Wednesday 21 March 2018

Over 500 posts since we started this blog in 2011


Dear lovers of Oriental music traditions, by now we have posted over 500 LPs, cassettes, radio broadcasts and also a couple of CDs. We hope you enjoyed them and we also hope that we are able to continue this journey for a while.
A remark: as in Western music, especially pop music, there is mainstream music and music which is not at all mainstream, so in classical Indian music and other Oriental music cultures, there are musicians and musical forms which are mainstream and others, which are not mainstream at all. These are often very little known and neglected by the general public, even in their own countries.
About fifty and more years ago, when in India the Gharanas had still quite marked identities and great masters of these Gharanas were still living and well known, Indian music was still more diverse and this contibuted greatly to its fascinating richness. Todays public often hardly knows about the greats of these Gharanas and hardly perceives these identities, as nowadays the differences between them have nearly completely been washed away. In mid last century there were quite a number of musicians which were in one or the other way quite extreme or extremely intense, sometimes even bizarre. In todays music one looks in vain for these qualities. Compare for example, in Dhrupad, old masters like Rahimuddin Dagar or the Senior Dagar Brothers with the extremely intense Nasir Moinuddin Dagar or Ram Chatur Mallik with todays Gundecha Brothers: worlds apart. But todays public for sure opts for the easily appreciable Gundecha Brothers.
The same is true for other musical cultures: in Uzbek Maqam music, for example, in the  music of the older masters which we posted, there is an intensity and depth and a minimalism in the instrumentation that makes this music a universal music, whereas todays music, by its sentimentality and also its instrumentation, close to folk music, is reduced to a just local music.
Or Iranian Dastgah music: the music of the old Radif masters had a universality and depth and an inner architecture or logic hard to grasp and only revealing itself, at least partly, after listening to it many many times, and therefore always remaining fresh and new, because one hardly ever is able to grasp it completely. This quality most later musicians don't have anymore, except for the very few ones which understood the old masters and are their heirs.
Right from the beginning our focus was always on the quality of the music, not on the fame of musicians. Our choice of music has always been a very personal one, looking for depth and intensity. Not for the immediately appreciable, which soon looses its interest. Though part of the public of this blog is not interested in a lot of the music we post, we will continue to remind of musical jewels, musicians and musical forms, which are more or less completely forgotten. In between there will show up musicians, which one could consider more or less mainstream, but which we like a lot.

23 comments:

Bill said...

I am grateful for all of the wonderful music I have been able to enjoy due to your generosity! Nearly every post brings something I have never heard before. I will admit that I find the instrumental music more enjoyable than the vocals--but that is possibly because of not understanding the language. Please keep posting and I for one, will keep listening!

BT said...

Your generous work is hugely appreciated. Many thanks.

Πυθαγόρας said...

Thank you very much for this excellent blog. It has provided me with many hours of listening enjoyment, as well as an education in musical genres that are unfamiliar to Westerners. Congratulations on reaching 500 posts, and here's hoping for 500 more!

MusicRepublic said...

Congratulations Tawfiq!
This is a major landmark. You have done so much to inspire and nourish us all, & keep all these great, timeless musics alive.
Thanks for your tireless faith and dedication.
Bless you

Anonymous said...

Felicitaciones.
Excelente trabajo.
Van Do Lero.

Richard said...

Thank you. It's just just hugely impressive that you have posted 500 times, but the average over the past seven years has been over 70 per year. That is very impressive!

DrKashyap said...

Many congratulations dear Tawfiq, you have taken care of various tastes of oriental music - some of the LPs you have posted, i never knew they even existed. Keep up this noble work, You are indeed a liberated soul with big heart. Regards -

Anonymous said...

Dear Tawfiq,

You have been doing great service by sharing these recordings & keeping alive the interest in such music. There are only a handful of places which discuss Hindustani/Oriental Music, so your contribution is immense !

Wishing you all the very best !

cheers,
PS.

dMg said...

Congratulations!
Thank you for the amazing music. I have worked in record stores in Chicago and New York for many years yet the wealth of music you have offered continues to blow my mind and soothe my soul. I appreciate your curation, knowledge, and ear(!). You have turned me onto so many wonderful musicians and albums that have become a part of my daily listening. Please keep it going, it is much needed!
Om Shanti.

Anonymous said...

Your generosity is gratefully appreciated!

Rory said...

Thanks a lot Tawfiq for your generosity et your work for thasring all these fantastic musics. Your blog is a goldmine/ I'm ready to download the future 500 posts!

Aishik paul said...

Hello Tawfiq,

Can not express my respect & gratitude enough for the self less act you are doing to spread the love for classical music.

Super job.

May you continue to spread this extinct or soon to be extinct genre for eternity.



Anonymous said...

"In mid last century there were quite a number of musicians which were in one or the other way quite extreme or extremely intense, sometimes even bizarre. In todays music one looks in vain for these qualities."

This. This is why I am here. Autotunes, "learn to play in a week", no idea of rigorous training: these are the trends prevalent in today's musicians. There are exceptions, of course, but they are "exceptions".

Thank you, Tawfiq.

Someone from Strasbourg.

Bosmart said...

Congratulations. Even if we may need several lives to listen and understand to all this one still hopes for more. Glückwünschen und Danke.

Ricarditoj said...

Beauty is often hidden, but thanks to a great confidence in your choices, I always found it at the end of the road (the download!). Thank you so much for your willingness to share this deep knowledge of music and your generosity.

shail said...

Thanks for your efforts. I have access to some old LPs which I would like to share. Could you please guide me the best approach to digitise them?

Coltra said...

Thank you, Tawfiq.
Graciñas.

Troubled Water said...

Koti Pranaam. Thank you for opening the treasure of collections from you and your collector frends from all over the world. God Bless.

Anonymous said...

Enhorabuena, Tawfiq. Lo difícil no es comenzar sino persistir. Gracias.

Juri said...

Thank to your work... Namaste

David said...

The others hav said it all: congratulations, your choices have been inspirational and eciting and - especially - of the highest quality. It would be sad if there were none taking up the baton these masters laid down: I am sure there are such pupils & followers, but (like art music in the west) they are dedicated to art rather than success, and so are less visible than the manufactured products of plastic pop. Just as Andrea Bocelli is much more visible than many much better operatic singers doesn't make him better. And so we can hope the dedicated ones have not gone, just that they remain hard to find - just like the older masters. Your blog remains a way of judging the quality of the newcomers against the best of their predecessors!

Raz Sekeles said...

Hello Tawfiq, i just found your amazing blog yesterday afternoon and i thank you very much for sharing such a quality music. all the best :-)

wadada81 said...

full greeting from you!
i'm Korean and we have great archive here also.
big inspriration from asia as a asian, so i give big thx to you!