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Indus Raag - Collector's Edition
Review by Ally Adnan
Recording Hindustani Sangeet - the music of Pakistan and Northern India -
is not an easy task. Our music does not lend itself easily to recording and
poses many challenges for those who undertake the daunting task of
capturing it.
The correct recording of our music depends primarily on four (4) factors -
the musician, the audience, the accompanying artists, and the set-up; it is
not possible to conjure musical magic if all four (4) are not present.
The musician needs to be talented, knowledgeable and prepared. In
addition, he needs to be in the right frame of mind, in a good mood and
motivated to do his best. Our musicians enjoy being surrounded by
admirers, both of their music and their person, and at are at their best when
fully engaged with an audience.
The right audience for our music is not easy to find; certainly not in
Pakistan or even in India. The audience needs to be knowledgeable, well-
behaved, aware of proper mehfil (musical event) decorum, able to
concentrate, willing to engage with the performer, and enthusiastic about in
lavishing praise.
A performance of Hindustani Sangeet is never a solo exercise; its success
relies as much on the principal performer as it does on supporting
musicians. Proper chemistry between the two (2) is necessary.
Accompanying musicians need to be able to read the mind of the main
performer, accurately anticipate his needs, and complement the
performance in a supportive and unobtrusive manner. They also need to be
aware of the unique personality traits and requirements of the musician.
This is not easy and varies greatly from one musician to the other. In an
interview, the great tabla maestro Ustad Miyan Shaukat Hussain Khan
spoke about accompaniment. "Malika E Mausiqui Roshanara Begum liked
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simple and accurate accompaniment on the tabla," he said. "She did not
want the tabla player to do much more than just play the theka (basic
words of a rhythmic cycle). Ustads Fateh and Amanat Ali Khan enjoyed
dialog with the tabla player when they were in the mood for it; otherwise
they liked simple accompaniment. Ustads Salamat and Nazakat Ali Khan
kept the tabla player on his toes throughout a performance. They wanted
an intensely engaged and complex accompaniment. I used to accompany
all three (3) in a way that satisfied each one of them. That is what a good
accompanist does. He does not have a style of his own. He plays in the
style that the performing artist wants. Period."
The recording of our music poses significant technical challenges. The
sound of most instruments - especially the sarangi, veena and tabla -
emanates for unlikely areas in the space around them. Traditional
placement of microphones does not work in such scenarios. Most digital
recording equipment is designed for western music and analog equipment,
which is more appropriate for recording our music, is increasingly hard to
find and expensive to employ. Since the interaction of the musician with the
audience is vital to a good performance, it is necessary to take audience
seating into account when setting up for recordings. It is customary in our
mehfils for the audience to praise the performers with spontaneous and
loud expressions of mashala, subhanallah, wah wah, ah ha ha, kya baat
hai and other such words, talking during the performance. This unique
aspect of mehfils is cannot be ignored when recording music. Improvisation
is key in our music which is never written. No two (2) performances are
alike and retakes often result in diminishing returns. They are hard to
manage in live concerts and ruinous even in studios. Therefore, the
recording set up needs to be right the first time. There are few opportunities
for retakes.
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A consequence of the challenges, requirements and constraints faced
when recording our music is that a very low number of good recordings are
available in the market. It is, then, a great pleasure to listen to the more
than thirteen (13) hours of
music packaged in the
Tehzeeb Foundation's
wonderful set, Indus Raag -
Collector's Edition. The set
includes twelve (12) compact
discs of music recorded in
the five (5) year period
ending in 2011 and an
accompanying booklet. It
may well be one of the finest
sets of classical music ever
released in Pakistan, almost
on par with the 1978 EMI
sets of Khawaja Khurshid
Anwar's Raag Mala and
Gharanon ki Gaiyiki.
The husband and wife duo behind Indus Raag, Malahat and Sharif Awan,
seem to have made all the right decisions - about the musicians,
accompanists, audience and recording arrangements - for Indus Raag.
The set features some of the best musicians, both senior and young, in
India and Pakistan today. A number of well known musicians including
Ustad Rais Khan, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of
Gwalior, Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, Ustad Naseeruddin Khan Saami,
Ustad Bashir Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan are featured in the set
along with emerging ones such as Akbar Ali, Asad Qizilbash, Karam Abbas
Khan, and Mumtaz Ali Sabzal.
