R.I.P. Hindustani musican & composer Atul Desai (1934-2013)

Atul Desai (1934-2013)

…we just got the info from our colleagues of Sruti Magazine that Atul Desai (born on 31st January 1934) is no more since 20th January 2013… he passed away in Toronto, Canada.

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Atul Desai is one of the few eminent musicians of Gujarat. He was trained in Hindustani vocal music by the late Pt. Omkarnath Thakur. One cannot fail to recognise the distinct stamp of his great guru in Atul Desai’s singing. Endowed with a melodious voice and a repertoire comprising of Khayal, Thumri and Bhajans,his concerts are lively and entertaining.

Atul Desai has given a number of performances in India and has traveled widely in the U.S.A. and Europe. He is also an ‘A’ grade artist of All India Radio from where his programs are broadcast regularly. He has been honored with the Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Academy Award for his contribution to classical music.

In addition to being a vocalist, Atul Desai was also a composer of repute. His unique contribution of music for dance is a very valuable extension to the field of contemporary dance choreography. He has composed music for all of Kadamb’s dance presentations, numbering more than fifty, for the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi, for some of the younger generation of dancers, for prestigious and select programs in U.S.A., U.K., China and many other countries and also for the Festivals of India in U.S.S.R., Sweden and Germany. He has composed music for children’s productions, TV films, Radio features and plays. His experiments have been acclaimedas trend setters in this field.

Atul Desai studied electronic music with David Tudor, a well known musician of U.S.A. He leaves a large collection of electronic music composed by himself. He received a scholarship grant from the Govt. of India, Dept. of Culture, to do research in music accompaniment for dance.

He was one of the directors for Kadamb, Center for dance and music, Ahmadabad, an institution of national and international repute. Hitherto music was only an accompaniment to dance, but at Kadamb, Atul Desai has changed that concept by giving music an important and enhancing role adding a new dimension to professional dance productions. (Source: ICMCDFW.Org)

With the passing away of Atul Desai, the world of Indian music has lost an eminent artist of creativity. Our condolences go to the family.

(Source: 30th Jan 2013 – Shruti Magazine)

Kathak choreography with music by Atul Desai…

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special “Miles from India” – documentary of a backstage talk with John McLaughlin (Shakti/Mahavishnu)

The promotion initiative IMC – India meets Classics and it’s media production IMC OnAir (IMCRadio.Net) enjoyed that the great fusion and Rock Jazz guitarist John McLaughlin followed the invitation for a unique BackStageTalk in May 2008. The production goes back to the 1st pre plannings during John’s Hamburg visit in July 2007 with “Remember Shakti” and together with Zakir Hussain (Tabla) for a Dalai Lama charity concert.

dates of broadcasting…

 31st January 2013 – 3:00 EST (09:00 pm CET) @ radio multicult.fm
(premiere: 2nd January 2010 – 3:00-3:58 pm  CET @ Tide Radio)
broadcasting calendar | streaming (Internet radio & mobile radio) | podCast

The 58 minutes special “Miles from India” being rebroadcasted on 31st January 2013 @ radio multicult.fm and worldwide as webradio documents the fully talk. (Rec.: The 28 minutes TV special was broadcasted on 7th July 2008 – 08:30 pm (MEST) and showed an extract.)

The BackStage Talk refers to John’s project in India “Floating Point” which was released in April 2008 and his composition of the titel song for the double CD “Miles from India” with world premiere in NewYork on 9th May 2008.

John’s time schedule of his European Concert tour 2008 with his formation “4th dimension” since 9th May “on the road” required to set the interview beside John’s concert on 28th May 2008 in the culture and communication centre FABRIK (Hamburg-Altona), Germany’s most famous hot spot (since 1971) for unique concerts in (Rock) Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Cross over and World Music…

screen splashs out of the TV production shortly documenting the “John McLaughlin Backstage Talk“

Thank’s to all supporters…

CD: Miles from India (2008)

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MILES FROM INDIA concert produced by Yusuf Gandhi and Bob Belden

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Miles From India (Encore Part 1) Montreal July 4, 2009

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Miles From India (Encore Part 2) Montreal July 4, 2009

