Showing posts with label Raga Jaunpuri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raga Jaunpuri. Show all posts

Monday, 7 January 2019

Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1886-1950) - Heritage - Cassette released in India in 1999


Here some other wonderful archival recordings by the great Ustad. The Raga Todi on the first side is in Dhrupad format: first an Alap and then a Dhrupad composition in Chautal.
In the near future we will post more volumes from this Heritage Series with archival recordings, most times from private collections.



Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Kishori Amonkar passed away - In her memory her very first LP released in India in 1967


Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was the most important and most refined classical female singer of the second half of the 20th century. Her music was extremely beautiful and refined with amazing taans flowing endlessly. She was in a class by herself. No other singer could really be compared to her.
I vivdly remember a concert of hers in Bonn in the 1990s on Republic Day. Especially my wife was deeply impressed by her, her stage presence and the fact, that she took the whole public into her inner, spiritual world. My wife still spoke about this concert twenty years later. It was of all the concerts she experienced the one which left the deepest impact.
There were only two classical LPs by her in her early career, the one here and a second one from 1971, which we will post in a couple of days. There was also an LP of Bhajans. Only with the advent of the CD there were published numerous CDs. Some can be bought at: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com.

Bildergebnis für kishori amonkar

Smt. KISHORI AMONKAR – Perfectionist and a Dreamer

by Vibha Purandare
To know Smt. Kishori Amonkar is to know genius. She has in her a concentrated essence of the good, the bad and the beautiful that any genius could boast of. I have known Kishoritai now for many a year, yet I find that the passage of time does not help me to bind in words her elusive and many dimensional personality. It is one thing to know her and another to write about her. Like a great poet, she can say “Yes. I contradict myself. I contain many.” And look at the variety within her – a concrete love for the abstract, a sharp analytical power to dissect systematically an intellectual problem and also an ability to synthesise beautifully the diverse shades of thought, a unique intensity to fathom the mystery of music, a scientific approach towards the ancient and modern theories of Art and Art Creation, a child-like faith in Guru Raghavendra Swami, a sense of wonder of being lost in the fantastic, illogical world of fairy tales and a strong belief in superstitions. All these colourful bits of a jigsaw puzzle refuse to form a very sedate straight picture. At the most one can say, she is a superstitious rationalist and an adult who continues to be child.
“I love to be a child. I know that I am foolish and obstinate as a child. But this state is very precious for me.” Kishoritai said to me one evening, with her tanpuras standing in front as mute witnesses, ” But at the same time, let me tell you I will not be a child in my Art,” she added vehemently. Her witnesses must have silently consented. For when her fingers play on their strings, the musical instruments are thrilled with the touch of a master. Kishoritai tunes her tanpura with the precision of a scientist. It has to be the exact shade of ‘nishad’, the correct ‘shadja’.
She believes that playing the tanpura well is of utmost importance – even more important than tuning it. ”Then how does one do it ?” I asked. Pausing only for the well anticipated question to end, she replied, ”Well, it is an art. You see, though the frequencies of the notes vary, their sound level should be the same. One should strike the next string in such a manner that the sound of the second is blended into the first and so on and thus thereby there is being established sacred serious, musical cyclic pattern. Of course it inspires me to sing, but at times I am afraid even to mingle my own vocal notes into that divine sound. However, one thing I must state that the scientific rendering of a tanpura is different from its aesthetical rendering; in thc case of the latter, the stress is significant.”
And when she is tuning the tanpura – to the admiration of some, whilst testing the patience of many – she is a picture of concentration. Her eyes gently shut, one hand adjusting the beads below, the other stretching out towards the knobs at the other end, she becomes an object of beauty for any photographer, a portrait painter or even all ordinary viewer. And when the tanpuras are tuned to perfection, we have beautifully spanned for our ears a musical rainbow. And the colour is the colour of love. For, this artiste has a profound love for notes, musical instruments, musicians and music; in fact, anything and everything that is musical. Her love, more than her scholarship, makes her ask, “I wonder from where these notes come?”
A musicologist, a musician or a commoner could as well give an appropriate answer. But that will never satisfy her. She has in her a uniqne combination of a child, mystic and artist. The seen world she does love but the pull and the insight into the unseen world is more fascinating. Her imagination then knows no bounds “How must be the home of these notes? How do they behave with each other? I wish I could see them, then I would be able to talk to them.”
