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.





Monday, 30 October 2017

Damodarlal Kabra demonstrates Ragalap - Recorded in Jodhpur on 23.7.1975



New covers created by Coltra (see comments):



With these very beautiful privately recorded Alaps we conclude our posts on Damodarlal Kabra. See here our other posts on the artist:
http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.de/search/label/Damodarlal%20Kabra
We received these recordings recently from our friend KF. Many thanks to him for sharing.

"Ustad Ali Akbar Khan came to Jodhpur in 1944 as court musician of the erstwhile Marwar state and came across Damodarlal Kabra. Soon Kabra became Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's first disciple and started learning the fine notes of Maihar Gharana. His hard work and commitment for pure music found new dimensions under his Guru's teachings. 
Damodarlal Kabra loveably called 'Damoodada' never had quest for publicity. He maintained a low profile instead. In 1956, he first played in Calcutta and won a big acclaim there. In May 1959, his Sarod recital was first heard by the Radio listeners across the country in Akashwani's National Programme of Music. 'Dada' always wanted to promote the rich Indian classical music. In 1957, he founded "Rashtriya Kala Mandal' in Jodhpur. Many musicians worked here as teachers, in this college and many great musicians have been students of this college.
'Dada' passed away on 4th August, 1979. After hearing about this legendary tabla player of Banaras Kishan Maharaj uttered " The front page of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's music has flown away". 'Dada' taught music to many people. His disciples include Manju Mehta, Vikas Gupta, Amubhai Doshi, Imu Desai, Krishna Mohan Bhatt and Laxmi Kant Doshi.
This humble and great musician always maintained a low profile, but his music is still alive and his son Basant Kabra is a true representative of this."



Damodarlal Kabra's only commercial LP (republished as a CD) was a Jugalbandi with his younger brother Brij Bhushan Kabra, today also available on many download and streaming services:


Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Girija Devi (8 May 1929 – 24 October 2017) passed away yesterday - In her memory a program from AIR Delhi broadcast on 7th of July 1989


'Girija Devi's demise an irreparable loss to Banaras Gharana'

VARANASI: Demise of great vocalist and Thumri queen Girija Devi came as a big shocker to the music lovers of Varanasi, the birth place of the eminent singer. Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa ji, passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday evening. She was 88. 
"It is an irreparable loss to Indian music and Banaras Gharana of music. She was a guiding figure for us," said noted Sarod player and Yash Bharati recipient Pt. Vikash Maharaj. "She was ailing for some time, and admitted to BM Birla Hospital in Kolkata in the morning. She left for the heavenly abode in the evening," he said adding that she had been living in Kolkata with her daughter.
"No one can fill the gap. Even at 88 her scintillating voice could leave the audience spell bound. She was perhaps the last exponent of thumri, tappa, chaiti and khayal. I heard her singing in an award ceremony in New Delhi on August 27," said Ashok Kapoor, founder of a cultural organization Kala Prakash working for the cause of Indian music.
Though settled in Kolkata, she regularly visited Varanasi. She was born in Varanasi in 1929. She took lessons in singing khayal and tappa from vocalist Sarju Prasad Misra in early childhood. She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s. She was a prominent performer of purabi ang thumri style of Banaras gharana. She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2016.

see also:

Here we post in her memory a program from All India Radio (AIR), Delhi, broadcast on 7th of July 1989. This program is quite unusual as it contains just two longer performances in the Khayal format.
First we had posted here a CD from 1990. Because of our rule not to post commercial CDs on this blog we decided to replace it with this AIR broadcast, of which I was not aware that I had it. Just dicovered it now. We received it a while ago from our friend KF. All thanks to him and his generosity.


In 2011 we posted already an LP from 1979 by her. See here.