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Moderation Script (01/2013): MILES from India – John McLaughlin (special feature “StudioTalk No. 4”)

rebroadcasting on 31st January 2013
@ radio multicult.fm (and worldwide as webradio) – 03:00 pm EST (09:00 pm CET)

View this document on Scribd

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We remember M. Gandhi (10/2/1869 – 01/30/1948) and his legacy…

“Be the change you wish to see in the world”
(Mahatma Gandhi)

(seen at “India” @ Google plus)

Gandhi on music & art

(Original Source: Mahadev Desai’s Diary)

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Mahadev Desai (1892-1942) joined Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 and remained with him till Desai’s death in 1942. I came upon a very interesting account, inMahadev Desai’s diary, of a discussion between Mahatma Gandhi and Dilip Kumar Roy, in the end of January 1924. I reproduce that below.

Dilip, son of the well-known dramatist of Bengal, Dwijendralal Roy, visited Gandhi one evening. He had already earned abroad the reputation of a distinguished Indian singer. He had come in the morning and promised to return in the evening to sing some hymns to Bapu.

It was about 8 p.m. when he came. Dilip had brought his sitar. A good number of listeners had collected in the room. Sitting on a sofa opposite to Gandhiji’s bed he began singing a song of hymn to Krishna.

“O Lord! O Hari! Gopal! my Love!
Call me I pray to Thee above …

The moving sentiment in the hymn, the charming voice of the singer and the listners’ receptive mood filled the place for a while with the earnest loving entreaty made in the song. Everyone was, as it were, wafted to that blissful place and humming the following lines :

“Of hunger, thirst, I won’t complain.
Content with fruit I will remain”.

But even before vibrations of that son had died in our ears, the friend began the well-known song of Meerabai (Hindi Film, 1933), Chakar rakhoji, which thrills with the same ethereal air:

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“Make me Thy servant – the last stain efface
Of selfhood; be my life an offering
In song’s own bliss and bloom’s own loveliness.
For beauty holds a mirror to Thee, O King,
Of Beauty’s ultimate home – Thy Brindaban!
Whose glory in her bowers will I sing.
And accost Thee daily in Thy golden dawn
In every flower, every purlingst realm
In changing forms deciphering the One.
Here, in Thy happy hunt, where dreamers dream
And Yogis strive through Yoga Thee to meet
And all who visit hail Thy summit gleam,
Thy Meera treads but one way Thee to greet:
She prays: “Besiege my heart at midnight hush
And on banks of Love’s blue rill Thy dance repeat.” 

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All of us felt as if we ourselves were ‘dancing on Love’s blue rill’ – that was the effect the performance produced. Profound silence prevailed for a while. Dilip then touched a topic and raised a dialogue.

“I feel, Mahatmaji”, he said, “that our beautiful music has been sadly neglected in our schools and colleges.”

“It has – unfortunately”, Bapu agreed, “I have always said so.”

“I am very glad to hear this, Mahatmaji, because, to be frank, I was under the impression that art has no place in the gospel of your austere life. I had often pictured you as a dread saint who was positively against music.”

“Against music – I”! exclaimed Mahatmaji, as though stung. “Well, I know, I know,” he added resignedly, “there are so many superstitions rife about me that it has now become almost impossible for me to overtake those who have been spreading them. As a result, my friends’ only reaction is almost invariably a smile when I claim I am an artist myself.”

“I feel so relieved, Mahatmaji” I laughed, “but may not your asceticism be somewhat responsible for such popular misconceptions? The people would find it difficult to reconcile asceticism with art”.

“But I do maintain that asceticism is the greatest of all arts. And to think that I should be dubbed an enemy to an art like music because I favour asceticism! I, who cannot even conceive of the evolution of India’s religious life without her music! But, indeed, I fail to see anything in much that passes for art in these days. What is needed for the appreciation of any art is to have the heart for it, not any ntimate knowledge of technique or training. Why must my walls be overlaid with pictures, for instance, when they are meant only for sheltering us? I do not need pictures. Nature suffices for my inspiration. Have I not gazed and gazed at the marvellous mystery of the starry vault, hardly ever tiring of that great panorama? Could one conceive of any painting comparable in inspiration to that of the star-tudded sky, the majestic sea, the noble mountains? Beside God’s handiwork does not man’s fade into insignificance?’

