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Monday, November 29, 2010

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar


Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর; born 7 April 1920), often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.[1]
Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.
In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and received three Grammy Awards. He continues to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter Anoushka.


Early life

Shankar was born 7 April 1920 in Varanasi to a wealthy and conservative Brahmin family of cultured Bengalis as the youngest of seven brothers. Shankar's Bengali birth name was Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury. His father, Shyam Shankar, an administrator for the Maharaja of Jhalawar, used the Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part. Shyam was married to Shankar's mother Hemangini Devi, but later worked as a lawyer in London. There he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Varanasi, and did not meet his son until he was eight years old. Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun".
At the age of ten, after spending his first decade in Varanasi, Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar. By the age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance and play various Indian instruments.[ Uday's dance group toured Europe and America in the early to mid-1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, and cinema, and became acquainted with Western customs. Shankar heard the lead musician for the Maihar court, Allauddin Khan, in December 1934 at a music conference in Kolkata and Uday convinced the Maharaja of Maihar in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe. Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and came to Maihar


Training and work in India
Shankar's parents had died by the time he returned from the European tour, and touring the West had become difficult due to political conflicts that would lead to World War II. Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system. Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar, learned ragas and the musical styles dhrupad, dhamar, and khyal, and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena, rubab, and sursingar. He often studied with Khan's children Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi.Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod.
Shankar completed his training in 1944. Following his training, he moved to Mumbai and joined the Indian People's Theatre Association, for whom he composed music for ballets in 1945 and 1946. Shankar recomposed the music for the popular song "Sare Jahan Se Achcha" at the age of 25. He began to record music for HMV India and worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 to January 1956. Shankar founded the Indian National Orchestra at AIR and composed for it; his compositions experimented with a combination of Western instruments and classical Indian instrumentation. Beginning in the mid-1950s he composed the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, which became internationally acclaimed.

International career 1956–1969


Tabla player Alla Rakha, who was a frequent accompanist of Shankar, in 1988
V. K. Narayana Menon, director of AIR Delhi, introduced the Western violinist Yehudi Menuhin to Shankar during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952. Shankar had performed as part of a cultural delegation in the Soviet Union in 1954 and Menuhin invited Shankar in 1955 to perform in New York City for a demonstration of Indian classical music, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. Shankar declined to attend due to problems in his marriage, but recommended Ali Akbar Khan to play instead. Khan reluctantly accepted and performed with tabla (percussion) player Chatur Lal in the Museum of Modern Art, and he later became the first Indian classical musician to perform on American television and record a full raga performance, for Angel Records.
Shankar heard about the positive response Khan received and resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States.[21] He played for smaller audiences and educated them about Indian music, incorporating ragas from the South Indian Carnatic music in his performances, and recorded his first LP album Three Ragas in London, released in 1956. In 1958, Shankar participated in the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO music festival in Paris. Since 1961, he toured Europe, the United States, and Australia, and became the first Indian to compose music for non-Indian films. Chatur Lal accompanied Shankar on tabla until 1962, when Alla Rakha assumed the role. Shankar founded the Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai in 1962.
Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label. The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of The Beatles. Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and created the raga rock trend.
Harrison met Shankar in London in 1966 and visited India for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar in Srinagar. During the visit, a documentary film about Shankar named Raga was shot by Howard Worth, and released in 1971. Shankar's association with Harrison greatly increased Shankar's popularity and Ken Hunt of Allmusic would state that Shankar had become "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by 1966. In 1967, he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin. The same year, the Beatles won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band which included "Within You Without You" by Harrison, a song that was influenced by Indian classical music. Shankar opened a Western branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, California, in May 1967, and published an autobiography, My Music, My Life, in 1968. He performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and found he disliked the venue. In the 1970s Shankar distanced himself from the hippie movement.

