A few Hindustani recommendations from a Carnatic music fan

I am interested in listening to various forms of music and I believe this attitude has given me a lot of melody and happiness. In this regard, Hindustani music, with its closeness to Carnatic music, has provided me some great moments. I wanted to share some of them here.

Most of my appreciation of Hindustani music was generated by listening to tapes. (I have very rarely been to Hindustani concerts.) As can be expected, being a Carnatic music fan, I get easily attracted to those ragas which are present in both the systems. You can see that in my recommendations as well. I am sure I am missing a great number of Hindustani stalwarts and some of the canonical renditions which would be now considered legendary. If you find something missing please pardon me. My listening as well as knowledge of Hindustani music is limited. All the recommendations are for vocal music. All the tapes I mention below are available commercially.

Let me start with one of the first Hindustani tapes which made a big impression on me. This was a HMV release of Kishori Amonkar singing Bhoop and Bagesri. Bhoop is the Hindustani counterpart of Mohanam. Given the ease at which Mohanam can seep into you, it was no wonder that I started loving this. Added it to it was the beauty of Kishori's singing. I especially like the drut part of this rendition. Kishori squeezes out every inch of melody from Bhoop and I haven't heard a better Bhoop than this. Bagesri is another raga which emotionally appeals to you and this rendition equals that of Bhoop. This is one tape which I will ask any carnatic music listener to buy. You will not be disappointed.

The next recommendation is a tape of Ustad Amir Khan. Before I get into those details let me write about my first encounter with the great master.

It was late at night, with everyone having gone to sleep, and I alone watching the movie 'Baiju Bawra' in my uncle's house. I don't remember the exact details but the story goes something like this: Baiju comes to Tansen's house with a sword intent on killing Tansen. He hides behind a curtain in the room where Tansen is practising his music. Tansen starts singing an alap. The beauty of the alap is such that Baiju loses himself in the music and the sword slips out of his hand. Baiju now realizes the power of music and vows to become a better singer than Tansen and defeat him in a music competition. And thus proceeds the story.

Hearing the same alap which Baiju hears, especially late in the night when there is no disturbance whatsoever, you realize why Baiju dropped his sword. Anyone who has a little ear for music would do so. The only word I can use to describe that alap is that cliched term, magical. Cliche' or not, this one word captures the music of Amir Khan as no other word can. It was so appropriate that they made Amir Khan sing for Tansen. (I didn't know it was Amir Khan then. My friend told me the next day when I inquired with him). In many movies you hear singers defeating their opponents by their music and you wonder how that can happen when neither the singing nor the melody is top class. Amir Khan's voice is so out-of-the world and the singing heavenly that it is very appropriate for the scene. (Digression: Similarly Balamurali and TMS's singing in Tiruvilayadal are pieces which are extremely appropriate in the movie). It has been a long time since I saw that scene and heard that melody but I have a vague recollection that the raga featured was related to Carnatic Kanada.

Almost everything Amir Khan touched has class written all over it. My recommendation will be the tape which has Hamsadhwani and Malkauns. Hamsadhwani is an import into Hindustani music from South India. The khayal that is sung is very similar to the famous kriti 'Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje'. Malkauns, being Hindolam, is another ragam which we can easily relate to. Both of them carry the stamp of the master. Another piece, though a small one, which gave me a lot of enjoyment was a Ramdasi Malhar piece. You can hear shades of our Kanada in this. The more popular and oft referred tape of Amir Khan is the one featuring Darbari and Marwa. Darbari is easy to relate with, it being Darbari Kanada. Marwa will take some listening to before you get an idea of its contours.

The next master I would recommend is Abdul Karim Khan, the doyen of Kirana Gharana. HMV had released a couple of tapes, which seem to have been taken from the old 78 rpms. Look out for a tape which contains these two ragas: Devagandhar and Anand Bhairav amongst others. I was given to understand that the Devgandhar he sings in the Devagandhari of Carnatic music and not the Hindustani Devgandhar. Abdul Karim Khan sings some amazing solfa swara passages in both these ragas. The Devagandhari is extremely melodious and so is Anand Bhairav. The raga Anand Bhairav has shades of Carnatic Bhairavi and the image of Bhairavi leaps at you when Abdul Karim Khan (AKK) is singing the kalpanaswaras. It is said that AKK was not a big fan of kalpanaswaras and used to say that South Indian musicians play the harmonium through their mouth when referring to swara singing!!! He is supposed to have changed his opinion when he heard Dhanammal played kalpanaswaras on the veena and learnt the art of kalpanaswara singing from the great veena player. Abdul Karim Khan used to stay in Dhanammal house whenever he was in Madras and they had great mutual regard for each other. (Digression: Pandit Ravishankar in an interview said that he was moved to tears when he heard the very first phrase of Shankarabaranam played on the veena by Dhanammal. Tirukodikkaval Krishnaiyer is supposed to have remarked that for Dhanammal's Shankarabaranam we can give away all the fourteen worlds. Such was the playing of Dhanammal)

HMV also released a couple of 'Gharana' tapes which featured the Kirana Gharana artist. One of them has a lovely selection of singers as well as ragas. I had given this tape to a friend and I haven't got it back yet. I remember hearing a lovely Kapi and a Sarang by Basavaraj Rajguru, Suddh Kalyan by Bhimsen Joshi and a lovely number by Feroz Dastur. This was definitely a tape worth buying. There was one more Kirana Gharana release which is worth buying for a different reason. It has Abdul Karim Khan singing two carnatic krithis !!! Yes. He is supposed to have learnt the kritis from Dhanammal. He has recorded 'Rama Nee Samanevaru' (Karaharapriya) and the Patnam krithi, 'Entha Nerchina' in Saveri. Don't expect a carnatic type rendition. The Ustad gives his own beautiful spin to it.

