4 Questions about sarod
Arnab Chakrabarty
This is a nice topic I love attacking from time to time. Let's proceed
step-by-step.
> I would be interested in comparing a few technical notes
> on the various sarod styles:
>
> 1. String gauge: Our school (Ud.Amjad Ali Khan) uses "00" for
> the "Ma" string - I believe Ud. Ali Akbar Khan and Pt. Buddhadeb
> Dasgupta use "000" because the sarods are tuned to higher
> notes such as C.
Ud. Ali Akbar Khan uses both 000 and 00 (varies from time to time). Many
of his students use 00. Our gharana (Pt. Buddhadev Dasgupta) uses "000"
on most occasions in order to minimize the effort needed to effectively
play alap phrases and ekhara taans (will come to that in a minute).
> 2. Number of jod (joda), chikari and tarab - We tend to have 2 jod
strings,
> 2 chikari and 11 tarab. (although Ustadji (Ud.Amjad AK) has a sarod
> nicknamed the "Brahmaputra" which has 15 tarab). He very rarely plays
in
> public using this sarod- only uses it for major recordings such as his
> recording of Darbari (HMV).
"Brahmaputra" (tribute to Jayanta Barua, huh? By the way, I am from
Assam)!! That HMV recording of Darbari is quite good though. Sticking to
your nomenclature, we have an additional bass string (Kharaj Pancham),
one jod, and two chikari, and 15 tarab while Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Saheb
has four jod strings (on an extra tanpura like bridge), two chikari and
fifteen tarab.
> 3. Width of fretboard: Somehow, I tend to think that a compact sarod
> allows fast sitar like taans to be played easily, although they tend
> to be limited to the lower and middle octaves for obvious reasons.
True. In fact, both Prattyush Banerjee and I play on smaller sarods for
exactly this purpose (though larger than Ud. Amjad Ali Khan's sarod for
reasons of ergonomics {specially in the lower octaves}).
> 4 Sitar like taans: Except for Ud.Amjad Ali Khan , I have yet to come
across
> anyone else (except. Pt.Buddadeb Dasgupta in some of his recordings)
who can
> execute lightning fast crystal clear taans on the sarod. Ref:
Darbari,Bihag,
> Malhaar, Hansadhwani etc. The style of"palta" (fast practice
passages)
> played to drut laya that Ustadji has evolved allows him to do this. (I
must
> emphasize here that it is only him that can carry this off: other
> students/disciples are still struggling to get it right) Do other
schools
> have this "super fast" palta riyaaz technique?
We prefer to practice slow. Speed comes with warming up your hands and
completing many reps of slow palta with very precise, weighed (and equal
DA and RA strokes). After about an hour or two of slow practice, your
hand is ready to do the super-fast palta. As far as ekhara taans are
concerned, are we competing on speed? First of all, let me state that
Pt. Buddhadev Dasgupta played clear and precise ekhara taans as a good
speed on his first LP (Malhua Kedar/Chhayanat) in 1954, when Amjad Ali
Khansaheb was 9, and was being weaned on old-school gat-todas (which are
lovely). Also, two disciples of Pt. Buddhadev Das Gupta can execute
ekhara taans at about four times the speed of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
although we do not prefer the incoherent 8th degree speed which is
musically jarring to us. These two students are Anirban Dasgupta and
Prattyush Banerjee.
> 5. Java size: Ud.Amjad AK tends to use very small javas- about the
> same size as a guitar plectrum. I have seen much larger javas
> being used by other schools. Any thoughts of the impact of this
> upon the playing style?
Ali Akbar Khan Sahib uses a huge Jaba. Again, your school lacks
engineering insight or at least, fails to apply it. At a certain point,
the size of the Jaba ceases to matter. It should be suited to your hand.
It is the degree of sharpness and curvature of that section of the Jaba
which meets the string at a specific angle, is the determining factor.
One thought here is - Ud. Amjad Ali Khan has virtually no RA stroke, or
a rather weak one.