Dilip agreed: “Yes, what man in his senses will claim that the artist’s handiwork is even greater than life’s?”

Bapu then rushed on and changing the Gita’s aphorism, “Yoga is skill in action”, he said in effect that skill in action was itself the highest art. “Life must immensely exceed all the arts put together. To me the greatest artist is surely he who lives the finest life. For what is this hot-house art-plant of yours without the life-soul and background of a steady worthy life? What after all does that art amount to which ll the time stultifies life instead of elevating it? No. Art has a place in life, but art is not life. Life, on the contrary, is Art. Art should be subservient to life. It should act as its handmaid, not master. It should be alive to life and the universe.”

(Source: 7th July 2007 – Cuckoo’s call (Blog) | Rama)

Gandhi Tour TV Global live Broadcast celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday

 The Gandhi Tour is a global music festival created with the intent to arise social change by uniting people through the Universal language of music. This global music events are creating a platform for cultural dialogue relating to all cultures and religions inspired by the life of Mahatma Gandhi with the support of Dr. Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson.

Bookmark:  October 2nd and 3rd, 2013 – World wide Europe broadcast 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM (London Time) on Oct 2nd, 2013 / United States broadcast 8:00 PM – 11:59 PM (New York Time) on Oct 2nd, 2013

Tobias Huber, founder of the Gandhi Tour lived in India for more than seven years. Inspired by his vision of a huge music event touring around the globe in cause of peace and non-violence, generating the consciousness to enable us to stop global hunger. Tobias with Dr. Arun Gandhi’s blessing created this dynamic musical event to inspire people on the choice of peace and non-violence in life.

The first of many events the Gandhi Tour celebrated Gandhi’s 100 years of Non-violence with Dr. Arun Gandhi at Earthdance 2006. It is there that the Gandhi Tour began its journey in the cultural peace movement of the 21st century.

Documentary about The Gandhi Tour…

(Source: 01/2013 – The Gandhi Tour – http://gandhi-tour.org)

Related articles

• Where Gandhi died 65 years ago – this day (vancouverdesi.com)
• Mahatma Gandhi’s last fast captured in images (vancouverdesi.com)
• The Great Martyr (astraunic.com)
• Cool Hero of the Day: Mahatma Gandhi (coolrevolution.net)
• Gandhiji shot dead – The Hindu (January 31, 1948) (thehindu.com)
• Some Little Known Facts about Mahatma Gandhi (guyaneseonline.wordpress.com)
• Nation pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi (indiavision.com)
• Gandhi memorial in Taj city lies in a shambles (vancouverdesi.com)
• You: How Gandhi Blew the Rape Crisis (thedailybeast.com)
• LIFE Behind the Picture: Gandhi and his Spinning Wheel, 1946 (life.time.com)

We like to remember the 102nd birthday and give tribute to violinist & vocalist Gajananrao Joshi (1911 – 1987)

Violinist Gajananrao (1911-1987)

Gajanan Anant Joshi (30 January 1911 – 28 Jun 1987) was a unique and versatile vocalist and probably the greatest violinist in the field of Hindustani music.

Pandit Gajananrao Joshi, also known respectfully and affectionately as Gajaanbuwa Joshi came from a family of musicians. His grandfather Manohar had studied dhrupad and dhamar, and his father Anant (Anant Manohar Joshi was known as Antu-Buwa) was a distinguished khayal singer who had studied under Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar.

Gajananbuwa studied gayaki of Gwalior gharana under his father and also under other teachers in whom he found something to learn, and assimilated other styles in his art. His other gurus were Vazebuwa of Gwailor Gharana, Vilyat Hussein Khan from Agra gharana, Bhurji Khan from Jaipur-Atrauli gharana and Pandit Vinayakrao Ghangrekar for “Tabla“

Gajananbuwa in concert…

Pandit Gajananbuwa Joshi was a highly skilled violin player by the age of 20. His students include vocalist and violinist Madhukar Joshi, Vikas Kashalkar, Ulhas Kashalkar, Padma Talwalkar, and violinist Shridhar Parsekar. He also taught vocalists Kaushalya Manjeshwar, Shubhada Paradkar, Veena Sahasrabuddhe and Jayashree Patnekar.

