Ustad Amir Khan

Ustad Amir Khan (Hindi: अमीर ख़ान, Urdu: امیر اقبال خان, pronounced [əˈmiːr ˈxaːn]; August 15, 1912 – February 13, 1974) was a well-known Indian classical vocalist. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Hindustani classical music, and the founder of the Indore Gharana.

Early life and background

Amir Khan was born in a family of musicians in Indore, India. His father, Shahmir Khan, a sarangi and veena player of the Bhendibazaar gharana, served at the court of the Holkars of Indore. His grandfather, Change Khan, was a singer in the court of Bahadurshah Zafar. Amir Ali's mother died when he was nine years old. He had a younger brother, Bashir, who became a sarangi player at the Indore station of All India Radio.
He was initially trained in the sarangi by his father. However, seeing his interest in vocal music, his father gradually devoted more time to vocal training, focusing on the Merukhand technique. Amir Ali was exposed at an early age to many different styles, since just about every musician who visited Indore would come to their house, and there would be mehfils at their place on a regular basis. Also, he learnt the basics of tabla playing from one of his maternal uncles, who was a tabla player.
Amir Khan moved to Bombay in 1934, and there he gave a few concerts and cut about half a dozen 78-rpm records. Following his father's advice, in 1936 he joined the services of Maharaj Chakradhar Singh of Raigadh Sansthan in Madhya Pradesh, but he stayed only about a year. Amir Ali's father died in 1937. Later, Khansahib lived for some time in Delhi and Calcutta, but after the partition of India he moved back to Bombay.

Singing career

Amir Khan developed his own singing style, incorporating the styles of Abdul Waheed Khan (vilambit tempo), Rajab Ali Khan (taans) and Aman Ali Khan (merukhand). This unique style, known as the Indore Gharana, blends the spiritual flavor and grandeur of dhrupad with the ornate vividness of khyal. He presented an aesthetically detailed badhat (progression) in ati-vilambit laya (very slow tempo), followed by sargams, taans and bol-taans, including Merukhandi patterns, and finally a madhyalaya or drut laya (medium or fast tempo) chhota khyal or a rubaidaar tarana. His performances had an understated elegance, reverence, restrained passion and an utter lack of showmanship that both moved and awed listeners. He believed that poetry was important in khyal compositions, and with his pen name, Sur Rang ("colored in swara"), he has left several compositions.
He helped popularize the tarana, as well as khyalnuma compositions in Persian. He often used the Jhoomra and Ektaal taals, and generally preferred a simple 'theka' from the tabla accompanist. As in the case of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan's initial sarangi training was important in establishing him as a great singer. Even though he had been trained in the sarangi, he generally performed khayals and taranas with only a tanpura and tabla for accompaniment. Sometimes he had a subdued harmonium accompaniment, but he almost never used the sarangi.

Characteristics of his style include:

* slow-tempo raga development
* improvisation mostly in lower and middle octaves
* tendency towards serious and expansive ragas
* emphasis on melody
* judicious use of pause between improvisations
* bol alap and sargam using merukhand patterns
* sparing application of murki
* use of kan swaras in all parts of performance
* controlled use of embellishments to preserve introspective quality
* rare use of tihai
* careful enunciation of text of bandish
* actual bandish as sung may or may not include antara
* use of multiple laya jatis in a single taan
* mixture of taan types in a single taan
* use of ruba'idar tarana (considered similar to chhota khyal)

Besides singing in concerts, Amir Khan also sang film songs in ragas, most notably for the films Baiju Bawra, Kshudhita Pashan, Shabaab, and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. He also sang a ghazal Rahiye Ab Aisi Jagah for a documentary on Ghalib.
His disciples include Pandit Amarnath, A. Kanan, Srikant Bakre, Singh Brothers, Mukund Goswami, Gajendra Bakshi, Kankana Banerjee, Pradyumna Kumud Mukherjee and Poorabi Mukherjee, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Akhtar Sadmani, Amarjeet Kaur, Ajit Singh Paintal, Bhimsen Sharma, Munir Khan, and Kamal Bose. His style has also influenced many other singers and instrumentalists, including Prabha Atre, Rashid Khan, Mahendra Toke, Shanti Sharma, Gokulotsavji Maharaj, Nikhil Banerjee and the Imdadkhani gharana. Although he referred to his style as the Indore Gharana, he was a firm believer of absorbing elements from various gharanas.
Amir Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1967 and the Padma Bhushan in 1971.

