BGA's first 78 rpm

abcdef

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Feb 4, 2012, 12:51:59 AM2/4/12

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At last....U. BADE GULAM ALI'S FIRST 78 RPM RECORD FEATURING MARVA &
SURSARANG. (Jein O Phone JP 751) mediafire links

SURSARANG - http://www.mediafire.com/?8lh0koqt3a7r4ca

MARVA - http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvrys0rg2iy3uv

Enjoy !! -Dr. Kashyap

Abhik Majumdar

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Feb 4, 2012, 7:25:06 AM2/4/12

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On Feb 4, 10:51 am, abcdef <drkashyapd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> At last....U. BADE GULAM ALI'S FIRST 78 RPM RECORD FEATURING MARVA &
> SURSARANG. (Jein O Phone JP 751) mediafire links
>
> SURSARANG - http://www.mediafire.com/?8lh0koqt3a7r4ca
>

> MARVA -http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvrys0rg2iy3uv
>
> Enjoy !! -Dr. Kashyap

Many thanks, Dr Kashyap. Incidentally, the "Sur Sarang" is actually
Shuddha Sarang, his own composition too. He's also recorded it as
Shuddha Sarang several times, IIRC.

Abhik

abcdef

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Feb 4, 2012, 2:10:52 PM2/4/12

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> Many thanks, Dr Kashyap. Incidentally, the "Sur Sarang" is actually
> Shuddha Sarang, his own composition too. He's also recorded it as
> Shuddha Sarang several times, IIRC.
>
> Abhik

Exactly, just like his Kaushik dhwani labelled as kausi dhani in LP.

Abhik Majumdar

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Feb 4, 2012, 4:40:09 PM2/4/12

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> Exactly, just like his Kaushik dhwani labelled as kausi dhani in LP.

I think we've had this conversation once earlier also. Let me restrict
myself to just one question: are there any documented instances of
that raga being referred to as Kausi Dhani/Kaushik Dhwani (as opposed
to Bhinna Shajda) before BGAK came out with that album? I personally
haven't come across it, and am open to be corrected on the point. But
till then I shall continue to believe Kaushik Dhwani is an ex post
facto sanskritisation.

Abhik

vinay s pande

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Feb 15, 2012, 7:28:52 AM2/15/12

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On Feb 4, 12:51 am, abcdef <drkashyapd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> At last....U. BADE GULAM ALI'S FIRST 78 RPM RECORD FEATURING MARVA &
> SURSARANG. (Jein O Phone JP 751) mediafire links
>
> SURSARANG - http://www.mediafire.com/?8lh0koqt3a7r4ca
>

> MARVA -http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvrys0rg2iy3uv
>
> Enjoy !! -Dr. Kashyap

dear dr kashyap --thank you so much for this. do we know if this is
the 78 rpm on which akhtaribai accompanied him on harmonium?
vinay

Abhik Majumdar

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Feb 15, 2012, 9:40:07 AM2/15/12

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> dear dr kashyap --thank you so much for this. do we know if this is
> the 78 rpm on which akhtaribai accompanied him on harmonium?
> vinay

To the best of my knowledge, the 78 you refer to is the one Megaphone
had brought out, which contains Multani and a Thumri.

Abhik

abcdef

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Feb 15, 2012, 11:57:08 PM2/15/12

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> dear dr kashyap --thank you so much for this. do we know if this is
> the 78 rpm on which akhtaribai accompanied him on harmonium?
> vinay

To add some more to begum akhtar BGA combination, senior vocalist
informs me that begum's commercial "diwana banana hai.." has BGA
playing sarangi with her.

vinay

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Feb 16, 2012, 7:39:01 AM2/16/12

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yes you are right..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcmksUWjB3U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89FXygiufc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL55383AF30BE4F785

cactus 1762 has posted a very clean recording here. and then there is
this other beauty he has posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWd0p21Sko

vinay

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Feb 16, 2012, 7:42:53 AM2/16/12

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yes he was her sarangi accompanist, that is well known. but to the
best of my knowledge it is not documented which 78 rpms feature bade
ghulam ali on sarangi.
these poor tabla and sarangi accompanists did not even rate a mention
in those days. not just in india but in the west too. eg the pianists
accompanying great violinists and singers of the 20s and 30s were
never acknowledged on recordings until the time of gerald moore et al .