His daughter Malini, sons Manohar, Madhukar and Narayan are also trained musicians. His sons variously took to singing, violin, and tabla.

His grasp was so quick that it is said that Kesarbai Kerkar did not like to have him attend her concerts because he could quickly incorporate her strengths in his own singing.

(Source: 01/2013 – Wikipedia.org)

… with courtesy to the official Vocal (Concerts) Archive:

• Concert (ITC-SRA, Kolkata) with Raga Multani, Jayat, Bheempalasi

• Early Afternoon Raga Gaud Sarang (Saiyya Paro Nahi)

… with courtesy to the official Violin (Concerts) Archive:

• Afternoon Raga Gavati

• Late Night Raga Malkauns

Contact:
Manohar Gajanan Joshi (President)
c/o Shivanand Sangeet Pratishtan TRUST
Durga Prasad, 1st floor, Kalyan Road, Dombivli ( E) 421 201
Telephone No. 0251 – 2452866

Official Website: http://www.gajananbuwajoshi.com

 

Our wishes to India’s single female Santoor player Dr. Varsha Agrawal (born 29 Jan 1967)

Dr. Varsha Agrawal on Santoor (born: 29 Jan 1967)

Santoor is rare musical instruments of Kashmir and to find a female artist playing on this is rarest. Dr. Varsha Agrawal is an emerging Santoor Player. She is one of the most brilliant  artists of Santoor. She has polished her art by strenuous training and  Riyaz. and has won appreciation from audience all over the country.

Jhalawar is the place where the childhood memories of great Sitar player, Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar have been fondly cherished. Dr. Varsha, grand daughter of renowned Physician of Rajasthan Dr. Kalyanmal Agrawal, belongs to Jhalawar.

Dr. Varsha Agrawal started learning Vocal & Tabla at an age of six from Shri Elahi Bakshji Jhalawar & Shri Girdhari Lalji Dangi, Ajmer (Raj.), since then she has been learning Vocal, Tabla & Santoor under the able guidance of Pt. Lalit Mahantji Ujjain who is a renowned Tabla Artists of Banaras Gharana and a leading disciple of Padmavibhushan Pt. Kishan Maharajji, Varanasi and Lt. Pt. Riz Ramji Desad, Mumbai of Delhi Gharana.

(Source: 01/2013 – Artists-India.com)

Official Website: www.santoortabla.com | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/drvarsha.agrawal

POHANKARS’ Music GURUKUL (Mumbai) presents… SoulScrape and Dance Opera

THE POHANKARS’ Music GURUKUL will be hosting a number of events and concerts of different artists this year.

Happy Birthday to Pandit Ajay Pohankar (born 28. Jan 1948) !

The first of the series starts in conjunction with ADVAITA and performances by Abhijit Pohankar and his father Pt. Ajay Pohankar (vocal) and the fabulous Bichitra Mukherjee‘s dance Opera ADAGIO… also featuring Tabla exponent ADITYA KALYANPUR… with SOULSCRAPE (fusion), a journey through Your “Self“.

This concert is a sincere effort to search for ourselves, amidst this world of dreams.

Venue: St Andrews Auditorium (Bandra West), Mumbai (Behind Holy Family Hospital) – see Google Maps
Phone: +91 22 2642 8684

Date: 1st Feb 2013 – 07:00 pm…
Donor Passes: Rs. 500 / Rs. 300 / Rs. 200
Booking: www.bookmyshow.com

(Source: 01/2013 – Abhijit Pohankar @ Facebook)

 

Anubhuti with Pandit Ajay Pohankar & Abhijit Pohankar…

Related articles

• Our best birthday wishes for Ajay Pohankar (born Jan 28, 1948) (imcradiodotnet.wordpress.com)

Our best birthday wishes for Ajay Pohankar (born Jan 28, 1948)

Ajay Pohankar (born 28 Jan 1948)

Ajay Pohankar is quite popular for his classical concerts. He is known for the musical video, Piya Bawari. He also interacted with legendary vocalist, Ustad Amir Khan, who used to frequent his house when he was young.

