Sangeet Sudha

Bhairavi and Cousins Let us start the new year with our third and final Bhairavi episode in the Bhairavi series. The cousins are Bilaskhani Todi, Vasant Mukhari and Charukeshi. Of course the Bilaskhani Todi is the first cousin, and others are somewhat distantly related. Bilaskhani Todi uses the exact same notes as Bhairavi, but is very different in its movement, or Chalan. This unique movement gives a totally different flavor to the same notes. For example, same Khova (or Khava or Khoya, named differently in different parts of India) is used to make both Gulabjamin and Roshogulla. Same ingredients, different results. Miya Tansen’s son, Bilaskhan is credited with its creation. The other two raags have a distant relation. The Vasant Mukhari can be roughly described as Bhairav in Poorvanga and Bhairavi in Uttarang. Whereas the Charukeshi can be described as Nat in Poorvanga and Bhairavi in Uttarang. Admittedly, this treatment of Charukeshi is new to me, but I do like this viewpoint. Listen to the program, I have played all three to illustrate similarities, and differences. We will begin with Lata in top form, with Hemant Kumar, singing Vande Mataram. Jumping to more recent times, we will have Lata and Sonu Nigam sing Khamoshiya Gungunane Lagi under master tunesmith AR Rahman. Who can forget Laga Chunari Me Daag, and especially the tarana at the end? Our penultimate song is Pucho Zara Pucho by Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu. And for the Bhairavi finale, I have chosen the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, the original version. I cannot say what you feel about this. But every single time I listen to this, I get goosebumps. Every single time, bar none! And that will conclude our Bhairavi trio.

More and More Bhairavi Since we started on Bhairavi last time, let us have a few more episodes of this madhur ragini. Some music directors literally owe their success to this single raag. And why not, you can keep tuning all your songs in Bhairavi and you can spend entire life doing that. Bhairavi has all kinds of possibilities, from Bhakti Geet to Natya Geet to Lavani to Veer-ras to Shrungar; you name it. We will begin with the classic Shakil Badayuni piece, Ai Muhabbat. And we will traverse our way from Shagird to Diggaj. The Shagird in this case is a big name by itself, none other than Radhika Chopraji, who has single handedly kept the original Thumri and Ghazal tradition alive. Her presentations are thankfully devoid of “Tabla Kushti”, or any other nonmusical aspects. So we will listen to her first, in a live session. Listen to the outstanding sarangi accompaniment. We will then go to the maestro, Begum Akhtar herself, singing the same one, accompanied by Ustad Karamatulla Khan on Tabla. Keeping the theme of two versions of same song, we will listen to Mata Saraswati Shadara from the movie Aalap. This movie completely bombed on the box office. For once Amitabh tried something other than “angry young man”, but public did not like his superb performance. In any case the first version is kind of title song, by Yeshudas, Dilraj Kaur and Madhurani, followed by regular version by Lata and Dilraj Kaur. Note that the third, and the original version does exist, but I could not get a good recording. This is the original bandish, composed by Ustad Allauddin Khan, which is adapted by Jaidev for the movie. For those who don’t know who is Allauddin Khan, he is the father and guru of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Saheb and guru of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, so you now know! We will then switch to Marathi drama, Katyar Kalajat Ghusali. This drama “begins” with Bhairavi! A superb composition by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. This is live recording, so please note that the sound levels are not like a studio recording. And finally we have Pt Venkatesh Kumar, the stalwart from Kirana Gharana, accompanied by two of the best accompanists, Bharat Kamat and Ajay Jogalekar. One cannot ask for more!