> 6. Seedha/Ulta stroke(Da/Ra): Various sarod players tend to use the
reverse
> stroke (especially on the Ma string) to emphasize softness. This
invariably
> brings in a wooden sound. Is there a way to minimise this wooden
sound
> (which we all accept without question). Same goes for the wooden sound
> produced by the java on the Kharaj string.
>
> This was brought home to me by some of my Western friends who
> were listening to a sarod recording for the first time. Almost all of
them
> complained about the wooden sound on the Kharaj
What exactly do you mean by the wooden sound? Is it the additional
(unintended) sound of the pick working against the strings? There are
ways to minimise that, and we could discuss it any time, but there does
not seem to be any way to get rid of it except using a nylon Jaba which
sounds quite nice, but is a little too light (just a matter of getting
used to the lightness of one's hand). I have two nylon
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Rahul Bhattacharya
Thanks for enlightening me. In the meantime, I am wrestling with
Deja to get the full text of your message, which looks prematurely
truncated.
Since we belong to different schools, it is natural to expect us to
each speak of our school as the best- and we probably fervently
believe in it too. However, music will remain subjective- different
aspects will appeal to different people.
In response to your post:
Brahmaputra :
Ustadji has three sarods: Ganga, Jamuna and Brahmaputra. He usually
tends to keep ordering more from Hemen (who gives him the best
ones) and changes the skin very often. Not all of us can afford to do
that, though !
Width of fretboard:
Was this modification carried out by your Guruji or does it date back to
Pt.Radhika Mohan Moitra?
Ekhara taans/Gayaki Ang:
Speed by itself is meaningless, unless accompanied by content. I think
you will agree that fast taankari with good content on the sarod is not
so common. For example, take up a Ud.Vilayat Khan sitar recital,and
you will have a gayaki type taan every 2nd minute. Not so in most
sarod recitals, because of the difficulty involved. I think where
Ud. Amjad AK tends to stand out is the complexity and clarity of
his ekhara taans which he produces by using very few notes.
I must listen to Anirban Dasgupta and Prattyush Banerjee- any
CDs/cassettes I can buy?
Java(Jaba) size/Stroke Technique:
Coming from a non-musical background, I tend to think that
most sarod players take sarod playing technique as an end in itself.
The obsession with Da/Ra, Diri Diri, Dhrupad ang of playing,
etc bears testimony to this fact. Too often I have found sarod
players (including those of my school as well) feeling a sense
of accomplishment at having executed a complex sequence of
Da/Ra strokes-never mind the musical content. Starting from
6-1/2 matras to coincide with a Bedam tihai becomes the main
goal, rather than the melody and the creativity.
Again, the reason why Ud.Amjad AK was a refreshing breath of
fresh air when he first appeared on the sarod scene was that
his playing was very clear and elegant. This was an important
break from earlier tradition,which essentially believed in a lot of
right hand strokes with very little left hand movement (for right handed
sarodiyas) which a lot of sarodiyas are still obsessed with.
I remember a conversation with Ustadji where he recalled asking
his father (Ud.Hafiz Ali Khansaheb) the question as to why in a
jugalbandi with a sitar and sarod, the sarod always lagged behind
in technique. The sitar player would unleash brilliant sapaats and
gayaki style taans, and the sarod player would lamely follow,
trying to make up by wrist breaking Dara Diris. (If you need
any confirmation of this, all you have to do is listen to any
sitar/sarod jugalbandi)
It is a well known fact that gats in the same raag are different for
the sitar and sarod, simply because some of the sitar gats
are nearly impossible to play correctly on the sarod.
As a practical example, try playing Ud.Vilayat Khan Saheb's
drut gat in Yaman or Puriya on the sarod.
Same goes for vocal compositions. Try playing Kishori
Amonkar's Hansadhwani on the sarod, or Pt.Hari Prasad
Chaurasia's Hansadhwani for that matter.
