Music

I am a long-time - and errant - student of classical Indian music in the north-Indian tradition. However, I must qualify this statement – I believe I possess more passion than talent and perseverance.

I was lucky to be among musicians, and also very close to some though even that failed to inspire me to pursue music with committed zeal! I continue to labour on in the fond hope that I shall get just about a bit more out of the effort I put into my practice. However, to all my friends, it is clear that I am terribly optimistic!

Since childhood I have been exposed to a lot of classical, Sufi qalām-s, qavvāli, ghazal, Punjabi folk, so I naturally incline toward the genres. I am not as sensitive to other forms of music even though I have strong preferences for individual pieces in classical Western, and other genres. I am partial (opinionated?) to some musicians and instruments and find tremendous joy in listening repeatedly to specific tracks

There are so many I'd like to include in my list but that is impossible. However, there are some I am delighted to post here. These are classics. They have stood me in good stead over the years. Enjoy.

This clip of Aashish Khan [Yaman Kalyān, 1967] is a guide for all students of music. He strips the Sarod bare. The man is a maverick! There is nothing he leaves out – training, skill, emotion …

As my friend Suresh Vyas, a musician himself, more specifically, a Sarod player - whose own interpretation of Sindhu Bhairavi [2017] is delightfully refreshing and a must-listen – writes, "The maturity, speed, clarity is amazing. But this recording is also recommended for its path-breaking revelation: this is the first time we hear the left hand being used with such dexterity. Sarod was highly influenced by the Rabāb, which was mainly a right-hand dominant instrument. This album by Aashish'da (totally guided by his aunt Annapurna Devi) added a new dimension to Sarod playing and placed the bar rather high."

His Mishra Mand with Sultan Khan on Sārangi is a 'risky' one! Sultan Khan saheb belongs to the region that gave us Mānd and Aashish Khan takes on this supposedly onerous responsibility, knowing fully well it might not be his best take. But, see, what he does with it – he makes it his best take!

He is not as famous as his father and step-brothers. Regardless, in my view, he is supremely talented; he pours his soul into this track. Alam Khan [Chandranandan, 2012]. The rāga is a creation of his father but he interprets it with tremendous affection, love, and unexpected creativity.

Dakshina Mohan Tagore [Yaman, 1988] plays the rāga with tremendous restraint and meditative flow. This is an instructional piece for students of music.

This dhrupad recording of Sayeeduddin Dagar is an inspired interpretation of rāga Bhoopāli.

Abdul Karīm Khan Is there a connoisseur who does not A-list him!
Abdul Karim Khan – Jhinjhoti – Piya Bin Aaavat Nahin Chain
Abdul Karim Khan – Bhairavi – Jamuna Ke Teer

Ali Akbar Khan
In my view, one of the greatest musicians of the past century. Son of the legendary Ustād Allauddin Khan, he was, in his childhood, a reluctant musician but evolved quickly into a performer whose next phrase was impossible to predict.
I am lost when it comes to comparing him with any other in his time, or after.

Ali Akbar Khan – Pahāri Jhinjhoti Ali Akbar Khan – Lom Nat
Also, the series of duets Ali Akbar Khan-Nikhil Banerjee and Ali Akbar Khan-Ravi Shankar collaborated on are absolutely stunning!
Ali Akbar Khan-Nikhil Banerjee – Mānjh Khammāj Ali Akbar Khan-Nikhil Banerjee – Mishra Mānd Ali Akbar Khan-Ravi Shankar – Hem Bihāg, Mānjh-Khammāj, and Sindhu Bhairavi

Amir Khan
Ah! What a singer! If there is an evening when you wish to be lulled into opium-haze, listen to him. The slow, wave after wave of meditative phrase – mostly the mukhdā (मुखड़ा) – is a treat. Amir Khan - Mārvā Amir Khan - Hansadhvani

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
He sang with such joy and commitment that the listener had no choice but to sink into the flow.
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan – Thumri – Ab Tohe Jāne Nāhin Doongi
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - Assorted

Basant Kabra
Fire! He is the most underrated artiste in the country. Shorn of glitz, artifice, and stage presence, he has to be heard to be believed. No one deserves more national acclaim like him. Listen to him
Basant Kabra – Yaman Kalyān and Pīloo