Accompaniment is provided by musicians of very high caliber - Kamal Sabri
on sarangi, Ustad Bashir Khan and Shabaz Hussain on tabla, Nafees
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Ahmad Khan on sitar, Afzal Khan on the harmonium, and several other
talented musicians.
The Tehzeeb Foundation has a carefully curated list of members, a lot of
whom were present during the performances featured in Indus Raag.
Enthusiastic, motivated and attentive, the helped bring out the best in the
performers. A number of the performances were attended by senior
musicians and musicologists, whose presence encouraged and, to some
extent, forced the artists into peak performance. The success of some of
the masterpieces in the set owes a great deal to the audience who
participated in the recordings.
Faisal Rafi was responsible for recording the music for Indus Raag. He
records in a simple manner, focusing primarily on capturing sound
accurately. He succeeds where many fail - correctly capturing the natural
sounds of the sarangi, sitar, banjo, and flute. His greatest achievement in
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Indus Raag is the recording of
three (3) tabla solos, using a single
microphone in each, and
judiciously leaving the balancing of
the sound of the duggi (left hand
drum) and dhaavan (right hand
drum) to the percussionist instead
of handling it in the recording. The
one area where he fails is in
capturing the reaction of the
listeners. The recordings seem incomplete without the customary wah
wahs and subhanallahs of the audience.
Sharif Awan made a conscious decision to record most items during live
performances; where this was not possible, an audience was invited to the
studio. "Our music is not meant for the studio," says Malahat Awan.
"Pakistani and Indian musicians come alive in front of a knowledgeable
audience. The usual set-up of a recording studio kills their spirit. We,
therefore, recorded all the music in front of a live audience."
The Tehzeeb Foundation is an enthusiastic and passionate supporter of
the arts. They are singularly focused on our musical heritage. With Indus
Raag, they make good on their promise of working to promote, preserve
and archive our musical tradition.
The first disc in the set, aptly titled Historic Jugalbandi, features three (3)
items - Aiman, Bhairav
and Khammaj - by
Pandit Vishwa Mohan
Bhatt and Ustad Fateh
Ali Khan of Gwalior. A
grammy award
winning musician,
Bhatt plays the Mohan
Veena, a slide guitar
that he created
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himself by modifying the concord archtop guitar. The instrument has a total
of nineteen (19) strings: three (3) baaj ke taar (melody strings), four (4)
chikaari ke taar (drone strings) and twelve (12) tarab ke taar (sympathetic
strings). The Mohan Veena is a loud instrument, not ideally suited for a
jugalbandi as it tends to drown other music. Thanks to the Faisal Rafi's
superior recording technique and Bhatt's restrained playing, the jugalbandi
works well. Pandit Ji plays as an accompanist when Fateh Ali Khan sings
and comes into his own with some great interludes between Khan's vocals.
The three (3) items contain some genuinely magical moments.
Indus Raag features a magnificent khayal (popular genre of classical vocal
music) in raag Lalit by Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan. He renders the
raag with a great fidelity evoking the feelings of anguish, longing and
sadness associated the Lalit. The master skillfully uses the shudh and
teevar Madhams (natural and sharp versions of the fourth) sequentially in
his rendition, making the afore-mentioned hallmark of Lalit bring the raag to
life. He makes sure that the focus on the vadi sur (dominant note in a raag)
shudh Madham does not result in shifting the notional scale in the minds of
listeners, causing the raag to sound like Miyan Ki Todi. After a sombre
aalap (opening passage of khayal sung without rhythm), Shaggan Khan
sings the traditional bandish Rain Ka Sapna in vilambit (slow tempo)
teentaal (rhythmic cycle of sixteen (16) beats) rendering it in its entirety
from sam (the first beat in a rhythmic cycle) to sam. The great Ustad of the
Gwalior gharana (school of music) is one of the few living vocalists who are
able to render complete texts of the songs accurately over the complete
aavardi (one complete cycle) of a taal (rhythmic cycle). The drut (fast
tempo) bandish in Punjabi, Bhanwda Joban Yaar Da, Dooja Nazar Naeen
Aanwada (the youth of my beloved captivates me, I am unable to see
beauty in anyone else), is one that was composed by Shaggan Khan in his
youth after he listened to a Sufi saint sing the mukhra (opening text of a
bandish) at an Urs (death anniversary). Ustad Ji's rendition of Lalit is a
lesson in raagdari (the knowledge of raag), laykari (rhythmic virtuosity),
taankari (rendering of musical passages at high speeds), and roohdari
(spiritual component of music). This is the best piece of vocal music in the
entire set.