For an outsider such as myself, who chose the sarod
because of its wonderful sound, it is exceedingly frustrating
to just listen to these brilliant compositions with little hope of
duplicating them on the sarod. It may be theoretically
possible, but I have yet to see a practical
implementation of it.
If you know of anyone who can do that, I would be thrilled.
I have heard several close attempts at "true gayaki" by
Ustadji and Pt.Buddhadeb Dasgupta , but they all disappear
into sarod specific styles.
The lack of development in technique (coincident with the sarodiyas
experimenting with adding more strings and making the sarod
bigger and more unwieldy) was justified by inventing
jargon and evolving new styles.
We need sarodiyas to push the envelope further
and make it technically on par with any other
instrument.
To conclude, I think that while the sitar is in good hands:
from Ud. Vilayat Khan and Pt. Nikhil Banerjee to
the trio of Buddhaditya Mukerjee (a bit technique
oriented in his approach these days though), Shahid
Parvez and Nishaat Khan, the sarod is dying out
for lack of young practitioners of the calibre of the young Ud.Amjad AK.
While the senior artistes are past their
prime, the juniors are involved in publicity campaigns
and marketing hype. ("shiny sarods" to quote you
in one of your posts).
Cheers
Rahul
Arnab Chakrabarty
> Thanks for enlightening me. In the meantime, I am wrestling with
> Deja to get the full text of your message, which looks prematurely
> truncated.
Good luck with that. Deja is bad about that kind of stuff from time to
time. But, I will be more than willing to re-post some of the stuff, or
email them to you in person.
> Since we belong to different schools, it is natural to expect us to
> each speak of our school as the best- and we probably fervently
> believe in it too. However, music will remain subjective- different
> aspects will appeal to different people.
So true. I agree.
> In response to your post:
>
> Brahmaputra :
>
> Ustadji has three sarods: Ganga, Jamuna and Brahmaputra. He usually
> tends to keep ordering more from Hemen (who gives him the best
> ones) and changes the skin very often. Not all of us can afford to do
> that, though !
Sure enough. Hemen-babu charges Rupees 4000 for a skin change these
days. With my meager income, I could not afford that. Dulalda, on the
other hand, helps me out by stretching the skin on my sarod for Rupees
600 ($20 as opposed to $300 in California).
> Width of fretboard:
>
> Was this modification carried out by your Guruji or does it date back
to
> Pt.Radhika Mohan Moitra?
This change to the structural elements of the instrument was implemented
by Mr. Buddhadev Dasgupta sometime in the late 1950s. Also, at the same
time, Dr. Allauddin Khan was addressing similar aspects.
> Ekhara taans/Gayaki Ang:
>
> Speed by itself is meaningless, unless accompanied by content. I think
> you will agree that fast taankari with good content on the sarod is
not
> so common. For example, take up a Ud.Vilayat Khan sitar recital,and
> you will have a gayaki type taan every 2nd minute. Not so in most
> sarod recitals, because of the difficulty involved. I think where
> Ud. Amjad AK tends to stand out is the complexity and clarity of
> his ekhara taans which he produces by using very few notes.
Quite frankly, I would not expect an intelligent person to make this
statement about complexity. Although one must admit that the
interpretation of complexity is quite a subjective matter, what I find
very weird is that you seem to think that Ustad Amjad Ali Khan "stands
out" in this aspect. This, I would not concede to you.
> I must listen to Anirban Dasgupta and Prattyush Banerjee- any
> CDs/cassettes I can buy?
Neither of them have enough money nor contacts to produce CDs, and since
Ananda Bazaar and Statesman sold out to the Barua/Khan families a few
decades ago, they do not have any press backing either. I can gladly
arrange to send you recordings of these two young performers.
> Java(Jaba) size/Stroke Technique:
>
> Coming from a non-musical background, I tend to think that
> most sarod players take sarod playing technique as an end in itself.
