Blogpur: Bismillah Khan and his Shehnai

Bismillah Khan and his Shehnai

Wow, I had an almost divine experience. I finally got around to listening to some of Ustad Bismillah Khan's music which I bought in India a few years back.

The first song (calling it a song seems so very low) was the utterly magnificent Raga Shivaranjani. What a performance. What scintillating tunes, magnificent pauses, what a raga (or collection of ragas). Just like it's south Indian cousin (Nadaswaram) the Shehnai belts out some absolutely rivetting melodies, such variation, such tonality. In the hands of a master, it was a truly enchanting experience.

Perhaps the best accolade that can be given to Bismillah Khan is that he was able to transcend the barriers of what a person can do with a Shehnai. Generally they are played in a wedding or perhaps some religious event but this guy, he took it out of there and pushed it into a category by itself.

The second song was the masterful Raga Mishra Ki Malhar, again the sounds were a symposium of ideas, of tunes, of melodies. It wasn't as much abstract as it was Carnatic. This was a song in Hindustani that reminded me of the Carnatic tradition. Was it fusion? Undoubtedly no. All it was, was showing me and indeed anyone who listens to it, the closeness of the two well known giants of Indian classical music.

Lastly there was Kajri, again a masterpiece in it's own tradition. All these songs were 15mins or more, not once in them did I feel a minute was wasted, not once did I feel that something was wrong, not once could I detect a mistake, an "abaswaram".

The supporting instruments in this recording were also upto the task, matching the master and proving to be reliable, relentless and resourceful. They included Basharat Hussain on the khurdak, Mumtaz Hussain and Nanne Hussain on other shehnai's and Nazim Hussain on the tabla.

What a recording, a brilliant symphony of music. Pleased the ear, and the mind, and the soul.

This entry was posted by Blogpur, on Wednesday, April 26, 2006. You can leave your response.

Bismillah Khan and his Shehnai

var a = 1; if(a == 0) {document.write('There is no respond to');} else if(a == 1) {document.write('One respond to');}else{document.write(a+' responses to');} “Bismillah Khan and his Shehnai”

“Bismillah Khan and his Shehnai”