Actually, the notes are as familiar to her as her face, in fact definitely more so, for she has spent much more time with her tanpura than with a mirror. She is an ideal student of her subject. She has thought consistently and deeply on the various problems that face a creative artist. The hard core of her philosophy of Music is her faith in its power to transcend the material world and touch the spiritual. Her notes are divine and their singing is sacred. With her singing, a concert hall is transformed into a temple and the listeners become her Guru Raghavendra. Therefore, after a concert, whenever and wherever, she humbly bows down her head at the people in front - this gesture has an added dimension.
There are two different beings that harmoniously dwell in her – one a romanticist and the other a classicist. She herself does not very much like this classification. She feels that an artist is an artist. All other nomenclatures are secondary. Her approach toward Art is spiritual. She believes that realism is depicted in art to take you to the ideal, and the ideal is self-realisation – for the singer as well as for the listener. Like a true romanticist, she has an undying urge to reach out to Beauty. Her singing has its birth in the beautiful and it merges too in the beautiful.
She said to me some years ago, “People say that I look beautiful when I sing. Today I seem to have got an answer. When I sing, I want everything to be beautiful – my notes, my rhythm and myself too. My desire is so intense that on the stage you have beauty personified, not Kishori looking beautiful.” And how true it is!
Her search for beauty does not turn her into an escapist. She is aware of the ugliness of life, its sordidness, its darkness and drabness. Yet she is convinced that when Art touches it, it does not wipe it out, but the innate strength of an art-medium makes it different. There is sorrow and joy inexplicably experienced together. Wheras, in life most often than not, they are mutually exclusive. In her heaven of art, a rose does have a thorn, and a thorn does prick, but its pain leads to peace. That is the uniqueness of art. Music may thrive on and be enriched by the depth and expanse of a ‘Karuna Rasa’ or ‘Shringar Rasa’, but it ultimately culminates in ‘Shanti Rasa’ that is ‘ultimate bliss’.
If Kishoritai adores Beauty, she worships Truth and therefore respects knowledge. Knowledge for her is not trapped wholly in books or fettered only in laboratories. She believes that knowledge is free. It can be found anytime, anywhere. You meet it like a friend in a marketplace, or like a “bhakta” you are blessed by its “darshan” in the ”santum sanctorum” of a temple. Yet, I must tell you, that Kishoritai is a treasurer of books, and as a student of science in Jai Hind College, had done some of the best dissection work in the Botany laboratory. Her love for books is natural and has grown with time. At times she intuitively buys a very good book. Some of the rarest titles in English Literature have been presented to me by Kishoritai, having bought the books in a bookshop, at various airports or on the pavement. She herself possesses one of the best libraries on aesthetics. Like gems, her books are well taken care of. They are neatly covered and bound. She will go to any extent to get a book she intently wants. Once she had wanted a book on ”Indian Aesthetics” by Dr. Pandey. She searched for it high and low, She leafed through all the shops in Bombay, Delhi, Allahabad and other smaller cities in India as well. The search was futile. But Kishoritai did not give in. And when she did get a copy of the book in a University Library, she got the whole significant part of the book cyclostyled. Today, it is one of her proud possessions, to be admired by the connoisseurs and not to be lent even to an ardent book lover.
It is well known that Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Surdas and Meera are her “singing partners” but few may know that Bharat Muni, Sarangdev, Narad and Anandvardhan - the great ancient literary masters— are her “thought companions.” She is extremely happy in their company and it gives her equal joy to sing them or talk about them. Kishoritai feels intently and thinks deeply. You cannot segregate ”feeling” in life from “feeling” in art; for their roots go right down to that land which everyone owns but no one knows - i.e. the human mind. As far as feeling is concerned for Kishoritai, everything in this area is a “little more” than what the other people experience. For her the ruby-mud of her beloved Goa is a “little more” red; and its “sapphire- sky” a “little more” blue. Jasmine, Champak, Roses and Lilies, all these flowers are more fragrant when they have to be offered to Guru Raghavendra Swami; at the same time a “more expensive” saree is “less expensive” if it is to be given to her mother Mai. And if Mai is unwell, Kishoritai is terribly disturbed. She repeatedly rings up her younger sister Lalitatai’s place and keeps on enquiring about Mai’s health. At that time, it is easier for Lalitatai to nurse Mai than attend her Tai’s frequent and demanding phone calls. Not satisfied with what she hears, Kishoritai than decides to rely on her own eyes. She straight - as she is – dashes to Mai. “How are you Mai?” her transparent concern for her mother is evident in the curve of the question. And as soon as Mai says, “I am having a stomach ache or a little palpitation,” Kishoritai leaves her side to