> The obsession with Da/Ra, Diri Diri, Dhrupad ang of playing,
> etc bears testimony to this fact. Too often I have found sarod
> players (including those of my school as well) feeling a sense
> of accomplishment at having executed a complex sequence of
> Da/Ra strokes-never mind the musical content. Starting from
> 6-1/2 matras to coincide with a Bedam tihai becomes the main
> goal, rather than the melody and the creativity.
I beg to differ. If melody were the ONLY factor determining the quality
of music, I wouldn't be in it. What makes music complete is melody,
technique, rhythm (a good understanding of that science), and some taste
as well as erudition. Also, the supreme sarodist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is
not obsessed with technique, and niether are his whole clan of sons,
disciples and other kinds of chelas. There goes the majority.
> Again, the reason why Ud.Amjad AK was a refreshing breath of
> fresh air when he first appeared on the sarod scene was that
> his playing was very clear and elegant. This was an important
> break from earlier tradition,which essentially believed in a lot of
> right hand strokes with very little left hand movement (for right
handed
> sarodiyas) which a lot of sarodiyas are still obsessed with.
I personally think that Ud. Amjad Ali Khan has taken a lot from the
gayaki of Ud. Vilayat Khan and Ud. Amir Khan, but the voice of the SAROD
has been lost in that effort. A sarod baaj can't be complete at the
expense ot authentic sarod repertoire.
> I remember a conversation with Ustadji where he recalled asking
> his father (Ud.Hafiz Ali Khansaheb) the question as to why in a
> jugalbandi with a sitar and sarod, the sarod always lagged behind
> in technique. The sitar player would unleash brilliant sapaats and
> gayaki style taans, and the sarod player would lamely follow,
> trying to make up by wrist breaking Dara Diris. (If you need
> any confirmation of this, all you have to do is listen to any
> sitar/sarod jugalbandi)
That's the nature of the sarod. It was not meant to do what the sitar is
meant to do. Why try to play sitar on sarod? Playing fast taans is one
thing, but sacrificing your entire repertoire for the sake of public
adulation - this, I shun. There is a scientific basis for the sarod not
being able to do what the sitar does, and by employing some thumb rules
of mechanics in the right place, Anirban and I can show you why. Still,
I laud Ud. Amjad Ali Khan's fluid technique, and admire it.
> It is a well known fact that gats in the same raag are different for
> the sitar and sarod, simply because some of the sitar gats
> are nearly impossible to play correctly on the sarod.
> As a practical example, try playing Ud.Vilayat Khan Saheb's
> drut gat in Yaman or Puriya on the sarod.
More on this later. This is a very detailed matter. Maybe I will have
Pt. Buddhadev Dasgupta post directly on this forum.
> Same goes for vocal compositions. Try playing Kishori
> Amonkar's Hansadhwani on the sarod, or Pt.Hari Prasad
> Chaurasia's Hansadhwani for that matter.
Why not take bandishes from some better sources? Buddhadev Dasgupta
plays Raga Kamod (1974 w/ Mahapurush Misra EMI LP) in which the drut is
derived from a Faiyyaz Khan kheyal bandish.
> For an outsider such as myself, who chose the sarod
> because of its wonderful sound, it is exceedingly frustrating
> to just listen to these brilliant compositions with little hope of
> duplicating them on the sarod. It may be theoretically
> possible, but I have yet to see a practical
> implementation of it.
God, you are an honest guy. I appreciate that. Hansadhwani is hard to
play on the sarod, but Hariprasad Chaurasia is not my role model as far
as Bandish is concerned.
> If you know of anyone who can do that, I would be thrilled.
> I have heard several close attempts at "true gayaki" by
> Ustadji and Pt.Buddhadeb Dasgupta , but they all disappear
> into sarod specific styles.
>
> The lack of development in technique (coincident with the sarodiyas
> experimenting with adding more strings and making the sarod
> bigger and more unwieldy) was justified by inventing
> jargon and evolving new styles.
Really? Let's have some expert comments on that soon. (More postings n
this later).
> We need sarodiyas to push the envelope further
> and make it technically on par with any other
> instrument.