International career 1970–present


George Harrison, U.S. President Gerald Ford, and Ravi Shankar in the Oval Office in December 1974
In October 1970 Shankar became chair of the department of Indian music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music. In late 1970, the London Symphony Orchestra invited Shankar to compose a concerto with sitar; Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra was performed with André Previn as conductor and Shankar playing the sitar. Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has criticized the usage of the orchestra in this concert as "amateurish". George Harrison organized the charity Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, in which Shankar participated. Interest in Indian music had decreased in the early 1970s, but the concert album became one of the best-selling recordings featuring it and won Shankar a second Grammy Award.
During the 1970s, Shankar and Harrison worked together again, recording Shankar Family and Friends in 1974 and touring North America to a mixed response after Shankar had toured Europe.[33] The demanding North America tour weakened Shankar, and he suffered a heart attack in Chicago in September 1974, causing him to cancel a portion of the tour. In his absence, Shankar's sister-in-law, singer Lakshmi Shankar, conducted the touring orchestra.[34] The touring band visited the White House on invitation of John Gardner Ford, son of U.S. President Gerald Ford.[34] Shankar toured and taught for the remainder of the 1970s and the 1980s and released his second concerto, Raga Mala, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in 1981. Shankar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on the 1982 movie Gandhi, but lost to John Williams' E.T. He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, from 12 May 1986 to 11 May 1992, after being nominated by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Shankar composed the dance drama Ghanashyam in 1989. His liberal views on musical cooperation led him to collaboration with contemporary composer Philip Glass, with whom he released an album, Passages, in 1990.
Shankar underwent an angioplasty in 1992 due to heart problems, after which George Harrison involved himself in several of Shankar's projects. Because of the positive response to Shankar's 1996 career compilation In Celebration, Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala, with Harrison as editor. He performed in between 25 and 40 concerts every year during the late 1990s. Shankar taught his daughter Anoushka Shankar to play sitar and in 1997 became a Regent's Lecturer at University of California, San Diego. In the 2000s, he won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 and toured with Anoushka, who released a book about her father, Bapi: Love of My Life, in 2002. Anoushka performed a composition by Shankar for the 2002 Harrison memorial Concert for George and Shankar wrote a third concerto for sitar and orchestra for Anoushka and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Shankar played his last European concert in June 2008.


Style and contributions


Shankar plays the raga Madhuvanti at the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran in the 1970s
Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music. His performances begin with solo alap, jor, and jhala (introduction and performances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tabla accompaniment featuring compositions associated with the prevalent khyal style.[6] Shankar often closes his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri genre.
Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century. He popularized performing on the bass octave of the sitar for the alap section and became known for a distinctive playing style in the middle and high registers that uses quick and short deviations of the playing string and his sound creation through stops and strikes on the main playing string. Narayana Menon of The New Grove Dictionary noted Shankar's liking for rhythmic novelties, among them the use of unconventional rhythmic cycles. Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has argued that Shankar's playing style was not widely adopted and that he was surpassed by other sitar players in the performance of melodic passages.Shankar's interplay with Alla Rakha improved appreciation for tabla playing in Hindustani classical music. Shankar promoted the jugalbandi duet concert style and introduced new ragas, including Tilak Shyam, Nat Bhairav and Bairagi.
[edit]Recognition
Shankar won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala.[45] He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1962, and was named a Fellow of the academy for 1975. Shankar was awarded the three highest national civil honors of India: Padma Bhushan, in 1967, Padma Vibhushan, in 1981, and Bharat Ratna, in 1999. He received the music award of the UNESCO International Music Council in 1975, three Grammy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Shankar was awarded honorary degrees from universities in India and the United States. He received the Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1987–88, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992, and the Polar Music Prize in 1998. Shankar is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1997 received the Praemium Imperiale for music from the Japan Art Association. The American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane named his son Ravi Coltrane after Shankar.

