Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Kalyani Roy (Sitar) & Ali Ahmed Hussain (Shehnai) - Soul of India - LP published 1968 in the US


"Born on April 29, 1931, sitarist Kalyani Roy is one of the few major women instrumentalists in her genre, with a career spanning 50 years. Kalyani is a disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan and has had training from other masters, including percussion genius Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Kalyani`s immediately identifiable sitar tone is a unique variant of the Vilayatkhani sound, her style mixes a vibrant rhythmic approach with Vilayat Khan`s lyricism.
She performs regularly on Radio, Television and was a regular participant at music conferences both in India and abroad. She made a number of disc records, both solo as well as duet with Radhika Mohan Maitra. In addition to Ustad Vilayat Khan and Jitendra Mohan Sen Gupta, she studied also under Shauqat Ali Khan and Karamatullah Khan for a brief period. She is also a teacher of repute."
from: http://suman-bhattacharya.webs.com/gurus.htm

"Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan (21.03.1939 – 16.03.2016) was one of the veterans and maestros of the shehnai - an instrument which is an integral part of Indian Classical musical culture. Ustadji was influential in taking the instrument out of wedding receptions and other social functions to the concert stage as well as to various international destinations. 
He applied his unique and innovative style and reinvented the form of the shehnai by way of its application in gayaki, sur meend, pukaar, tantrakari, baat ki taan, sapat ki taan, jod and jhala, taking it to a new level of performance.
It was to Ustadji’s immense credit that he ventured to play on the shehnai many ragas that were traditionally not played on this instrument." 
from: http://www.itcsra.org/sra_news_views/obituary/ali_ahmed_hussain_khan.html

A special feature of this LP is the tabla accompaniment by a very great, but less known master: Afak (Afaq) Hussain Khan. He is considered by connoisseurs to be one of the greatest tabla masters ever.
"Afaq Hussain Khan (1930–90); Lucknow tradition - Afaq Hussain Khan, the son of Wajid Hussain, was my teacher and – despite my inherent bias – the greatest player I have ever heard play live. He was widely acknowledged by musicians and connoisseurs as a true master: exceptionally knowledgeable, technically supreme, and inherently musical – a musician's musician! He played with clarity, sweetness, and a refined, balanced sound. Some would say that his approach to sound production was a philosophy in itself." 
from: http://artoftabla.blogspot.de/p/tabla-maestros.html





3 comments:

  1. Thank You for sharing this fine classic LP. Very good (stereo) sound quality for 1968!

    And I must say, at first I was shocked to see an Indian Classical music release on a *commercial* US record conglomeration label such as ABC! ;-)

    But then I realized that this version is a re-pressing of the original Indian release that ABC probably licensed for a "song".

    But still fine music anyway, of course, and that hopefully found its way to a few discerning American listeners in the 1960s! :-)

    https://www.discogs.com/Kalyani-Roy-Ali-Ahmed-Hussain-Sitar-Shehnai/release/6663725

    --dandor

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  2. Thanks a lot for this rarity! :)

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  3. Thanks a lot, i hearing it right now and save my day :)

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