sit besides the telephone. Then she rings up a Doctor or two. She rings up the Doctor so often and with so much of urgency that she makes the Doctor sick. But her Doctors know well that though a rebel in the field of music, she is also a nervous, highly strung daughter. They therefore smilingly take the “doses” she gives them. And only when Mai says that “she is feeling a little better” Kishoritai is at a little peace with herself. But her health is not even considered when it is a question of her music concerts. With a temperature as high as 103 raging in her body, I have seen her give all excellent full fledged concert in Dadar. She has also rendered a 3 1/2 hour programme on our Saint-Poet Dynaneshar in a Bombay Hall, with the excruciating and relentless agony of a Herpes infection runn- ing a deadly line of pain on her face across thc nose. I can still see her holding her tanpura in her right hand and with the left hand dipping cotton in a medicinal solution and applying it to her face. One had only to see it to believe it. That is the fierce intensity she has for her music. It is almost inhuman or superhuman.
Thinking - intuitive, creative thinking – is also an innate part of her music. Her razor sharp intelligence is used to gently reach and unfold a particular “bhava” in a bhajan, a thumari, a ghazal or raga. Kishori tai firmly believes that “feeling” is the soul of music. She has thought long and lovinly about the various “bhavas” in art; how their subtle shades emerge and re-emerge, and one being prominent, surges forward towards the formation of a “rasa”. Her study of “rasa theory” is very comprehensive. But everything that she reads in the ancient texts and whatever she herself experiences in the fire of the creative process is to be accepted only if it stands the test of actual music rendered.
Like a sincere hard-working student, she still gets up early in the morning to study and interpret the texts and spends or invests some time with the textual notes. Then after an interval of some kitchen work, she turns to and becomes one with her musical notes. The journey from the world of words to the universe of “sa-re-ga-ma” is as smooth as the sliding of the finger from one string to the other of her tanpura.
Kishoritai has given immeasurable joy to her listeners – through her music and her lectures. By now, she has become a renowned exponent of the “Rasa Theory of Music”. She is an excellent speaker, being clear in thought and lucid in expression. She has given lectures – series of lectures all over India. She carries the same brand of fire in her speeches as in her musical rendering. I remember its early beginning.
It was the year 1977; Place: New Delhi. Smt. Kishoritai Amonkar had been invited to participate in an International Seminar on Arts to be held in the capital of India. Her paper was entitled “Music and Communication”. The audience comprised of writers, musicians, dancers, painters, poets, sculptors and architects of national and international renown. In fact, they were the people who must have been more on the platform – on the other side of creation – than on the receiving side.
In the presence of such illustrious and discerning listeners, Kishoritai read her paper with the ease of a professional and a fervour of a reformer. The text, born and bred on experience was appealing and thought-provoking and the diction was perfect, her breath-control remarkable with the right pauses and correct stress. The thunderous applause at the end “communicated” the listeners’ feeling of appreciation. The impact of the paper was further seen when the Indian and Foreign Delegates attended her concert at ‘Ashoka Hotel’ the following day and made it a point to tell her of the same. As one dancer then remarked “Is it necessary to read the paper also so well? Can you not leave anything to others? ”
That is Kishoritai –
Perfectionist and a dreamer,
Lover of words and notes,
Colour and stones,
An old understanding friend,
A singer, setting a new trend,
Bound to music and its Reedeemer too.
And now finally about her Music. Kishoritai doesn’t sing music, she breathes it. Then what can one write about it? It is like trying to describe and give one’s impression of a beautiful sunrise. The sun of her ”Bhairav” or ”Bhup” is the same; yet, just as every dawn is new, so also the ”ragas” are different with every rendering. Her Music is as fresh as dew and as ancient as the earth.
Here I acknowledge my utter helplessness to do justice to her singing. Much has been written about it, and many are still trying to write about it. She like her mother Mai has also been awarded a ‘Padma Bhushan’. It is indeed a rare feat for a mother and daughter to get one of the highest National awards in the same field – i. e. Hindustani Classical Music. Kishoritai sings with utmost intensity and sincerity. She believes in introspection and guidance from the ancient sages and seers, therefore the evolvement of her “raga” is different from others. Like a staunch classicist she wants to maintain the purity and the discipline of the ”bhava” in a ”raga“. She is totally convinced that in order to depict the ”true and living raga” in future, one must progress towards the past - wherein lies knowledge that is eternal and Absolute. Trying to analyse the subtle nuances of her music I find that the river of words merges into the sea of silence.
We can only pray that may Kishoritai continue to sing for a long long time; and may we all be blessed to listen to that divine melody.