Personal life and family

Shankar married Allauddin Khan's daughter Annapurna Devi in 1941 and a son, Shubhendra Shankar, was born in 1942. Shankar separated from Annapurna in the 1940s and had a relationship with Kamala Shastri, a dancer, beginning in the late 1940s. An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979. In 1981, Anoushka Shankar was born to Shankar and Sukanya Rajan, whom Shankar had known since the 1970s. After separating from Kamala Shastri in 1981 Shankar lived with Sue Jones until 1986 and married Sukanya Rajan in 1989.
Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar often accompanied his father on tours. He could play the sitar and surbahar, but elected not to pursue a solo career and died in 1992. Norah Jones became a successful musician in the 2000s, winning eight Grammy Awards in 2003. Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2003.
Shankar is a Hindu and a vegetarian. He lives with Sukanya in Southern California.


Amjad Ali Khan




Amjad Ali Khan

Birth name Masoom Ali Khan
Born 9 October 1945 (age 65)
Gwalior, Central Provinces and Berar, British Raj
Genres Hindustani classical music
Instruments sarod
Associated acts Hafiz Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Khan, Ayaan Ali Khan, Gurdev Singh
Website sarod.com


Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2001.

Early life and career

Khan was born in Gwalior on 9 October 1945 as Masoom Ali Khan, the youngest of six children, to Gwalior court musician Hafiz Ali Khan and Rahat Jahan. His family is part of the Bangash lineage and Khan is in the sixth generation of musicians; his family claims to have invented the sarod. His personal name was changed by a sadhu to Amjad. Khan received homeschooling and studied music under his father.His family moved frequently and Khan performed on the sarod from a young age.
Khan first performed in the United States in 1963 and continued into the 2000s, with his sons. He has experimented with modifications to his instrument throughout his career. Khan played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico.
[edit]Recognition
Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989, and received the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004. The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed April 20 as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007.

Family and personal life

Khan cared for his diabetic father until he died in 1972. His family arranged a marriage, which failed, and Khan was married a second time, to Bharatanatyam dancer Subhalakshmi, on September 25, 1976. Subhalakshmi Barua Khan is a native of Assam and has stopped performing. They have two sons, Amaan, the older one, and Ayaan, who were taught music by their father. Khan is a Muslim and his wife is a Hindu. Their family home in Gwalior was made into a musical center and they live in New Delhi


Amjad Ali Khan




Amjad Ali Khan

Birth name Masoom Ali Khan
Born 9 October 1945 (age 65)
Gwalior, Central Provinces and Berar, British Raj
Genres Hindustani classical music
Instruments sarod
Associated acts Hafiz Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Khan, Ayaan Ali Khan, Gurdev Singh
Website sarod.com


Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2001.

Early life and career

Khan was born in Gwalior on 9 October 1945 as Masoom Ali Khan, the youngest of six children, to Gwalior court musician Hafiz Ali Khan and Rahat Jahan. His family is part of the Bangash lineage and Khan is in the sixth generation of musicians; his family claims to have invented the sarod. His personal name was changed by a sadhu to Amjad. Khan received homeschooling and studied music under his father.His family moved frequently and Khan performed on the sarod from a young age.
Khan first performed in the United States in 1963 and continued into the 2000s, with his sons. He has experimented with modifications to his instrument throughout his career. Khan played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico.
[edit]Recognition
Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989, and received the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004. The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed April 20 as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007.

Family and personal life

Khan cared for his diabetic father until he died in 1972. His family arranged a marriage, which failed, and Khan was married a second time, to Bharatanatyam dancer Subhalakshmi, on September 25, 1976. Subhalakshmi Barua Khan is a native of Assam and has stopped performing. They have two sons, Amaan, the older one, and Ayaan, who were taught music by their father. Khan is a Muslim and his wife is a Hindu. Their family home in Gwalior was made into a musical center and they live in New Delhi


Vijay Ghate

Vijay Ghate


Vijay Ghate, originally from Jabalpur, has been recognized by all musicians and dancers alike as the most brilliant and exciting among tabla players of the present generation.

