Customer Reviews

Then And Now: The Music Of The Great Master Continues

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The first disk is a rerelease of two ragas recorded in 1955. The first is based on a traditional melody, the second is his own composition. The tabla is played by Chatur Lal. The second disk was recorded in 1994. The two ragas are again a traditional and composed melodies. The tabla is played by Zakir Hussain. The insert is filled with information about his music.

With the recent death of Ali Akbar Khan (June 2009), all recordings of his have taken on greater import. Thus, this anniversary edition looks back to 1955 and the first Western release of Hindustani music. (It was also when I was introduced to such music.) Remarkably, that old recording, now remastered onto digital disc, still is wonderful art, full of energy and melody for the first piece, befitting a late morning rag, and thoughful, passionate, and romantic for the second rag, common to early evening. Khan was then but age 33, a journeyman in a musician's life, though even at that time he was an acknowledged master.

The second disc consists of works performed in 1994 when Khan was a vigorous, young 73. Part one is a solo, a rhythm-free alap, an improvisation of springtime. Tabla wizard Zakir Hussain accompanied him on the second part, a gat and synthesis of two ragas. Here, the mood lifts with a sense of peace and inner joy. On this day there was none of the blazing fireworks or playful, humorous exchanges that I had witnessed in similar concerts of theirs around this period. And I miss it. The music is very fine but relatively tame and stately. Nonetheless, the improvisations on both sarod and tabla are strong and demonstrate how far and how short Ali Akbar Khan had come over the years. The enclosed booklet is valuable for its photographs, history, and discography.

Excellent music by Khanji. You have the great 1955 live recording from his youth, and the mellow music of his older years, when he was still playing well and accompanied by none other than Zakir Hussein the greatest tabla player.

Ali Akbar Khan is another example of the mingling of Hindu and Islamic cultures in India. The Muslim hordes that over-ran India had no appreciation of music, but were taught how to appreciate music by the Hindus they encountered (and in some cases, even conquered). As a result, Northern Indian classical music (Hindustani) became a form of music practiced by Muslims and Hindus alike, and took on a different flavor than that of the undisturbed Southern Indian (Carnatic) classical music. Ali Akbar Khan is one of the greatest examples of this fusion. His family - along with several other Muslim families such as Zakir Hussain's or Amjad Ali Khan's, embraced Indian classical music and became its greatest exponents. This is truly an unusual and great artist, and a great recording