Bhimsen Joshi
Vigor! Bhimsenji was not a musician that you had to listen to again and again to 'acquire' a taste for his music – he was an instant like! I was born with him around in my paternal grandfather's house and so he was staple to the extent that till many years later I had not heard any other vocalist! Conditioned bias!
Bhimsen Joshi – Shuddh Kalyān
Bhimsen Joshi – Bhairavi – Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sadā
Bhimsen Joshi – Bhajan – Teerth Vitthal
Bhimsen Joshi - Multāni
Bhimsen Joshi – Chāyā and Chāyā Malhār
Bhimsen Joshi – Thumri Mishra Khammāj – Hamāri Tori Nāhin Bane Girdhāri
Bhimsen Joshi – Bhairavi – Bābul Morā

Mohan Shyam Sharm
Mohanji is perhaps the most well-known name in Pakhāvaj in the country today. I have the privilege of learning from him even though I should be eminently disqualified as I will never be good enough to play professionally! He is an exponent of the Nāthdvārā style and is as superb an artiste as he is a teacher.
Mohan Shyam Sharma – Ganesh Stuti.
Accompanying him on the Pakhāvaj here is Bálazs Virágh, his student, an immensely talented musician from Hungary.
Mohan Shyam Sharma – Chhand, Paran-s, and Relā.

Nityanand Haldipur
I do not see any other contemporary musician delineate a rāga with the slow, progressive, and methodical concern as Nityanand ji.
Nityanand Haldipur – Yaman
Nityanand Haldipur – Yamani Bilāval
Nityanand Haldipur – Mishra Pīloo

Rashid Khan
I listen to his Gorakh Kalyān very frequently. He is unparalleled. His death was heart-breaking for millions
Rashid Khan – Gorakh Kalyan
Rashid Khan – Aheer Bhairav

Rasoolan Bai
The rustic voice of thumri; her renditions were steeped in the earthy tones of Indian seasons; she created an emotional tapestry that was difficult to copy.
The duet here is not because I wish to draw a comparison but to showcase – this is not an ideal recording though - the symbiotic collaboration that is possible regardless of 'competing' aesthetics. Siddheshwari Devi was more well-known than Rasoolan Bai but that doesn't take away the genius of the latter.
Rasoolan Bai – Khammāj-Dādrā - Pāni Ghatvā Na Jaibé Najar Lagihé
Rasoolan Bai – Bhairavi – Ja Mai Tose Nāhi Boloon
Rasoolan Bai and Siddheshvari Devi – Rājā Dar Lāge

Ravi Shankar
Ask God if it is an injustice to invest one person with so much talent! On the one hand he was the international face of fusion-Indian music, and on the other, his classical music was absolutely authentic.
He was one of the few capable of straddling continents and genres with ease. The following generations of musicians will ever be grateful to him for teaching them the art of stagecraft.
Ravi Shankar – Yaman Kalyān
Ravi Shankar – Shānti Mantra
Ravi Shankar - Bihāg
Ravi Shankar – Tilak Kāmod and Tilak Shyām
Ravi Shankar – Miyān Ki Malhār

Accordion
Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi
Richard Galliano

I am partial to the Accordion. Mr. Pietrodarchi is insanely passionate about his music – it shows! I am a huge fan. Accordion - Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi - Libertango
Richard Galliano has a certain gravity around him; he is intense and focused – a highly grounded musician.
Accordion – Richard Galliano – Autumn Leaves

Trumpet
Chris Botti
If the essence of music is simplicity and feeling, Chris Botti is its poster child. Listen to this piece with Yo Yo Ma. It is not the whole track, not even a phrase but just that one note that hangs and creates an ambience by itself.
Trumpet and Cello – Chris Botti and Yo Yo Ma – Cinema Paradiso

Cello
Pau Casals
Yo Yo Ma
Ah! Well … anything I say will be a cliché. And repetitive. Both musicians are incomparable. I listened to an interview of Yo Yo Ma in which he said he met with Pau Casals; of course, Mr. Ma was just a child then!
Song of the Birds, here, is one of the most poignant tracks I have ever heard
Cello – Pau Casals – Song of the Birds
Cello – Yo Yo Ma – Bach Cello Suite