Vijay started learning his art at a very early age of three in Jabalpur.He then moved to Mumbai, and for over twelve years he put himself under the tutelage of Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Even at the age of 16 he became well-known for his scintillating solo performances.He is one of the few rare tabla players who is adept and comfortable accompanying all the three streams of Vocal, Instrumental and Dance. Quickfire anticipation fulled with a very creative mind and imagination, clarity in playing, dextirity, accuracy are his forte.

He has been accompanying many well known artistes like Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Jasraj, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat and many others all over the world. He has been very well acknowledged for his forays into fusion in world of music with well known artistes from the western world like famous group Jethrotul and great maestros in easy Jazz like George Dukes, Aljereu, Ravi Coltarin, and also frequently working with Egberto Gismonti, Larry Coryell, George Brooks, etc.He has also collaborated with well known Indian musicians in this field like Louis Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Shivmani etc.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Rakesh Chaurasia

Rakesh Chaurasia


A famous name attached to this musician; young Rakesh is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. The most accomplished of disciples of his uncle, he shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights.
Just like his legendary uncle, Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. His dexterous blowing technique coupled with his training of ‘swar’ and ‘tala’ exudes adeptly in his emotions through the hollow piece of bamboo. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and USA. He is also an accomplished musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. And just like his illustrious uncle, he has composed music and worked with artists such as the Spanish guitarist Marco Salaun, Indian jazz pianist Louis Banks and percussionist Taufiq Qureshi, amongst others. “VIRA”, one of his most successful and highly acclaimed albums on which he was accompanied by Talvin Singh on the tabla, is released under the Sona Rupa label. Soon after its release, he and Talvin were invited to conclude the 24 hour live music broadcast to a worldwide audience on the BBC radio celebrating Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.

Despite his experimental work, Rakesh has never deviated from his main goal of becoming a full-fledged classical musician. The winner of “Surmani” (Mumbai) in 1998, he has regularly appeared in prominent festivals like St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, ‘Festivals of India’ in Russia, Japan and the USA. His growing maturity and status has brought him invitations to perform solo at major events within India and abroad such as the Festival of Saint-Denis in Paris with Talvin Singh, Leicester International Music Festival in England, ‘Ashirwadh Sangeet Samaroh’ in Varanasi, ‘Anubhuti’ in Mumbai where history was made when, for the first time ever, Rakesh, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt Shivkumar Sharma and his son, Rahul, all performed together on stage accompanied by the legendary Ustad Zakir Hussain. Having also appeared in Gwalior, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bhopal, he has had the distinction of a solo performance in front of a 2000 capacity audience during the prestigious ‘Hindi Sahitya Sammelan’ in the city of Allahabad.

Modest Rakesh is the first to admit that he has a lot to learn, not just from his legendary uncle and maestro, but his peers too. He is indeed, destined to carve a niche for himself in the realm of Indian Classical Music with the simple yet extremely difficult to play bamboo flute, the Bansuri.

Prestigious concerts:
Festival De Saint-Denis, Paris with Talvin & Smadj
Ashirwadh Sangeet Samaroh, Varanasi
Chaturang Sangeet Utsav, Mumbai
ANUBHUTI,, Mumbai - first time ever 5 artist together, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shiv kumar Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Rakesh Chaurasia & Rahul Sharma
Fine Art Social Welfare Society – New Delhi - Inaugural Sangeet Samaroh, Millennium 2001.
Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan’s Rangswar, Mumbai – “Avani” – a fusion concert in aid of the Gujarat Earthquake victims.
Milap fest – the Indian festival – Liverpool (part of BBC Music Live Program)
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA – Millennium festival, N.Y.
Vedic Heritage Inc. – Hempstead, USA – Dipawali celebration.
Sangeet Maha Yagna – 50 hour non-stop performance of Indian classical music by over 100 artistes on the occasion of India’s 50 years of independence.
South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur – Yuva Sangeet Nritya Mahotasav.


Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia


Hariprasad Chaurasia

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Background information
Born 1 July 1938 (age 72)
Origin Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Genres Hindustani classical music
Occupations Composer, flute player
Instruments bansuri
Website hariprasadchaurasia.com
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music.

