Ustad Rashid Khan & Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

So far, we've looked at percussionists and instrumentalists, but Hindustani music is perhaps best known for its vocalists. So here they are today, to take centerstage at Gharana Music - two of the best classical vocalists produced by India.

The first track is by Ustad Rashid Khan. Ustad Rashid Khan was born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh in Northern India, and as a child he absolutely abhorred music. But it was his uncle (and later his "grand-uncle", if there is such a word, but you know what I mean) who started him off on classical vocal training. The training was so intense, sometimes practicing the same note for hours together, that it was not until he was 18 did he actually start appreciating the music. This initial training, though, served him well through his later years, and gave him the expression and control that listeners recognize in his voice today. He is known for the emotional overtones in his style of singing, unlike most classical singers who tend to concentrate more on technique and content, and he is said to have very good control over his voice. Apart from traditional classical music, he has also experimented with light fusion music, and some Bollywood music as well (most recently on the sound track of the movie Jab We Met).

The singer of the next track is a living legend, the one and only Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. How he came to be where he is is another story in itself. He ran away from his home in North Karnataka when he was about eleven years old, and hopped onto a train to Dharwad. From there, he borrowed money from some of the passengers on the train and made his way to Pune and then Gwalior where he joined the Madhava School of Music. A few years later his father traced him to Jalandhar in Punjab and brought him back home. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi then went on to release his debut album and moved to Mumbai to work at All India Radio. He is regarded a spontaneous, intuitive singer, very famous for his improvisations and interpretations of traditional compositions and is said to have astonishing control and accuracy.

Playlist

Ustad Rashid Khan - Raag Puriya Dhanashree (24:00)
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi - Raag Shudh Kalyan (30:06)

Avinash Sastry
Gharana Music
WREK Atlanta, 91.1 FM
Mondays, 8-9 p.m.
www.wrek.org
(+1) 404-894-2468
Email: gharanamusicatlanta@gmail.com