Bhairavi, Madhur Ragini The Bhairav, in some sense, is exactly opposite of Yaman. While Yaman employees all Shuddha Swars and Teevra Madhyam, Bhairavi is all Komal Swars and Shuddha Madhyam. So, other than Sa and Pa, there is nothing in common. Although a raag cannot be simply described by its Aaroha and Avaroha. In the olden days, the concerts would begin around 9.30 and end around sunrise. People had a lot of patience. So did the artists. The concert would end with Bhairavi. Over a period of time, the Bhairavi morphed itself from a morning raag, to an all time raag. Although the long concerts are history now. People want something quick. The test cricket went to one day, and then T20. That is fine, change is inevitable. The same notes are employed by Bilaskhani Todi, but the chalan is so different that it gives a totally different perspective. Some Gunijan say that the Charukeshi, which is “imported” from Carnatic tradition has Nat anga in the Poorvang and Bhaivari in Uttarang. That is a very interesting way of looking at Charukeshi. But about this, some other day. We will have only one Bollywood song this time. This is evergreen song from Sahib Bebe Aur Ghulam, Sakiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahi Ayegi, but Asha. Then we switch to a “Diggaj” harmonium player, Pandit Tulsidas Borkar. We will hear a short harmonium solo, accompanied by young phenom Prasad Padhye. We end with an interesting trio. Is is the same song, sung by three singers, Yeshudas, Ghulam Ali Saab and Bade Ghulam Ali Saab. The classic, “Ka Karu Sajani” is superbly adapted in Bollywood, and sung equally well by Yeshudas, who himself is a full fledged Carnatic singer. Then we move to a live recording by Ghulam Ali Khan Saab, you can hear live chitchat, which is always part of our music. And finally, the maestro himself, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab!

My Head is in Yaman I did a short program for the India Community Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. I started with a small Yaman medley. Now, the problem is that once Yaman gets into you, it is impossible to shake it off. Yaman stays with you. It occupies a space in your brain, rent-free. There is nothing you can do to evict it. Or, you do not want to evict it at all. So, here it is. Yaman. The majestic Yaman. I am sure there is no music director who has not used Yaman. I will explain the Yaman structure in the program, playing and illustrating various points. It suffices to say that Yaman has morphed a bit over centuries, but the basic structure has remained the same. Pandit Bhatkhande did use Yaman to name the Thaat, which is one of the 10 Thaats defined by him. While describing the Yaman, I will go a little bit more in details, and talk about few bandishes, and also age-old wisdom taught by every Guru, “Bandish Kee Ang Se Gana/Bajana”. Meaning, your singing/playing should reflect the bandish structure. You can also listen to me playing a small Yaman medley of four songs in this episode. We will begin with KL Saigal’s classic Main Kya Janu. The singer is Radhika Chopraji. She is a versatile singer well known for remaining true to the classica nature of ghazals, thumaris etc. Here, she pays tribute to Saigal sab; it is from a live program. We then move to Hemant Kumar/Lata masterpiece in Yaman, Chhupalo Yun Dil Me Pyar Mera, and follow that up with Kishore Kumar’s magical Vo Sham Kuchh Ajeeb Thee. I have played these songs in the medley, and finished the medley with Pandurag Kanti, a Hrudaynath Mangeshkar/Asha Bhosle gem. We will listen to Ashaji. Our penultimate song is a Kannada song, sung by SP Balu and SJanaki, music by M Ranga Rao. I do know how much about these artists, except to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the song. Finally, we will have Anand Bhate (fondly known as Anand Gandharv) from Sawai Gandharva Festival in 2017, accompanied by Bharat Kamat and Suyog Kundalkar. All three artists have performed all over the world, and are well respected. This is a classic Yaman performance, and a well known bandish. Watch how they interact with each other and just have fun on the stage.

Sangeet Sudha - My Head is in Yaman Presented by Vivek Datar, Hindi songs, ePrasaran

Sangeet Sudha - More interludes and background music Presented by Vivek Datar, Hindi Songs, ePrasaran

Sangeet Sudha - A Revolution in the 50s and 60s Presented by Vivek Datar, Hindi Songs, ePrasaran

Sangeet Sudha - What do they have in common Bilawal and Bhairavi Presented by Vivek Datar, ePrasaran

And more Talat Presented by Vivek Datar, Hindi Songs, ePrasaran

Sangeet Sudha - Binaca Geet Mala 1963 to 1967 Presented by Vivek Datar, Hindi Songs, ePrasaran