Early life and background

Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in a non musical family. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was four. Hariprasad had to learn music almost in secret, scared of the father who wanted him to become a wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for some time, although he also started learning music in secret, and practicing in his friend's house. He has credited this wrestling training for giving him the immense stamina and lung power that are the hallmarks of his flute playing, stating that,
“ I was not any good at wrestling. I went there only to please my father. But maybe because of the strength and stamina I built up then, I'm able to play the bansuri even to this day. ”

Career

Hariprasad Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Pandit Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi. Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive Annapurna Devi, (daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan).
He is considered a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist. He has expanded the expressive possibilities of the bansuri through his masterful blowing technique.
Apart from classical music, he has made a mark as a Hindi language film music director along with Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, forming a group called Shiv-Hari. He has also collaborated with various world musicians in experimental cross-cultural performances, including the fusion group Shakti.
He serves as the Artistic Director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands.
He has collaborated with several western musicians, including John McLaughlin and Jan Garbarek, and has also composed music for a number of Indian films. He has performed throughout the world winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Personal life

Chaurasia is married to Anuradha, a classical vocalist.

Awards

He has won a number of awards including the Sangeet Natak Academy (1984), Konark Samman (1992), Padma Bhushan (1992),Yash Bharati Sanman (1994) and Padma Vibhushan (2000). In the year 2000, he also received the Hafiz Ali Khan Award and the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award.
Panditji was honoured by the Dutch Royal family at Amsterdam,and was conferred with the title OFFICER IN THE ORDER OF ORANGE-NASSAU( “officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau”) and was honored by Princess Maxima herself.
In the year 2009, shortly after his birthday he was honored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France. He has been appointed as KNIGHT IN THE ORDER OF ARTS AND LETTER (“Ordres des Arts et Lettres”) in appreciation for the significant contribution he has made to spread culture in France and the rest of the World.
In August of 2009, Pt. Chaurasia was awarded the National Eminence award, NADA VIDYA BHARTI by Visakha Music and Dance Academy, Vizag.
On 14 September of 2009 he was bestowed the Honorary Doctorate by the North Orissa University for his unparelleled role and contribution to the world of Indian Classical Music.

Biography

On 1 July, 2008 on the occasion of his 70th Birthday, his official biography "Woodwinds of Change" by Shri Surjit Singh was released by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.

Discography

These are major albums released by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, categorized by release dates.2