One of the imports into Carnatic music was Brindavana Saranga. Bhimsen Joshi sings a lovely 'Brindavani Sarang' in a release of Music Today. The whole tape contains only this raga and Bhimsen is in full form. I like the druta part a lot.

A few years ago I bought a tape of Kumar Gandharva at Sangeet Sagar in DVG Road and then proceeded in my car towards J C Road. I had heard a lot about Kumar Gandharva but I hadn't listened to his music till then. I put this tape in and the very first few lines that he sang made me sit up with a jerk. For I have never heard anyone like him in Hindustani music. He sang a piece which goes 'Dekho Re Rut' in Raga Shree Kalyan and from the very first phrase he had my attention. The way he pronounced the words, the rhythm he generated and the very unorthodox approach took my breath away. This tape has lot of Pratimadhyamam equivalent ragas. Ragas like Shree, Puriya Danashri (which sounds close to Pantuvarali), Shree Kalyan, Kalyani, Sohini (Hamsanandi) etc. Each piece is a delight and you will be able to easily identify with these ragas. Kumar Gandharava also has another such release from HMV in which he sings a beautiful Nand, Chaiti Bhoop etc. What I found fascinating about Kumar Gandharava's singing was that even if he sang 3 pieces in one side of a tape, each piece sounded so complete. (Speaking of small pieces a few outstanding small pieces worth listening to are Faiyaaz Khan's 'Tadpat Hun' in Rag Lalit, Bade Gulam Ali Khan's 'Om Tat Sat' and Pandit Jasraj's 'Mata Kalike' in Adana)

Now for the set of ragas that I love. The Malhar group. There are different kinds of Malhar and I will talk about the two popular ones, Miyan Ki Malhar and Gaud Malhar. The Malhars are not popular in Carnatic music (a pity) and hence you won't get to hear them often. To our untrained ears Miyan Ki Malhar will sound like Kanada. Infact my mother insists that the famous "Guddi" film song 'Bole Re Papihara' is based on Kanada, though I tell her that it is based on Miyan Ki Malhar. If people like me untrained in music try singing Miyan Ki Malhar we end up singing Kanada !! Even though we may not have heard this raga much in Carnatic music, you can easily identify with it due to its closeness to Kanada.

The popular khayal in Miyan Ki Malhar is 'Karim Naam Tero' and this is sung by many masters. I have heard this khayal sung elaborately by Ustad Amir Khan, Kumar Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi and Kishori Amonkar. I love the rendering of Amir Khan. His deep voice, the languid pace and the slow development of the raga leave you asking for more. (I remember hearing a great Ramdasi Malhar, which also sounds very close to Kanada, on the same tape. Unfortunately I don't have the tape with me and I am unable to get it in any store). 'Bole Re Papihara' is actually a classical piece which was used as the starting point of the famous film song by the music director Vasant Desai. There is a charming rendition of this piece by Kumara Gandharva in his own inimitable style.

The other Malhar which is famous is Gaud Malhar. Here the closeness to Kanada is less than in Miyan Ki Malhar. This is also a very melodious raga and you will be attracted to it almost immediately. The Malhars are identified with the monsoons and I would agree with it. One Gaud Malhar I listen to often is by Kishori Amonkar. She sings the khayal, "Kyon Yaako Barsat" and the drut piece, "Papi Dadarwa". This is a release of HMV. I still remember driving to Chikmagalur, the weather cloudy and the road to Hassan smooth and empty. Hearing Kishori at this time, in that lovely weather, was real bliss.

I have kept the best for the last. Other than the khayal in Gaud Malhar that I had mentioned earlier, there is another famous khayal in Gaud Malhar,'Maan na kari'. There is a tape of Kishori singing this piece release by Music Today. It was a nice rendition. Some time later, I bought a tape, which had Mallikarjun Mansur singing the same piece. I put it on and the very first phrase proclaimed that I was in the presence of the genius !!! His approach was so very different and you can see a complex brain at work here. After a few minutes, listening with a gaping mouth, I was wondering as to how this man will keep up this excellence for another 20 or more minutes !!! Keep up he does and in what style and passion. The complexity is mind blowing and the color of the raga that evolves is without parallel. I instantly became a big fan of his music. The best description of Mallikarjun Mansur's Gaud Malhar was given by Rajan P Parrikar ,"We return to mAna na kare ri in what is indisputably the greatest rendition in the rAga. Mallikarjun Mansur's tour de force is manna for the soul. This manner of singing can only come to those in whose bones the daemon of 'madness' has taken refuge. For this is not the handiwork of rational beings". (http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit04012002/musicarts.asp). An excellent and apt description of Mallikarun Mansur's singing.

Hope you will be a bit adventurous and try listening to some of the recommendations. I can assure you that if you do put in some effort, you have a lot to gain.

(A note on Rajan P Parrikar: The web site South Asian Women's Forum (sawf) describes Rajan as "Rajan P. Parrikar is a recognized expert on Indian Classical music and shares his knowledge freely with those interested in the subject. He has written a series of articles on Classical Indian Music some of which have been archived on Sawf." I know that Rajan Parrikar plays harmonium. He used to post regularly in the newsgroup rec.music.indian.classical (rmic) and also wrote the initial articles on ragas in this newsgroup. Later they were posted at http://www.sawf.org. You can understand the effort he puts in to put together each of the articles. His articles are always interesting to read and like many others I too used to await his articles. His articulation is of high standard and communicates what he wants to say without any doubt. What I like most is that he expresses his opinions openly and calls a spade a spade. Even if you are not into Hindustani music I would urge you to check out Rajan's articles under the 'Music' section of http://www.sawf.org)