On the artist see further:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishori_Amonkar
http://www.parrikar.org/vpl/?page_id=55
https://www.facebook.com/KishoriAmonkarGaanSaraswati/
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/the-loneliness-of-kishori-amonkar/
http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/04/03/522475920/kishori-amonkar-leading-indian-classical-vocalist-dies-at-age-84

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Kalyani Roy (Sitar) & Ali Ahmed Hussain (Shehnai) - Soul of India - LP published 1968 in the US


"Born on April 29, 1931, sitarist Kalyani Roy is one of the few major women instrumentalists in her genre, with a career spanning 50 years. Kalyani is a disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan and has had training from other masters, including percussion genius Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Kalyani`s immediately identifiable sitar tone is a unique variant of the Vilayatkhani sound, her style mixes a vibrant rhythmic approach with Vilayat Khan`s lyricism.
She performs regularly on Radio, Television and was a regular participant at music conferences both in India and abroad. She made a number of disc records, both solo as well as duet with Radhika Mohan Maitra. In addition to Ustad Vilayat Khan and Jitendra Mohan Sen Gupta, she studied also under Shauqat Ali Khan and Karamatullah Khan for a brief period. She is also a teacher of repute."
from: http://suman-bhattacharya.webs.com/gurus.htm

"Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan (21.03.1939 – 16.03.2016) was one of the veterans and maestros of the shehnai - an instrument which is an integral part of Indian Classical musical culture. Ustadji was influential in taking the instrument out of wedding receptions and other social functions to the concert stage as well as to various international destinations. 
He applied his unique and innovative style and reinvented the form of the shehnai by way of its application in gayaki, sur meend, pukaar, tantrakari, baat ki taan, sapat ki taan, jod and jhala, taking it to a new level of performance.
It was to Ustadji’s immense credit that he ventured to play on the shehnai many ragas that were traditionally not played on this instrument." 
from: http://www.itcsra.org/sra_news_views/obituary/ali_ahmed_hussain_khan.html

A special feature of this LP is the tabla accompaniment by a very great, but less known master: Afak (Afaq) Hussain Khan. He is considered by connoisseurs to be one of the greatest tabla masters ever.
"Afaq Hussain Khan (1930–90); Lucknow tradition - Afaq Hussain Khan, the son of Wajid Hussain, was my teacher and – despite my inherent bias – the greatest player I have ever heard play live. He was widely acknowledged by musicians and connoisseurs as a true master: exceptionally knowledgeable, technically supreme, and inherently musical – a musician's musician! He played with clarity, sweetness, and a refined, balanced sound. Some would say that his approach to sound production was a philosophy in itself." 
from: http://artoftabla.blogspot.de/p/tabla-maestros.html





Friday, 20 March 2015

Gharanon Ki Gaiki - Vol. 5 - Roshan Ara Begum (1917-1982) - Vol. 1 - Kirana Gharana


Next come 4 cassettes by the Malka-e-Mausiqi (The Queen of Music) Roshan Ara Begum, legendary singer of the Kirana Gharana. See here our post of an LP from the eraly 1960s. There you find also more information about the artist.



Friday, 11 April 2014

Mushtaq Ali Khan (1911-1989) - Sitar - Cassette published in India





Many thanks again to Danny for sharing generously this cassette.


For more information on the great artist see:
See also the external links given there.

Bolingo had posted a while ago this LP:

For decades there were no recordings available by this great artist. Now at least three CDs have been published. They can be obtained from: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Sursringar - A Rare Instrument from India - Recordings by Ustad Allauddin Khan & Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra from AIR

Ustad Allauddin Khan playing the Sursringar

Sursringar is a very rare instrument from India used in the past as an instrument for Dhrupad style Alaps. It got forgotten and nearly extinguished in the second half of the 20th century. Nowadays there a number of younger artists, basicly Sarod palyers, who occasionally play this in strument, but almost always like a Sarod.
Here we present two older recordings by two great masters. Both have strong Dhrupad backgrounds, the first through his teacher, the Beenkar Ustad Wazir Khan of the Senia Gharana (direct descendant of Tansen), the second through one of his teachers, the Beenkar Ustad Dabir Khan, grandson and student of Wazir Khan. These recordings we found a while ago in the internet. Many thanks to the original uploaders: the first one I don't remember unfortunately, the second one being Abhimonyu Deb from Kolkata. A note about the pictures: normally the Sursringar is hold against the left shoulder, but because of Ustad Allauddin Khan being lefthanded he holds it to his right shoulder.