Chaurasia in 2007
1967
Call of the Valley with Shivkumar Sharma and Brij Bhushan Kabra
1978
Krishnadhwani 60
1981
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute
1984
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute (different set of ragas,same album name)
1987
Morning to Midnight Ragas - Morning Ragas
1988
Call of the Valley
1989
Venu
Live in Ahmedabad '89
1990
Immortal Series
1991
Megh Malhar
1992
Night Ragas
Live in Amsterdam '92
Morning to Midnight Ragas - Afternoon Ragas
All time Favorites
Live from Sawai Gandharva Music Festival - Video (VHS)
Raga-s DU Nord Et Du Sud
Immortal Series - Flute Fantasia
1993
Indian Classical Masters
Daylight Ragas
Flute - Hariprasad Chaurasia
1994
Thumri - The Music of Love
In A Mellow Mood
Possession
Immortal Series - Devine Drupad
Classic Greats1 - Ideas on Flute
1995
In Live Concert
Cascades of Hindustani Music
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Sunrise Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Morning Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Midday Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Afternoon Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Evening Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Sunset Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Midnight Melody
Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Late Night Melody
Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute
Malhar-Chandrika
Music 157 - Live in London
Music - Flute
Great Jugalbandis
Music from the world of OSHO - Above & Beyond
Prem Yog
Written on the Wind
Romantic Themes
Saptarishi - Live at Siri Fort
The Mystical Flute of Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Maestro's Choice
Basant Bahar
Chaurasia's Choice
1996
Hari Prasad Chaurasia & his Divine Flute
Flute Recital
Valley Recalls - In search of Peace, Love and Harmony
Krishna's Flute - Master of the Bansuri
Classical Encounters - A live Experience with Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Fabulous Flute
Pundit Hari Prasad Chaurasia
In Concert - Vancouver, B.C
Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute
The Bamboo Flautist of His Generation
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Nada in Jerusalem
1997
Classical Encounters - A Live Experience with Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
Great Jugalbandis
The Golden Collection (Classical)
Immortal Essence
Golden Raga Collection
1998
Samarpan-VCD Special 60th Birthday Edition
The Charms Companion
Morning to Midnight - Morning to Dusk
Music for Reiki
1999
Jugalbandi
Rasdhaara
Live Inside Khajuraho
Live in New Delhi - '89
Golden Raga Collection
Musical Titans of India - Jugalbandhi Video (VHS)
Pure Joy - Positive Energy Music
2000
Music without Boundaries
Maaya - Far East
Hriday - Cuba
Caravan Spain
Live Concert at Savai Gandharva Music Festival
Gurukul - The Guru shishya Parampara
2001
Adi-Ananth
Love Divine - Parables of Passion
Power & Grace - Live at the Saptak Festival 2001
Discovery of Indian Classical Music
Flute Duet
2003
Flute Deity Hariprasad Chaurasia
The Greatest Hits of Hariprasad Chaurasia
Salvation - Instrumental Bhajans
[edit]Albums (release year unknown)
La Flute De Pundit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia - The Most Celebrated Flautist of India
Sound of Silence
Charm of the Bamboo flute
Kalpana - Imagination
A Kaleidoscope of various ragas
Krishna Utsav
Kali - Classical Instrumental
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - the Living Legend of Flute
Moon Light Moods - Flute Recital
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - The Living Legend of Flute
Indian Music
HariDhwani
Buston Abraham - Fanar
Fusion India - Passage of India Series
Being Still
Dhammapada - Sacred teaching of Buddha
The Charms Companion
Eternity
Nothing but wind (1988) - Composed by Ilaiyaraaja
[edit]Music for Bollywood films

Along with Pandit ShivKumar Sharma he composed music for
Chandni
Darr
Lamhe
Silsila
Faasle
Vijay
Sahibaan


Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Shivkumar Sharma

Sharma performing in Pune, 17 July 2009
Background information
Born January 13, 1938 (age 72)
Jammu Jammu & Kashmir
Origin Dogra from Jammu, India
Genres Hindustani classical music
Instruments santoor
Years active 1955–present
Associated acts Rahul Sharma
Website www.santoor.com
Shivkumar Sharma (born January 13, 1938, Jammu, India) is an Indian santoor player. The santoor is a folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir. Sharma is often referred to by the title Pandit.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Awards
4.1 Awards (classical and film)
5 Discography
6 References
7 External links
Early life

Born in Jammu to the singer Uma Dutt Sharma. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma said that his father started teaching him vocals and tabla when he was just five.He goes on to say that Uma Dutt Sharma did "extensive research" on santoor and decided that Shivkumar should be the first musician to play Indian classical music on santoor. So he started learning santoor at the age of 13. and made Uma Dutt Sharma's dream come true.[1] He gave his first public performance in Bombay in 1955. His mother tongue is Dogri.


Career



Sharma in 1988
Shivkumar Sharma is the master instrumentalist of the santoor, after some years as a vocalist. He is credited with making the santoor a popular classical instrument.[4][10] In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma said that it was his father who decided that he should play the santoor and that he never thought he would be choosing it when he started learning music.[8] Sharma recorded his first solo album in 1960. Sharma composed the music of Shantaram's Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1965).
In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967) which turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian classical music.[1][10] He has composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia starting with Silsila[11] (1980). They came to be known as the 'Shiv-Hari' music duo.[11] Some of the movies they composed music for which were big musical hits are Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993).
[edit]Personal life

Sharma married Manorama and has two sons.[8] His son, Rahul, is also a santoor player and they perform together since 1996. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma stated that he chose Rahul as his shishya because he thought he had the "gift of God".