Ajay Pohankar (Marathi: अजय पोहणकर) was born in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. He had his initial tutelage under his mother Sushilabai Pohankar, a classical vocalist and a musicologist of Kirana gharana.

Ajay Pohankar is married to Anjali Pohankar, a vocalist and musicologist. They have a son, Abhijit Pohankar, a classical instrumentalist.

In 2010, he was awarded the Tansen Samman for the year 2009-10 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh

(Source: 01/2013 – Wikipedia.org)

Official Website: http://www.ajaypohankar.com

Thumri & Ghazals…

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Our best wishes to Pandit Jasraj (born 28 Jan 1930) of Mewati Gharana

(Pandit Jasraj by pangalactic gargleblaster and the heart of gold – Source: Flickr.com)

Pandit Jasraj (Hindi: पण्डित जसराज; born 28 January 1930) is an Indian classical vocalist. He belongs to the Mewati gharana of Hindustani classical music.

Jasraj was born in Hisar, Haryana in an orthodox Brahmin family to Motiram, a classical singer. His family performed the Mewati gharana style. Motiram died when Jasraj was four, on the day he was to be appointed as the state musician in the court of Osman Ali Khan.

Jasraj was initiated into vocal music by his father. He also received training from his elder brother, Maniram, and later from Maharaja Jaywant Singhji Waghela. In addition, he trained under Swami Vallabhdas of the Agra Gharana. In 1960, when Jasraj went to visit Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in hospital, Khan asked him to become his disciple, but Jasraj declined saying that he could not accept Khan’s tutelage since he was already Maniram’s disciple.

As a means of livelihood, Maniram took Jasraj as an accompanying tabla player. However, at the time, likesarangi players, tabla players were considered minor artists. At the age of 14, unhappy with his treatment as an accompanying artist, Jasraj left and vowed not to cut his hair until he learned to sing. He finally cut his hair after garnering his first AIR Radio performance, where he sang Raga Kaunsi Kanada (a combination of Malkauns and Darbari Kanada).

Jasraj’s vocal range extends three-and-a-half octaves and uses precise diction, a trademark of the Mewati gharana‘s style of khayal. He has also done extensive research in Haveli Sangeet under Baba Shyam Manohar Goswami Maharaj to create numerous innovative bandish (composition).

Jasraj created a novel form of jugalbandi, styled on the ancient system of Moorchana, between a male and a female vocalist, who each sing different ragas at the same time. In his honor, this legendary jugalbandi is known as The Jasrangi. This name was coined by music connoisseurs in Pune.

Jasraj has many students, including Rattan Mohan Sharma, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Ramesh Narayan, Suman Ghosh, Tripti Mukherjee, Radharaman Kirtane, Girish Wazalwar, Chandrashekhar Swamy, Hemang Mehta,Pritam Bhattacharjee, Gargi Siddhant and Kala Ramnath. Sadhana Sargam, a Bollywood singer, Ankita Joshi, Prasad Dusane is one of his disciples.

In memory of his father, Jasraj organises a musical festival every year called the Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh in Hyderabad, India. It ran for 36 years as of 2008. Jasraj participated at theSawai Gandharva Music Festival. He is also recognized as a master of the Bhairav family of Raags, along with the legendary Raags Darbari Kanada, Miya ki Malhar, and Jog. He is also known for presenting a wide variety of Rare Raags including Gyankali, Abiri Todi, Dhanashree, Patdeepki, Purba, Bhavsakh, Devsakh, Gunji Kanada and Charju Ki Malhar.

In 1962, Jasraj married Madhura, the daughter of film director V. Shantaram, who he had first met in 1955 during the filming of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. After their marriage the couple lived in Kolkata for some time. They have a son, Shaarangdev Pandit, and a daughter, Durga Jasraj, a television anchor and presenter. Madhura has directed documentaries and children’s plays, and directed and produced ballets, Geeta-Govinda,Kaan Kahaani and Surdas, and the TV series, Faster Phene. Durga made a film, Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj in 2009 and directed her first Marathi film, Aai Tuzha Aashirwad, in 2010, in which her husband and Lata Mangeshkar sang in Marathi.

