Sounds of the Strings : Sarod
on Nov 21, 2009 in hindustani classical music ali akbar khan amjad ali khan krishnamurthi sridhar sarod sounds of the strings The present day Sarod, came into vogue through an evolutionary process. Its predecessor, the ancient Rabab, was played in the Mughal court of Emperor Akbar. It is a six stringed instrument with its lower gut string used as a resonator. The founder of...

Annapurna Devi : the genius who chose to be left alone
on Nov 19, 2009 in hindustani classical music ali akbar khan allauddin khan annapurna devi ravi shankar surbahar Some have heard of her. Few have met her. None truly know her. Sarod wizard Ustad Ali Akbar Khan said of her, she is ’simply great’. Pandit Ravi Shankar acknowledges her genius. Yet, none have heard her play. Mysterious, intriguing, she i...

Four droplets of Excellence
on Nov 17, 2009 in hindustani classical music asad amanat ali khan birju maharaj mehdi hassan zarina begum Every now and then one comes across small clips of excellent songs, tiny droplets from the vast ocean, which the world of hindustani classical music indeed is. The fuller versions either do not exist or the songs were not meant to be recorded for com...

Four Songs : my Choice 7
on Nov 3, 2009 in hindustani classical music my choice padmavati shaligram ravi kichlu sheila dhar vasantrao deshpande Here I come once again with a few songs of my choice. All the four artists featured this time are first timers on this blog. Vasantrao Deshpande (1920-1983), as we all know was one of India’s most illustrious classical vocalists. He was equally...

Rasoolan Bai : The Other Song
on Oct 31, 2009 in hindustani classical music rasoolan bai the other song On 29th August, 2009, a documentary film was screened at the Bangalore International Centre in Bangalore. The documentary, The Other Song, directed by a young Saba Dewan narrates the story of a lost song recorded in 1935. The singer was the famous Th...

Sounds of the Strings : Sitar
on Oct 28, 2009 in hindustani classical music kanwar sain trikha nikhil banerjee rais khan sounds of the strings usman khan From rudimentary folk beginnings, string instruments of India have now reached the heights of concert glory, giving endless moments of ecstasy and delight to listeners. The strumming of a series of taut metallic strings is capable of creating an enth...

Four Random Songs 7
on Oct 27, 2009 in hindustani classical music begum shannu khurana pandit pran nath random songs ritwik sanyal sanjukta biswas It has always been my conscious effort to include music samples of as many artists as possible. Some of them may be young or not as well known as their famous peers, but are in no way less talented. The purpose is to initiate the common man, the dumm...

Amir Khan : the unorthodox revolutionary
on Oct 22, 2009 in hindustani classical music amir khan In the last 50-60 years some artists have, by their revolutionary spirit, progressive outlook and creativity brought about radical changes in the style of presentation of classical music. Ustad Amir Khan was such an artist. Amir Khan was born at Indo...

Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma
on Oct 15, 2009 in carnatic folk music bhagyada lakshmi baramma bhimsen joshi m s subbulakshmi s p balasubramaniam They say music has no language or religion. Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma is a beautiful Hindu Kannada devotional song composed by 15th century poet Purandara Dasa and is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, the divine consort of Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi mea...

Four Most Wanted Songs 2
on Oct 14, 2009 in hindustani classical music begum akhtar bhimsen joshi most wanted songs rashid khan shobha gurtu It has been my endeavour all along to provide a download link for all the songs that I post on this blog, so that you may soak into the music at your leisure. However, I must tell you in clear terms that all these uploads have been deliberately encod...