Brothers, M.M. Dhandapani Desikar, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, and my big favourites M.D.Ramanathan, and Madurai Somasundaram

I am only listing so many names to give balance to my first vocal post and I promise that in due time I will try to post any LP's by the artists mentioned here and still some more, as they surface or come in my way!

For my first posts I had selected one LP each by Kesar Bai Kerkar, D.V. Paluskar, Amir Khan, Abdul Karim Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan but just now when I had a very fruitful conversation with one of my good friends at Panchamkauns editorial board, only some minutes ago, I came to mention this double LP compilation. While I read to him the track listings, I realized that tracks by most of the great artists I have mentioned above were included.

And when I remembered that almost half of the second LP of the compilation moved from the North into Tamil Nadu and Karnatic music with equally strong names it was suddenly very clear that this would have to be the next post. Not entirely vocal but in most parts a very good selection I decided to go with this one and I hope you like it!

The gatefold is rather surprising in it minimalistic information, so when you open the gatefold the two brown pages are left blank.

Fortunately, at least the artists and tracks are given on the back of the LP and with years of recording but no more.

I have seen several copies of this double LP and none of them had any accompanying leaflet. None of the photos of artists in this post are included on the LP's covers and is to be regarded as "extra decoration" only.

As there is no information whatsoever on the LP itself about the artists here is at least photos and dates and more details will follow as I start to post the individual albums later.

Hindustani