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A regal Behag by Ustad Rais Khan is the finest piece of instrumental music
in the album. One of the greatest sitar players of all times, Rais Khan is
hands down the most sureela (melodic) sitar player in the world today. The
maestro spent many years playing sitar for the Mumbai film industry.
During this period, he developed a remarkable ability to render extremely
beautiful, short but complex pieces, composed in specific raags, as
interludes in film songs. His facility in playing aesthetically pleasing,
technically accurate and musically complete pieces during a classical
performance adds immense beauty to his music.
Behag is an Audav-Sampooran raag which means that it uses five (5)
notes in aarohi (ascent) and seven (7) notes in avrohi (descent). Rikhab
(second) and Dhaivat (sixth) are omitted in aarohi, but such rules are for
novices; master musicians can always break them. Ustad Rais Khan
breaks one often using Dhaivat and Rikhab, in a subtle manner, on several
occasions in ascent. This adds a mysterious and romantic element to his
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rendition. Khan Sahib's expert use of both the teevar and shudh Madhams
adds beauty to his authoritative presentation of the raag.
Indus Raag includes an brilliant Nat Naraini by Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan,
one of the finest classical
vocalists in India and Pakistan
today. A student of Ustad
Ghazanfar Ali Khan and Ustad
Gajoo Khan, he is greatly
influenced by Ustad Amir Khan of
Indore and consciously follows
his style. The rendition of Nat
Naraini is masterful. The ancient
raag (melodic scale) is a part of
the Sikh tradition and mentioned in the holy Sikh scripture Guru Granth
Sahib. Two (2) of the ten (10) Sikh gurus, Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjun
Dev composed shabds (Sikh
religious songs) in Nat
Naraini. Khan's rendition of
the rang is serious, somber
and deeply meditative. He
unfolds the raag in vilambit
(slow tempo) ektala (rhythmic
cycle of twelve (12) beats) at
a leisurely pace, improvising
mainly in the madh and
mandar saptaks (middle and
lower octaves). He places emphasis is on expanding the raag and on
melody. The use of alankaar (embellishments) is restrained. He ends the
khayal with a short piece in drut teen taal focusing on taankari and the
singing of sargam (sol-fa syllable).
Bilaskhani Todi is one of the most important and beautiful morning raags. It
was invented and sung by Bilas Khan at the death of his father, Miyan Tan
Sen. The raag uses the notes of the Bhaiarvi thath but its structure is
derived from Todi. This is not an easy raag to sing and reserved for master
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musicians. Ustad Naseeruddin Khan Saami sings a beautiful Bilaskhani in
Indus Raag. The gandhar (third) of Bilaskhani is lower than that of Bhaiarvi
and known as ati komal gandhar. Saami Sahib's correct use of the note
sets it apart from Bhairavi, making his Bilaskhani a standard for the correct
intonation of notes. His meends (glides) creates a atmosphere of sadness,
loss, and pathos that is fundamental to the mood of Bilaskhani Todi.
Another good Todi in the set, is Kamal Sabri's Ahiri Todi on sarangi. The
promising son of the great Ustad Sabri Khan performs the raag in a
disciplined manner and maintains its unique identity by protecting it from
the diluting influences of Ahir Bhairav, Parmeshwari and other Todis.
Two (2) junior musicians make their mark in Indus Raag. The first is the
highly talented and tayyar (prepared) vocalist Akbar Ali who sings Darbari,
Saraswati and Madhvanti along with his less talented but more popular
brother Javed Bashir. At a very young age, Ali displays a keen
understanding of music, has a commanding stage presence and
demonstrates an noteworthy ability to engage the audience. His rich voice
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spans a full three (3) octaves and is
being cultured under the guidance of
Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. Akbar
understands tabla and rhythm well and
finds it easy to demonstrate superior
layakari in his performances. Originally
from a family of qawwals, Akbar's
future as a competent khayal singer
seems to destined. Mumtaz Ali
Sabzal, a young musician from
Baluchistan, plays Behag and Basant
expertly on a modified version of the
African banjo. Sabzal has a keen
sense for improvisation and a
versatility not found often in classical
musicians. He plays a folk dhun
(composition) with the same gusto and
proficiency that he displays in his
classical pieces.