Abhay

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Feb 18, 2012, 1:16:32 AM2/18/12

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On Feb 16, 5:39 pm, vinay <vinaypa...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Feb 15, 9:40 am, Abhik Majumdar <abhik....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > dear dr kashyap --thank you so much for this. do we know if this is
> > > the 78 rpm on which akhtaribai accompanied him on harmonium?
> > > vinay
>
> > To the best of my knowledge, the 78 you refer to is the one Megaphone
> > had brought out, which contains Multani and a Thumri.
>
> > Abhik
>

> yes you are right..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcmksUWjB3Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89FXygiufc&feature=results_video&play...

>
> cactus 1762 has posted a very clean recording here. and then there is
> this other beauty he has postedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWd0p21Sko

Thanks for the links, Vinay. In 1929, Akhtaribai would have been just
15 years old (she was born in 1914). While it is by no means
impossible, it strains the imagination a bit to think of a 15-year-old
girl as a harmonium accompanist in a studio recording of a much older
male singer (BGAK would have been 27 then). Does anyone know anything
more about this instance?

Warm regards,
Abhay

Abhik Majumdar

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Feb 18, 2012, 8:28:58 PM2/18/12

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> Thanks for the links, Vinay. In 1929, Akhtaribai would have been just 15 years old (she was born in 1914). While it is by no means impossible, it strains the imagination a bit to think of a 15-year-old girl as a harmonium accompanist in a studio recording of a much older male singer (BGAK would have been 27 then).

First out, Jnanprakash Ghosh documents this episode in his memoirs
Tehzeeb-e-Mousiqi (written in Bangla, the Persianised title
notwithstanding). Haven't checked the book in ages, but I think he
daets the incident to 1931. In any case, it is by no means a strain on
the imagination. Pran Neville's article says Gauhar Jaan was born in
1875 and peformed before the Maharaja of Darbhanga at age 12!:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020526/spectrum/main7.htm

Chandvankar estimates her birth year to be 1873, and claims she was 15
when she performed for the Maharaja:

http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/gauhar.htm

Given that Akhtaribai (as she was then known) came from the same
social milieu, it is not inconceivable that she was a proficient
musician by the time BGAK's recording happened.

Matter of fact, the story JPG recounts is that by this time Akhtaribai
was an established singer, and BGAK was her sarangi accompanyist, and
otherwise a non-entity. She chanced to hear him sing, and was
profoundly impressed (I mean, good taste, right?) - so much so that
she dragged him over to the Megaphone offices, persuaded the boss
there to have him recorded and, possibly as a goodwill gesture, she
herself accompanied him on the harmonium. That's how the recording
happened.

Abhik

Abhay

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Feb 19, 2012, 3:28:49 AM2/19/12

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On Feb 19, 6:28 am, Abhik Majumdar <abhik....@gmail.com> wrote:
(snip)

> Matter of fact, the story JPG recounts is that by this time Akhtaribai
> was an established singer, and BGAK was her sarangi accompanyist, and
> otherwise a non-entity. She chanced to hear him sing, and was
> profoundly impressed (I mean, good taste, right?) - so much so that
> she dragged him over to the Megaphone offices, persuaded the boss
> there to have him recorded and, possibly as a goodwill gesture, she
> herself accompanied him on the harmonium. That's how the recording
> happened.

Thank you for the information, Abhik. Is the book available in
English?

Warm regards,
Abhay

Abhik Majumdar

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Feb 19, 2012, 12:38:32 PM2/19/12

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> Thank you for the information, Abhik. Is the book available in English?

You gotta be kiddin'!! Even the Bengal version's been out of print for
decades. It's only thanks to the efforts of a friend (Mandar Mitra, he
used to be an RMIC regular till some time back) that I managed to get
a second-hand copy. I'll tell you what I can do. Let me finish my
present assignment, then I'll try my hand at translating at least the
chapter on BGAK and posting it here.

Abhik

vinay

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Mar 11, 2012, 8:37:26 AM3/11/12

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there is also the possibility that akhtaribai was less than candid
about her date or year of birth. her fondness for younger company
( male) was the subject of rumour even when i heard her first in the
60s.