This channel is an exciting initiative by Sadarang Arts, London encapsulating the cultural ethos of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) with a particular focus on drama, music and poetry.
Jinke vas ki baat nhi hoti h, Vo log burai ya sudra prakriti ka raag batate hai... Khansahab or uch koti ke kalakaron ka pasandida bada pyara raag h❤❤❤❤❤❤ My favourite raag pilu❤❤
Tafoo was a great tabla player, but since he does not admire Ustad & king of ghazal the one & only Mehdi Hasan sahib, I too don't have any respect for this merasi named tafoo. Ustad Mehdi Hasan is still known all over the world, but who knows Tafoo. He has got some publicity only in Pakistan, particularly Punjab nowhere else. 👎🏽
Back in those days, my dad bought this audio casette which had the name itself as 'Runa Laila'. I fell in love with the cover itself but then when I heard the intro music, there were goosebumps. Runa, its 2024, you are still in the hearts!
Rais Khan constantly spoiled this performance with frequent interruptions during the show. Firstly, his instrument was not tuned properly, and to my ears at least, his chikaris were a minuscule bit higher than the overall pitch. Sometimes his baaj string and sometimes his Jor were out of sync. He stopped several times to adjust the strings. His drut tankari was as usual inimitable in its own way, but the tanas were executed with a lot of accompanying noise from the rest of the strings. And then he stopped Pandit Anindo Chatterjee several times to listen to Anubrata's Tabla instead, which was quite unnecessary and which again stopped the flow of the performance. I am a fan of Rais Khan, and in his heyday, he was incomparable as a Sitarist, but in his declining years he began to lose his mental faculties as can be seen partially in his stage presence here. As a speaker on stage, he always assumed an exaggerated artificial tone; honestly, I never enjoyed listening to him speak. It is a shame about his decline in the last years of his life. A sad end to a great artist. He should never have left India in any case. His art as a Sitarist declined gradually after he had moved to Pakistan. His bidar ang tunes and phrases became the hallmark of his many performances there. Pakistani listeners take great pride in doing their wahwahs when a musical phrase includes notes which are not part of the normal scale of the raga. Bidar notes can embellish the aesthetics of a taan or phrase when used sparingly, and only sometimes. An example of this is in Bhairvin when the two gandhars are used together in Avroh or descent. But this has become a curse in Pakistani music, especially in ghazal singing. Bidar ang notes in fast tankari is allowed in mishr ragas such as in Mishr Pilu or in Mishr Pahari; and in the hands of great Sitarists like Shahid Parvez this becomes pure magic. Rais Khan did this too in his heyday, but as I said, this aspect of performance should only be used very sparingly to highlight aesthetics of a performance. Having said all this, let me end on a note of praise for this great artist. Rais Khan maintained his individuality till the very end. He will be remembered for his great performances during his youth and also with Zakir Hussain later on when he was still in the full control of his baaj. Luckily we have his greatness archived in his live as well as studio recordings from all those years ago. May his soul rest in peace.