Awards

Sharma is the recipient of national and international awards, including an honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore, USA, in 1985, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986,[19] the Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

Awards (classical and film)
Platinum Disc for Call of the Valley
Platinum Disc for music of film Silsila
Gold Disc for music of film Faasle
Platinum Disc for music of film Chandni
Special Award for outstanding music and sale of film Lamhe
Special Award for outstanding music and sale of film Darr
[edit]Discography

Call of the Valley, with Brij Bhushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia (1967)
The Glory Of Strings - Santoor (1991), T-Series
Raga Bhopali vol I (1993)
Raga Kedari vol II (1993)
Hundred Strings of Santoor (1994)
Hypnotic Santoor (1994)
The Pioneer of Santoor (1994)
Raag Bilaskhani Todi (1994)
Santoor (Raag Rageshri) (1998)
Sampradaya (1999)
Vibrant Music for Reiki (2003)
Sympatico (Charukeshi - Santoor)(2004)
The Inner Path (Kirvani - Santoor) (2004)


Pandit Chatur Lal Memorial society presents


Pandit Chatur Lal Memorial society presents a jugalbandi by pt. rajan and sajan mishra and Pandit Vishwamohan bhat on 3rd Dec 2010 @ Mumbai.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Ustad Bismillah Khan

Ustad Bismillah Khan


Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib 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.


Early life and background

Bismillah Khan was born at Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, in Dumraon, Bihar, as the second son of Paigambar Khan and Mitthan. He was named as Qamaruddin to rhyme with Shamsuddin, their first son. His grandfather, Rasool Baksh Khan uttered "Bismillah" (the basmala) after looking at the newborn, thus he was named Bismillah Khan.
His ancestors were court musicians and used to play in Naqqar khana in the princely states of Bhojpur, now in Bihar. His father was a shehnai player in the court of Maharaja Keshav Prasad Singh of Dumraon Estate, Bihar.
At the age of six, he moved to his maternal house, located close to the Ganges at Varanasi. He received his training under his uncle, the late Ali Baksh 'Vilayatu', a shehnai player attached to Varanasi's Vishwanath Temple.
[edit]Religious beliefs
Though a pious Shi'ite Muslim, he was also, like many Indian musicians, regardless of religion, a devotee of Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of wisdom and arts, and often played at Hindu temples, including the famous Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, on the banks of the river Ganges. He also performed for spiritual master Prem Rawat.



Career

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.
“ Even if the world ends, the music will still survive ”
“ Music has no caste ”


Performances at Red Fort
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.




Students

Khan seldom accepted students. In 1985 he had a meeting with Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji (the present master of the Namdhari Sikhs), where he saw a talented young boy called Baljit Singh Namdhari playing the tarshenai, and welcomed him as a student. Ustad Bismillah Khan & Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji had great mutual respect for each other. In 1999 he adopted two more tarshenai students, named Kirpal Singh and Gurbaksh Singh Namdhari.

Personal life

On August 17, 2006, Khan was taken ill and admitted to the Heritage Hospital, Varanasi for treatment. He died after four days on August 21, 2006 due to a cardiac arrest. He is survived by five sons, three daughters and a large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Government of India declared a day of national mourning on his death. His body along with a Shehnai was buried at Fatemain burial ground of old Varanasi under a neem tree with 21-gun salute from Indian Army


Pandit Chatur Lal

Pandit Chatur Lal

14th Oct, 1965, India lost a great Tabla Wizard with the untimely death of Pandit Chatur Lal at the young age of 40. The violinist virtuoso, Late Lord Yehudi Menuhin, once remarked "Pandit Chatur Lal was one of those few supreme pioneer musicians who won for India the great and growing following it now commands in the West. He stole the hearts of his audiences wherever he went with his art and his enchanting personality".

Pandit Chatur Lal himself observed, "All My Efforts Served A Single Purpose: Sangat Both In Art And Life."