You contradict yourself when you say "technique and speed are not the
ultimate determining factor" earlier in the post..
> To conclude, I think that while the sitar is in good hands:
> from Ud. Vilayat Khan and Pt. Nikhil Banerjee to
> the trio of Buddhaditya Mukerjee (a bit technique
> oriented in his approach these days though), Shahid
> Parvez and Nishaat Khan, the sarod is dying out
> for lack of young practitioners of the calibre of the young Ud.Amjad
AK.
No, it is not. This is the marketing punchline. If you go to Calcutta,
you will see good sarodiyas from all gharanas playing very well, and
taking it ahead with them. Tejendra Majumdar is very, very good in this
aspect.
> While the senior artistes are past their
> prime, the juniors are involved in publicity campaigns
> and marketing hype. ("shiny sarods" to quote you
> in one of your posts).
Well, I, for one, am not involved in publicity campaigns and marketing
hype. I am battling against various odds to keep our gharana alive,
which, quite frankly, would, otherwise, die in the vice-like hands ofof
your goondas. I will also be happy to send you a recording of mine.
Arnab
Sajjad Khaliq
: Ustadji (Amjad Ali Khan) has three sarods: Ganga, Jamuna and
: Brahmaputra.
It's all a case of "...water under the bridge..", as far as
I'm concerned!! (Couldn't resist the pun).
: For example, take up a Ud.Vilayat Khan sitar recital,and
: you will have a gayaki type taan every 2nd minute. Not so in most
: sarod recitals, because of the difficulty involved. I think where
: Ud. Amjad AK tends to stand out is the complexity and clarity of
: his ekhara taans which he produces by using very few notes.
: Again, the reason why Ud.Amjad AK was a refreshing breath of
: fresh air when he first appeared on the sarod scene was that
: his playing was very clear and elegant. This was an important
: break from earlier tradition,which essentially believed in a lot of
: right hand strokes with very little left hand movement (for right handed
: sarodiyas) which a lot of sarodiyas are still obsessed with.
This must have a lot to do with the lessons Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had
from Ustad Imrat Khan.
BTW, has anyone heard the jugalbandi perforamances of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
in his younger days with Ustad Imrat Khan?
: It is a well known fact that gats in the same raag are different for
: the sitar and sarod, simply because some of the sitar gats
: are nearly impossible to play correctly on the sarod.
: As a practical example, try playing Ud.Vilayat Khan Saheb's
: drut gat in Yaman or Puriya on the sarod.
I think the converse is also true too. Some rags (to me at least) sound
better on Sarod that sitar e.g. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's Mian ki Malhar LP
is unforgettable. He also plays a very beautiful Shree. Ustad Ali Akbar
Khan's Basant Mukhari is another example.
: Same goes for vocal compositions. Try playing Kishori
: Amonkar's Hansadhwani on the sarod, or Pt.Hari Prasad
: Chaurasia's Hansadhwani for that matter.
: For an outsider such as myself, who chose the sarod
: because of its wonderful sound, it is exceedingly frustrating
: to just listen to these brilliant compositions with little hope of
: duplicating them on the sarod. It may be theoretically
: possible, but I have yet to see a practical
: implementation of it.
I think Ustad Amjad Ali Khan comes closest in this respect.
: If you know of anyone who can do that, I would be thrilled.
: I have heard several close attempts at "true gayaki" by
: Ustadji and Pt.Buddhadeb Dasgupta , but they all disappear
: into sarod specific styles.
Nothing wrong with that.
: We need sarodiyas to push the envelope further
: and make it technically on par with any other
: instrument.
Why not accept the instrument
as is and work with it's limitations and strengths, rather than trying to
make it what it is not? The Sarod after all, has it's origins in folk
music with it's Rabab heritage. Agree?