Personal life

Amir Khan's first marriage was to Zeenat, sister of the sitar player, Ustad Vilayat Khan. From this marriage, which eventually failed and ended in separation, he had a daughter, Farida. His second marriage was to Munni Bai, who gave birth to a son, Ekram Ahmed. Around 1965, Khansaheb married Raisa Begum, daughter of the thumri singer, Mushtari Begum of Agra. He had expected that Munni Begum would accept the third wife; however, Munni disappeared and it is rumored that she committed suicide. With Raisa he had a son, Haider Amir, later called Shahbaz Khan.
Khansahib died a premature death in a car accident in Calcutta.

Discography
Movies

* Baiju Bawra (Music director: Naushad)
o 'Tori Jai Jai Kartar' (raga Puriya Dhanashree; alternate version here)
o 'Sargam' (raga Darbari)
o 'Langar Kankariya Ji Na Maro' (raga Todi, with D. V. Paluskar)
o 'Aaj Gaawat Man Mero Jhoomke' (raga Desi, with D. V. Paluskar)
o 'Ghanana Ghanana Ghana Garjo Re' (raga Megh)
* Kshudhita Pashan (Music director: Ali Akbar Khan)
o 'Kaise Kate Rajni' (raga Bageshree, with Protima Banerjee)
o 'Piya Ke Aavan Ki' (thumri in raga Khamaj)
o 'Dheemta Dheemta Derena' (tarana in raga Megh)
* Shabaab (Music director: Naushad)
o 'Daya Kar He Giridhar Gopal' (raga Multani)
* Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (Music director: Vasant Desai)
o Title song 'Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje' (raga Adana)
* Goonj Uthi Shehnai (ragamala with Bismillah Khan)
o Bhatiyar
o Ramkali
o Desi
o Shuddh Sarang
o Multani
o Yaman
o Bageshree
o Chandrakauns
* Ragini
o 'Jogiya Mere Ghar Aaye' (raga Lalit)

Public and private recordings

* Abhogi - two versions
* Adana - longer performance of 'Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje' title song, two other versions
* Ahir Bhairav - three versions
* Amirkhani
* Bageshree
* Bageshree Kanada
* Bahar
* Bairagi - two versions
* Barwa
* Basant Bahar
* Bhatiyar - three versions
* Bhimpalasi
* Bihag
* Bilaskhani Todi - two versions
* Chandni Kedar
* Chandrakauns
* Chandramadhu
* Charukeshi
* Darbari - nine versions
* Deshkar
* Gaud Malhar
* Gujari Todi - three versions
* Hansadhwani - two versions
* Harikauns
* Hem Kalyan
* Hijaz Bhairav (a.k.a. Basant Mukhari)
* Hindol Basant
* Hindol Kalyan
* Jaijaiwanti
* Janasanmohini - three versions
* Jog - three versions
* Kafi Kanada
* Kalavati
* Kausi Kanada
* Kedar
* Komal Rishabh Asavari - two versions
* Lalit - seven versions
* Madhukauns
* Malkauns - three versions
* 'Maru Kalyan'
* Marwa - two versions
* Megh - three versions
* Miya Malhar
* Multani
* Nand
* Nat Bhairav
* Poorvi
* Puriya - three versions
* Puriya Kalyan
* Rageshree
* Ramdasi Malhar - two versions
* Ramkali - two versions
* Ram Kalyan (a.k.a. Priya Kalyan or Anarkali)
* Shahana - three versions
* Shree
* Shuddh Kalyan - two versions
* Shuddh Sarang (with drut section in Suha)
* Todi - three versions
* Yaman
* Yaman Kalyan - three versions

Awards and recognitions

* Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1967
* Presidential Award in 1971
* Padma Bhushan in 1971
* Swar Vilas from Sur Singar Sansad in 1971