Friday, August 1, 2008

Ustad Amir Khan and me...

My relationship with Ustad Amir Khan's music is like my liking for Amitav Ghosh's works...Ustad Amir Khan is one of the most influential Hindustani classical vocalists in the 20th century...I just fell in love with his kind of singing at first hearing...not that I had heard other singers and in comparision, Ustadji sounded better or anything...it is something that I haven't been able to understand...I began looking out for cassettes, books, CDs, etc., to listen to his renderings, know more about this great singer...and all this without knowing even 5% of what constitutes Hindustani classical music...and its nuances... I was thrilled when a fellow music enthusiast sent me a copy of the documentary on Ustad Amir Khan made by the Films Division...I was able to see Ustadji actually singing and talking and moving around...I was ecstatic...and later Patrick Moutal hosted a couple of videos of Ustadji singing Malkauns and Rageshree...these videos can be downloaded from Patrick's website (http://homepage.mac.com/patrickmoutal/macmoutal/rag.html) and I must have watched these many many times... I like his Lalit, Malkauns, Bilaskhani Todi, and Hamsadhwani very much... and with great devotion to his immortal singing, I managed to host a webpage on Ustadji almosgt 6 years ago ... which I am proud to say is the first website on Ustadji... and whatever I felt about Ustadji and his music, I have written in the brief introduction to the site... and over the years, many admirers of Ustadji's music have written to me and everytime I feel embarassed, because I am not aware of the nuances of hindustani classical music and I tell everyone so... the webpage is only a labour of love, not an exposotion or analysis of Ustadji's music ... in case you are interested...please visit www.geocities.com/jaysrinivas and please leave your comments here...I will be happy...

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