: To conclude, I think that while the sitar is in good hands:
: from Ud. Vilayat Khan and Pt. Nikhil Banerjee to
: the trio of Buddhaditya Mukerjee (a bit technique
: oriented in his approach these days though), Shahid
: Parvez and Nishaat Khan
Nikhil Banerjee is the odd man out in the above - the rest are all clones
or whatever you like to call them, of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Personally, I
think Shahid Pervez is a very poor Xerox indeed of Ustad Vilayat Khan (the
machine must have been malfunctioning the day they ran off Shahid's xerox
copy!!). Bhudhaditya and Nishat I believe are worthy Xeroxes indeed.
: the sarod is dying out
: for lack of young practitioners of the calibre of the young Ud.Amjad AK.
What about Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's son's? I've not heard enough or anything
yet to form a judgement yet myself. And what about Vajahat Khan? Coming
from a sitar and gayaki ang family I think he may be pushing the enevelope
a little as far as technique is concerned. Again, I've not heard enough to
form an opinion.
Arnab Chakrabarty
> : Ustadji (Amjad Ali Khan) has three sarods: Ganga, Jamuna and
> : Brahmaputra.
>
> It's all a case of "...water under the bridge..", as far as
> I'm concerned!! (Couldn't resist the pun).
What is the intended reaction? Laughter?
> : Again, the reason why Ud.Amjad AK was a refreshing breath of
> : fresh air when he first appeared on the sarod scene was that
> : his playing was very clear and elegant. This was an important
> : break from earlier tradition,which essentially believed in a lot of
> : right hand strokes with very little left hand movement (for right
handed
> : sarodiyas) which a lot of sarodiyas are still obsessed with.
> This must have a lot to do with the lessons Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had
> from Ustad Imrat Khan.
Interesting. Why would the son of Hafiz Ali Khan the great, seek talim
from Imrat Khan who had to go begging from pillar to post for talim? I
mean, Imrat Khan is a great sitar player, but Sajjad Sahib makes it very
funny and laughable by saying things like these. Gawd, why in the world
Imrat, when Vilayat was the god of sitar.. why? I mean, they hung out a
lot, as Keramatullah Khan and Imrat were cronies and Amjad used to hang
out there in Calcutta (that is how he grew so fond of the young Sabir).
> BTW, has anyone heard the jugalbandi perforamances of Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan
> in his younger days with Ustad Imrat Khan?
I have not heard them, but from what I have heard of Amjad Ali Khan's
jugalbandi performances, I am sure these would suck too.
> : It is a well known fact that gats in the same raag are different for
> : the sitar and sarod, simply because some of the sitar gats
> : are nearly impossible to play correctly on the sarod.
> : As a practical example, try playing Ud.Vilayat Khan Saheb's
> : drut gat in Yaman or Puriya on the sarod.
>
> I think the converse is also true too. Some rags (to me at least)
sound
> better on Sarod that sitar e.g. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's Mian ki Malhar
LP
> is unforgettable. He also plays a very beautiful Shree. Ustad Ali
Akbar
> Khan's Basant Mukhari is another example.
Shri with N r G, N S r G, N r m G? God! I have heard six discs of Shree
by the guy and he does not know the raga. Quite boldly, he uses Kalyan
Phrases and Puriya phrases in Shree. Amjad Ali Khan's Miyan-ki-Malhar
with Shamta Prasad is nice as a display of riyaz at the highest level
(in 1966, at 22, he was more of a sarodiya then he is now), but lacks in
melodic taste as far as the raga is concerned. It can be recommended to
those listeners who listen to classical music with booze.
> : Same goes for vocal compositions. Try playing Kishori
> : Amonkar's Hansadhwani on the sarod, or Pt.Hari Prasad
> : Chaurasia's Hansadhwani for that matter.
>
> : For an outsider such as myself, who chose the sarod
> : because of its wonderful sound, it is exceedingly frustrating
> : to just listen to these brilliant compositions with little hope of
> : duplicating them on the sarod. It may be theoretically
> : possible, but I have yet to see a practical
> : implementation of it.
>
> I think Ustad Amjad Ali Khan comes closest in this respect.
