Hindustani Classical Music

anyone heard southindian singers like chempai,m s subbalekshmi and ramanad krishnan,and jesudas?if not,it is high time for you to enjoy the classical music of southindia.
 
Just listened to "masterworks from the ncpa archives - Girija Devi" and Unsung thumris - pt. Bhimsen Joshi
 
I had posted this sometime back. I think it now belongs here.

The post is about more than the music.

Ganga Mahotsav - Doordarshan Gem- Ustad Bismillah Khan, Rajam and Pt Kishan Mahraj

The Government has sole ownership over hidden treasures. If any of our poor souls were to dig the backyard (difficult for me from the third floor), and stumble (i certainly wish not to, from the third floor) on a treasure, it becomes Government property. We have to duly notify the appropriate authority who will promptly, appropriate it.

There are times, when Government gives those hidden treasures away. This is one such.

All India Radio and Doordarshan had an absolute monopoly over recordings for a long time. There was no competition from satellite TV and MP3 then. Radio was the common man's potion and personal music was expensive. 60 minute cassettes were upwards of Rs 50 and CDs were at a touch me not price, if ever they were visible.

AIR and DD collected gems in those days quietly. They still lie buried within their archives. Once in a while, someone picks up the tapes and they gently waft into the commercial world. They never match the big bang impact of the commercial soundtracks. Many of these gems will sell a tenth or hundredth of Billu Barber or similiar cacaphony.

Given their low commercial prospects (not just because of taste but also due to the menace of downloadable low bit rate MP3), it takes as much serendipity to stubmle on them. I got my share while waiting for a lunch meeting in Khan Market in Delhi. The side label of the CD said Ustad Bismillah Khan but there was the familiar spiral logo of DD that made me take the CD out. Somewhere in the back cover it said coming together of great artistes and it listed N. Rajam and Pt Kishan Mahraj. The CD was damaged and i couldnt find another (though stumbled on another DD recording of the Ustad alone and picked it up too, that's another post).

In one of those rare experiences in a place like Delhi, the attendant himself offered to let me take it with a no question return policy. In an even rarer experience, the owner affirmed this offer. Whats happening to Delhi, its getting too refined nowadays. I was on a four day trip with my laptop without CD drive and had to wait till today to see if it worked. It has its imperfections. EAC helped create a 99.5% rip (those morals will now force me not to return the CD now). Well, a gem without a blemish may very well be a chinese fake nowadays, so i am happy with this near perfect rip.

The whole CD is one glorious Rag Yaman, all 54 minutes of it. I have zero technical knowledge of classical music and seem to like it that way. All of these 54 minutes is bliss. It has the all familiar gentle start of the Ustad. Somewhere along the line N.Rajam joins unnoticed and coasts along. The inevitable staccato of the Ustad is matched with N.Rajam along the way and they drift back into smooth melody. Shehnai and Violin alternating and you can hardly notice the switch. The art flows uninterrupted.

The digital life plays such cruel tricks. In an instant it gets me access to these pleasures. In the next instant it reminds of what i can never digitise. None of the perfect rips, the THD statistics, the driver designs or the db sensitivities can digitise the goose pimples of listening to it live on the banks of Ganga. The music faithfully records the occassional rapture of the audience and the exclamation of the maestro, and if i close my eyes, i can see the ghats and can feel the music waft like the river, and i am almost, almost there.

Salaam Ustad, and when i eventually end up seeing Varanasi, its not the river, the rituals or the Lord that will captivate me. It will simply be the undying memory of this digital divinity.

This piece of immortality is labelled Bharat Ratna Series, Naad Shikar Ustad Bismillah Khan, Volumes I and II, and costs a mere 195, inclusive of all the taxes that accrue to the Govt for letting you sample this.

I tried my best but could not get this CD. However, this one is there on Youtube but duration is 38 minutes only. Can anyone help me get this CD please?
I watched the Youtube and can't agree more that this one superb piece of music.
Hats off to Khan Saheb, Mrs. Rajam and Pt. Kishan Maharaj. Last evening was a bliss with these maestros.
 
Reviving this thread to get some fresh interest on this genre.
There has to be a lot more we can share on Hindustani Classical on here.

Here is one album from my collection - "The Best of Rashid Khan"

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Nice!

Amongst the best in my collection, I have some records, CDs and audio cassettes of D.V. Paluskar, Ustad Faiyaz Khan and Pt. Abdul Karim Khan. Gems all.

Still looking for Illayaraja's 'How to name it' on Vinyl, which I have on CD
 
The list is huge! Some form the Jugalbandi ones that I love:
Nikhil Banarjee with Ali akbar khan
Ravi Shankar with Ali Akbar Khan
Hari Prasad C with Jasraj
Shahid Parvez with Rashid Khan
Sanjeev Abhayankar with Kala Ramnath

Some of the solo ones that I love:
Vilayat Khan: yaman, darbari, jaijaiwanti, most else from the 70s
Budhaditya Mukherjee: todi, des, mishra kafi, yaman, gawati, kalavati
Nikhil Banarjee: Malkauns, Hemant, yaman Kalyan, maru bihag, shree,
Shahid parvez: bageshri, jog, jhinjhoti, des, bihag, rageshri, yaman(kalyan), hamsadhwni
Aamir Khan: almost anything that I’ve heard of his
Parveen Sultana: most everything
Hari Prasad C: Malkauns, bageshri, yaman, pahadi
Raid Khan and Imrat Khan: I don’t have many of theirs but do love to listen to most of their stuff.
 
Welcome to the forum Nikhili!
That is a fantastic list for sure.

Must try and see if I can get some of those.

Regards.


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Welcome to the forum Nikhili!
That is a fantastic lis....

Thanks!
It is becoming tough to get the older classical recordings these days. Thanks to streaming there is quite a bit still accessible. Do we still have any stores that sell CDs in Hyderabad?
 
I haven't bought anything from a brick & mortar store in years.
For me Amazon has been the medium of choice.

Costs a little more but almost anything you want is available on demand.
Delivered to your home.

Regards.

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