1. Ustad Allauddin Khan 
Raga Nat (31:02)
A recording from All India Radio

Download



Ustad Allauddin Khan playing the Seni or Dhrupad Rabab

2. Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra
Raga Jaunpuri (30:26)
A recording from All India Radio



Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra playing the Sarod

Sursringar

Another instrument that appeared in Hindustani music in the early years of the nineteenth century was the Sursringar, which was analogous to surbahar.
Sursringar is a modified version of the Seniya rabab. The instrument rabab had some limitations. Its gut strings and skin parchment upon the resonator make the slow passages of alapchari, impossible unlike the been. Moreover, due to the dampness in the monsoons, the sound of rabab used to deteriorate so much that the notes played on it could not even be discerned. In Sursringar, the skin parchment of the resonator had been replaced by a wooden sound board, the gut strings by those of steel and the wooden fingerboard was covered with a thin iron sheet. With these modifications Sursringar became a distinct improvement over the rabab with regard to the tonal quality and for the alapchari of dhrupad anga. These modifications, in the rabab were carried out by a descendant of Tansen's named Jaffar Khan.
Sursringar was well-suited for vilambit (slow) alap, and the techniques of both veena and rabab playing could be incorporated in it. The melodious effect of Sursringar was so overpowering that it could even outshine the veena in its vilambit alap. Thereafter, it became a tradition amongst the Rababiya gharana to play the Sursringar during the rainy season.
The instrument was well received in the world of music and became popular in a very short time in northern India.
Sursringar and surbahar, both these instruments were meant for playing the dhrupad anga alap in an elaborate manner. Sarod players used to play alap on the Sursringar before playing gat toda on sarod in the same manner as sitar players used to play on the surbahar before playing gat toda on the sitar. Therefore, it was customary to learn the Sursringar along with the sarod till the early years of the twentieth century. Gradually, when the sarod and sitar were modified and became well equipped with greater range of expressiveness, the popularity of the Sursringar and surbahar ebbed and these became obsolete in the latter half of the twentieth century.
from: http://www.india-instruments.de/instrumente/instrumentenlexikon/sursringar.html

Sursringar: Making way for sarod ?

is the popularity of sarod responsible for elbowing out sursringar from circulation, asks richa bansal unlike most other instruments in hindustani classical tradition, sursringar, which falls in the category of stringed instruments, can be dated back to a specific time. it was devised, according to traditional accounts, by the great rabab player jafar khan in or around the year 1830. organologically, a cross between rabab and surbahar but with a distinct sound and string system, sursringar is fast declining in the modern age. sursringar consists of a large semi-spherical gourd sounding box covered with wood fitted to a hollowed tapering wooden stem. the stem has a steel plate attached to it with steel and brass wires stretched across the plate. in its present form sursringar has six main strings and three subsidiary strings. it is played with a stiff wire plectrum called 'java'. the traditional style or baaz of sursringar is extremely difficult and is slowly dying out. the instrument was mainly used for playing alaap in the complex dhrupad system. it has a marvellous tone and depth of sound and is held upright like a been or sitar during a performance. pyar khan, jafar khan and bahadur sen khan were some of the great exponents of sursringar. in bengal, ustad allauddin khan, kumar birendrakishor roychwdhury, shaukat ali khan and pandit radhika mohan maitra were the noted sursringar players. trained under ustad ali akbar khan and shri dhyanesh khan, anindya banerjee is virtually the only practising exponent of sursringar in its traditional style in india today. anindya banerjee, who is originally trained in sarod, "fell in love" with sursringar when he heard a recording of ustad allauddin khan playing the instrument sometime in the 1970's. it was much later in the 80's that he decided to revive it and his ensuing efforts since then deserve high praise. "i was the first to take this instrument abroad and use it in ballet music in the dhrupad festival in uk organized by amc in 1992," said banerjee. "i have also used it in the background music of some kolkata tv serials," he added. he has even taught music in canada in 1984 and is scheduled to leave for uk in coming november. invited to various other prestigious music festivals both in india and abroad, banerjee's cd's are expected to be released fairly soon by an american as well as a french company. banerjee feels that sursringar has declined primarily since ustad allauddin khan incorporated the different styles of rabab, sarod and sursringar into sarod alone. this made sarod so versatile that gradually sursringar and rabab lost their popularity. besides, he explains that the instrument, being very large in size, poses difficulty in transportation. the sitting style of sursringar is verasan is extremely difficult to learn. lastly, it is not an easily affordable instrument priced between rs 30-50,000. "while five years is the maximum time a student requires to learn sursringar it is much easier for a sarod student to learn it," feels banerjee drawing on his own experience. anindya banerjee owns a relatively new sursringar instrument made from tunkat with its tabli recently replaced with 200-year-old teakwood. "initially sursringar was made from teak but nowadays only tunkat is used," he said. "the main maker of sursringar in kolkata today is hemen and company with instruments ranging from rs 30,000 onwards," he added. essentially a connoisseur's delight,sadly enough, sursringar is now hardly played in front of mass audiences. however, banerjee feels that with proper instruction, it will be possible to play this instrument alongside sarod and sitar on the concert stage some day. strongly maintaining that classical music still has its select audience, even banerjee could not help but agree with the fact that the quality had deteriorated immensely over the past years. and sursringar is no exception to this rule.
from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/calcutta-times/Sursringar-Making-way-for-sarod-/articleshow/1375957068.cms