When there is no element of Bandish in a gat or kheyal, it has no great
value. Therefore, being able to play it, and playing it, does not make
or mar one's musicianship. Mr. Khan hardly ever plays a complete
composition in a performance. All he does is play the sthayi over and
over and over, and playing the manjha maybe thrice, and antara once.
> : If you know of anyone who can do that, I would be thrilled.
> : I have heard several close attempts at "true gayaki" by
> : Ustadji and Pt.Buddhadeb Dasgupta , but they all disappear
> : into sarod specific styles.
>
> Nothing wrong with that.
This is where Sajjad seems to have made some sense. As far as gayaki
concerned, your Gurubhais Naren Dhar and Bishwajit Roychoudhuri kick
your guru's ass.
> : We need sarodiyas to push the envelope further
> : and make it technically on par with any other
> : instrument.
>
> Why not accept the instrument
> as is and work with it's limitations and strengths, rather than trying
to
> make it what it is not? The Sarod after all, has it's origins in folk
> music with it's Rabab heritage. Agree?
What exactly are you trying to imply, Mr. Khaliq? Is it that because the
sarod has its origins in martial and folk melodies, its value as an
instrument is less than that of your sitar-in-law? Or, is kheyal gayaki
the apex of Indian classical music? If you say yes to either of these,
you are an idiot.
> : To conclude, I think that while the sitar is in good hands:
> : from Ud. Vilayat Khan and Pt. Nikhil Banerjee to
> : the trio of Buddhaditya Mukerjee (a bit technique
> : oriented in his approach these days though), Shahid
> : Parvez and Nishaat Khan
>
> Nikhil Banerjee is the odd man out in the above - the rest are all
clones
> or whatever you like to call them, of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Personally,
I
> think Shahid Pervez is a very poor Xerox indeed of Ustad Vilayat Khan
(the
> machine must have been malfunctioning the day they ran off Shahid's
xerox
> copy!!). Bhudhaditya and Nishat I believe are worthy Xeroxes indeed.
Shahid has some originality at least. Also, when will you guys stop
harsssing Shahid Pervez and Rais Khan (remember the incident of Rais
Khan getting beaten up for getting larger applause than his cousins).
Vilayat Khan Sahib is the Nawab of sitar, but the rest of the lot (the
Imrat branch, although technical gods), are a bunch of unscrupulous
scoundrels.
> : the sarod is dying out
> : for lack of young practitioners of the calibre of the young Ud.Amjad
AK.
>
> What about Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's son's? I've not heard enough or
anything
> yet to form a judgement yet myself. And what about Vajahat Khan?
Coming
> from a sitar and gayaki ang family I think he may be pushing the
enevelope
> a little as far as technique is concerned. Again, I've not heard
enough to
> form an opinion.
Wajahat? He is the worst sarod player that ever lived. Amaan and Ayaan
have sweet hands at least, and good tayyari and technique. I have not
heard that Wajahat idiot play a single set of bols on the sarod. All he
ever does is play sitar on the sarod, and by the way, his ekhara taan
rech
Rahul Bhattacharya
I wrote out a reply to the earlier discussion that we were posting on,
but going by your language and your attitude, I now realise that
it was a waste of time.
You seem so biased against a great maestro like Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan, (which probably stems from other factors which have nothing
to do with his music), that you are trashing everything that he
plays (although you did say in an earlier post that you admired
his fluid style).
Disrespect to artistes will probably not be appreciated by
your Guruji. Is he aware that you use language like this
to describe senior artistes?
My advice: Spend more time on Riyaaz than trashing other
people. Negative comments eventually boomerang back
on the propagator.
If you ever get back to a more mature frame of mind
where you are open to discussion, I would only be too
happy to discuss various aspects of sarod playing with
you.
Regards,
Rahul
P.S.- By the way, I am an engineer by profession, and had
the good fortune of learning under Abheek Sarkar and then
Ustadji himself. Although I disapprove of marketing attempts
by artistes to foist their children on audiences, I think we
should be mature enough to treat the artiste's music
and his marketing attempts separately.
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