Pandit Chatur Lal was the first Indian percussionist to take Indian drums ‘Tabla’ to the West in 1955 with Usatd Ali Akbar Khan then in 1956-57 with Pandit Ravi Shankar and so on.

He was also the first Indian musician who’s tabla solo LP was released both in the East & the West. A German disciple then the Director of Max Muller Bhawan, Dr. Heimo Rau, called him 'the incarnation of the god of music' who opened to the listener a fourth dimension of experience beyond time and space.

Born on April 16, 1926 in Uadipur, Rajasthan. While yet a boy, Chatur Lal started a vigorous period of long and continues practice, which is the only way to attain perfection. Night after night Chatur Lal's drum-beating became a source of nuisance for the local policeman in the night duty. One day the policeman lost his patience and knocked at the door and burst upon him: "You should be in bed at this time. You have no business to keep the locality awake." A little frightened but undaunted, the little boy went on playing the Tabla every night, except when it was the time for the policemen to pass their house.

In 1947, Chatur Lal came to Delhi and joined All India Radio. Since 1948, he regularly participated in programmes and conferences all over the India and Abroad. He played with masters like to name few Baba Allaudin Khan, Pandit Onkarnath Thankur, Pt. Ravi Shakar, Pandit, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and many others.

In 1952, he went to Afghanistan with Pandit Omkarnath Thakur and in 1955, he visited Britain and United States on the invitation of Museum Of Modern Art and OMNIBUS, the Rockefeller Ford Foundation TV Workshop in performances with Sarod Maestro, Usatd Ali Akbar Khan. In 1956-57, he toured to North America and Europe with one of the greatest sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and in 1960 he visited the Soviet Union and Mongolia with Indian delegations. In 1961, he went on a World tour with Mrs. Sharan Rani.

His Second tour included the first ever fusion concert between the East & the West where Chatur Lal representing his Indian drums 'Tabla' and greatest drummer Sir Philly Joe Jones representing his Western drums.

His last trip was in 1964 in association with Max Muller Bhawan, he organized a concert for his younger brother , Pt. Ram Narayan to West Germany which included 25 cities. Dr. Heimo Rau commented, "In India and Germany will never forget him since for them he opened that gate to the Indian music." This trip also took two brothers to France and Britain.

Commenting on the performances of Chatur lal, The famous German Newspaper, Frankfurter Rundschan, said "Our little drums are stuck with sticks. However virtuoso they may be, yet compared to the art of the Indian Tabla player, Chatur lal they sound barbarian. His playing sometimes sound like rhythmically arranged drops of rain, sometimes the finger flew over the membranes like a family of salamanders."

Chatur lal developed a style of his own, noted for a lightning rhythmic pattern and an intimate understanding of the mood of the artiste he accompanied "his style", Mr. Lothar Lutze of Max Muller Bhawan said, "amalgamated" many different elements, among them south Indians ones, and with the artiste on his standing, became a personality – bound pure style. He always showed an uncanny adroitness and skill in his accompaniment, while his solo was notable for case, clarity, diversity and grace where that were all his own.

On the occasion of the Paluskar Musical Festival in Delhi in 1960, the music critic of the Statesman aptly commented on the style of the great percussionist "After the interval Chatur lal gave a fine Tabla recital." Playing with great skills and finesse and weaving his percussion sonorities into every conceivable caprice of form of rhythm, he gave proof of his supreme command of the instrument. With perfect coordination between the two hands, the artiste played with tremendous zest and fervor passing at times into a mood of rhythmical abandon. It was a most impressive recital – forceful, fluent and almost unbelievably elemental in its rhythmic appeal.

The "Drums of India" and "Drums On Fire" are some of the important solo recordings of Pandit Chatur Lal in Hollywood's 'World Pacific Recordings'. He also composed and gave music for a short animated Canadian film 'A Chairy Tale', 'A Certain View', 'Now what my Little Man'. A French Television also made a short documentary film on him "Rythmes d'aillenres".