Music composers Jatin-Lalit are Jasraj’s nephews, and Sulakshana Pandit is his niece.

(Source: 01/2013 – Wikipedia.org)

Pandit Jasraj talking about Ragas (part 1 and 2)…

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CH – Raga CDs des Monats (01/13): MUSIK & SPRACHE (Teil 2/2)

!! Neue Sendetermine ab 2013 – Neuer Programmkalender als Download  o. iCal  !!

Die Beziehung zwischen Musik und Sprache, zwischen Klang und gesprochenem oder gesungenem Wort ist eine Besondere.

Die Grammatiker des Sanskrits, der alten indischen Wissenschaftssprache, betrachten Musik und Sprache als divergierende Aspekte ein und desselben Phänomens.

Busto di Pitagora. Copia romana di originale greco. Musei Capitolini, Roma. (Source: Wikipedia (ENG))

Mit der indisch klassischen Musik (Hindustani, Carnatic) gibt es eine Vielzahl von Gemeinsamkeiten unter der Überschrift “Musik und Sprache“, die auch die Grundlagen der abendländischen Harmonielehre sind, deren Beginn man mit dem Begründer der mathematischen Analyse der Musik – Pythagoras von Samos – und seinen empirischen Beweisführung der harmonischen Intervalle auf etwa mehr als 500 Jahre vor Christi Geburt datieren kann.

Musik scheint sich weit weniger diffus in uns abzubilden, als bisher angenommen. Vielmehr wird unsere Wahrnehmung von Tönen durch sehr genau umrissene Möglichkeiten und Grenzen definiert. Dem audiomentalen System kommt eine weit aus größere Bedeutung zu, als man bis vor Kurzem angenommen hatte.

Sendetermine…
Teil 2: 28. Januar | Teil 1: 14. Januar 2013 – 22:00 Uhr CET (04:00 pm EST) @ Radio RaSA (CH)
(Premiere: 16.03.2010 (Teil 1) u. 20.04.2010 (Teil 2) – 21:00 @ Tide Radio)
broadcasting plan | streaming (Internet Radio & Mobile Radio) | podCast

In Teil 1 stellt IMC – India meets Classic die Struktur von Musik und Sprache dar. In Teil 2 werden die sozialpsychologische Bedeutung von Musik für das Individuum und seine Interaktionsprozesse aus seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung und aus dem Wesen der Musik näher beleuchten.

Die Wahrnehmung von Musik und das aktiv Musizieren, das zeigen uns jüngste Studien, beziehen nahezu alle Regionen des Gehirns mit ein. Die weitverbreitete Annahme, dass Musik in der rechten Gehirnhälfte und Sprache in der linken Gehirnhälfte verarbeitet wird, war schlichtweg falsch. Die aktuellen Forschungen zeigen auch, dass Sprache und Musik nahezu gleich verarbeitet werden. Der tiefgreifende, emotionale Gehalt der Musik, von Glückseligkeit bis zur Traurigkeit wirkt besonders stimulierend auf unser Gehirn mit für den Musikhörenden häufig körperlich intensiv wahrnehmbaren Reaktionen.

Musik schlägt sich sichtbar in unserem Leben nieder, in Gehirnaktivitäten, die heute mit modernen, bildgebenden Verfahren messbar sind und mit der (funktionellen) Magnetresonanz-Tomographie (MRT) oder  Magnetenzephalographie (MET) plastisch sichtbar gemacht werden können (Bild s. u.).

Stefan Koelsch: Nature Neuroscience 7(3), 2004: Music, Language and Meaning: Brain Signatures of Semantic Processing

short paper (pdf: German | English)

Hinweis: Die 2-teilige IMC-Sendung “Musik und Sprache” (2x 58 min.) stellt angesichts der Vielzahl der beteiligten Wissenschaften (Musikethnologie, Anthropologie, Sprach- u. Sozialwissenschaften, Neuro-Sciences, Psychologie, Computerwissenschaften (künstliche Intelligenz) u.a. ) eine grundlegende Einführung dar.