The set include three (3) tabla solos, each one important in its own right.
The first is a traditional solo of teentaal by Ustad Bashir Khan. One of the
finest players of tabla in Pakistan, Bashir Khan is a student of the Ustad
Karim Baksh Pairna who was a staff artist at Radio Pakistan in Quetta. The
solo is the one of the very few high quality solo recordings of Bashir Khan
available today and features some rare, heretofore unpublished,
compositions of Ustad Budhay Khan of Narowal, Ustad Nabi Baksh Khan
Kaalaria and Ustad Karim Baksh Pairna.
Ustad Karim Baksh Pairna was known for two (2) things in addition to his
mastery of tabla. One was his intense rivalry with Ustad Ahmad Jan
Thirakwa and the other was his knowledge of some exceedingly rare taals
including the twenty-five (25) beat Durga and the twenty-nine (29) beat Nau
Taal Ki Sawari. His student, Nazir Khan, plays a solo of Durga Taal in
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Indus Raag. Known more for his accompaniment for folk artist Abida
Parveen, Nazir Khan's handles the complex taal in a competent manner.
The third tabla solo in Indus Raag is a rendition of the ten (10) beat
Jhaptaal by Shahbaz Hussain. A student, among others, of Ustad Miyan
Shaukat Hussain Khan, Shahbaz shows the greatest promise amongst
Pakistan's young tabla
players. Shahbaz is
today the best
representative of Miyan
Sahib's style of tabla. His
solo is dignified, mature
and disciplined. He
proves that there is more
to playing tabla than just
ginatkaari (arithmetic)
and tezi (speed) by
placing an equal
emphasis on timing,
traditional compositions,
and the tonal quality of
his instrument. His bols
(tabla syllables) are
clean, crisp and accurate.
He plays authentic compositions of both Delhi and Punjab in the solo,
having learnt from masters of both gharanas. His pace is relaxed and
leisurely, giving listeners the time to assimilate and enjoy his music. A total
lack of gimmickry and artifice in the solo lends it maturity rarely seen in
Pakistani musicians of his age. Perhaps, the greatest quality of his tabla is
its tonal quality. The sound is rich and commanding, reminiscent of the
sound of the inimitable Miyan Sahib.
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The set features a competent Shahana Kanhra by Asad Qizilbash on the
sarod, a wonderful Shyam
Kalyan by Ashraf Sharif
Khan on the sitar, an
earnest Kafi in Sindh
Bhairavi by Shoukat
Manzoor, five (5) short but
earnest pieces by brothers
Jawad and Mazhar Ali
Khan, and a scintillating
Hemavati by Salamat
Hussain on the flute.
Not all items in Indus Raag are great. It has its share of lackluster
performances, most notably by Hamid Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana, and
some decidedly poor ones.
Hamid Ali Khan sings an
uninspiring Gunkali and a
jaded Kalavati in Indus
Raag. The performance is
unbecoming for a musician
of his lineage. One expects
singing of this caliber from
younger musicians with
significantly less experience;
not from a direct descendant
of the founders of the Patiala
gharana. A singer who showed tremendous promise a few decades ago,
Hamid Ali Khan disappoints thoroughly in Indus Raag.
Another musician of the Patiala gharana, Raza Ali Khan, fares much worse
in Indus Raag. The grandson of the doyen of the Patiala gharana, Bade
Ghulam Ali Khan, and the son of Ustad Munawwar Ali Khan, Raza Ali Khan
is a sad disappointment to make an understatement. His Purbi and Kamod
have no virtue other than brevity. Again, one expects a whole lot more from
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a musician of such great
lineage. What we get instead is
insipid recitations of great
bandishes (musical
compositions) of Bade Ghulam
Ali Khan without even a trace of
the intricate chaumukhia gaiyiki
(versatility in singing
encompassing multiple genres)
of one of the greatest musicians
of all time.
Its few shortcomings notwithstanding, Tehzeeb Foundation's Indus Raag -
Collector's Edition features a great body of work and bears testimony to
magic that is created by the confluence great musical performance,
accompaniment, listening and recording. A job well done.