See also this note about Anindya Banerjee and a recording hopefully to get published one day:

Thursday, 15 August 2013

Firoz Dastur (1919-2008) - Dedicated to Kirana Gharana - Cassette from India





Thanks to Ambrose Bierce for sharing this cassette.

A Tribute to Pandit Firoz Dastur

Having passed away on May 9, Pandit Firoz Dastur, the doyen of the Kirana Gharana and a disciple of Sawai Gandharv, leaves behind a legacy that is hard to equal. Having commanded a singing career of six decades, Dastur's music touched many souls and moved several hearts.
As gratitude for his teaching and a celebration of his luminosity, Shrikant Deshpande, one of Dastur's disciples along with disciple Girish Sanzgiri and Srinivas Joshi, son of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, will be organising a tribute to Pandit Firoz Dastur on Saturday, May 17 at Pudumjee Hall, Maratha Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, Tilak Road between 6pm and 8pm. Organised by Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, which also organises the Sawai Gandharv Sangeet Mahotsav, the event being open to the public, will see 15-minute performances by each of the artistes followed by an eulogy to Dastur.
Recalling fond memories of his guru, Deshpande says, “Noble of character, the disciples of Panditji rather than sharing a guru-shishya relationship were great friends of his. And he was the only guru that I know of who wouldn't even hesitate from apologising to his own disciple on the occurrence of a mistake.”
Dastur was also one of the pioneers of the Sawai Gandharv and has participated in almost every festival since its inception, his gopala being a consistent favourite there. Anand Deshmukh, who has been compering Sawai Gandharv since 20 years, relates of his gentleness of mien and his lightheartedness. “The stalwart, inspite of being such a tall artist, was down-to-earth and sans any grandiosity.” He brings to memory an opportune instance when Deshmukh had the chance to interview Dastur at his house on Grant Road in Mumbai and several chats with him in green rooms at Sawai Gandharv. “He always said that his genteel performances are not his, but instead it is his guru who is playing through him,” Deshmukh relates of Dastur, “He was also always respectful of young artists and always listened to their music.” He also recalls of how when Dastur jokingly denied the audience the pleasure of his rendition of gopala, through shouts of gopala, the audience moved him into singing it for them once again.
Everyone remembers Dastur's dulcet, gentle voice, as does singer Neena Faterpekar. ”A softspoken human being, his music resonated the same characteristics,” she says, “I have been seeing him since I was a child as he knew both of my grandmothers and we had nice family moments together.” His study of voice culture, aalaps and the styles of Kirana Gharana were great. “He always encouraged my music and would always sit in the front row during my concerts. Though he gave me tips, he always enthused me to pursue and continue with my style of music,” she says emotionally.
Dastur, having been a father figure to him, Srinivas Joshi was always astounded to be in the presence of Dastur and how he, inspite of his greatness, possessed such rare humility and mingled with his juniors. Having grown up listening to Dastur, Joshi says that his loss will be paramount to music and to Kirana Gharana. “His devotion to his guru and to his parampara is something everyone should work to imbibe,” says Joshi.
Kirana Gharana has lost a great exponent and many artistes have lost a friend and a mentor. Though without his presence, Sawai Gandharv wouldn't be the same, his company and his devotion to music would be treasured and perhaps that is what Dastur will see as an apt homage.