Sarod, the 25-stringed North Indian classical instrument rich in resonances, plays well with others, but is best savored solo. Master player Alam Khan knows this, having studied at his father Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s knee and taking up his style and lineage. On Immersion, he unfurls the instrument’s stirring beauty via several ragas, a tribute to his family’s accumulated knowledge and his own carefully honed artistic sense.Khan is a respected teacher and collaborator, a torchbearer of the Maihar gharana (musical family or clan) which was created by his grandfather Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan. Khan absorbed these facets by training since childhood with his father, who brought the instrument and greater awareness of Indian classical music in general to American audiences in the ’60s. “My father was a legend and his style was unique. What he passed on to me was a deep sense of that style, the feeling, touch, tone, all those kinds of things. Once I learned to emulate what he wanted me to play, I learned the reasons behind why I’m playing that. My father has passed on, but I want to continue his aesthetic and approach.”Part of that approach adheres to the essence of the raga and its connection to a particular time of day and mood. “Every raga was created for a certain time of day. When you play or listen to the ragas at the correct time, the full potential and wonder comes out,” he notes. “The traditional system of ragas and time is very...
CD $12.00
04/20/2018
MP3 $9.90
03/30/2018
FLAC $11.99
03/30/2018
Son of the late legendary Sarode Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Alam Khan is the face of a new generation of Sarode players. His contemporary EP "Vignettes" will take you through a cinematic landscape blending elements of Indian classical, loop based playing and world music.
MP3 $4.99
05/19/2017
FLAC $5.99
05/19/2017
Son of the legendary Sarode Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Alam has been touching the hearts of audiences worldwide for the past 15 years. Since his initial training into the Maihar Seni Gharana at the age of seven, Alam was blessed to learn and live in the traditional stye of Guru and student. Ali Akbar Khan’s careful crafting and guidance shows in each note as well as in Alam’s imaginative way of expressing the ancient ragas passed down from the courts of Emperor Akbar by Mian Tansen in the 16th century. His is joined on this CD by Salar Nader, one of the youngest and most sought-after talents of his generation. A virtuoso tabla player with many recordings under his belt including the theatrical score for the stage premiere of Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner”. “Making “Shades of Sarode” was my attempt at playing shorter, improvised pieces of Indian classical music on Sarode. A raga’s duration can usually last up to an hour or longer when played in it’s entirety. There are many sections to a performance which can be greatly elaborated upon, but for this album I chose to present the listener with an array of ragas and different moods to experience in a shorter amount of time.” - Alam
CD $12.00
11/08/2011
MP3 $6.93
11/08/2011
***Through the 70’s, the young and upcoming Zakir Hussain ran the tabla department at the Ali Akbar College of Music and was the principle tabla accompanist to Maestro Ali Akbar Khan (Khansahib). These were magical days of music, with a student body eager to learn Indian classical music from the master himself. Every summer, Khansahib would end the session of teaching with a grand concert; this recording captures that golden time. Khansahib and Zakir’s playfulness was contagious and kept audiences enthralled concert after concert. (Originally released on cassette in 1979 on AMMP)
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
03/08/2011
***In the 60’s and 70’s, Maestro Ali Akbar Khan recorded 11 albums on the Connoisseur Society record label in various churches throughout New York City. These two recordings were never released to the public and were discovered years later when Khansahib’s own record label, AMMP, acquired the rights to the recordings. The Khan family was thrilled to uncover these jewels. The ragas, Darbari Todi and Bhupali Todi, are known for their majestic moods and are accompanied by old traditional rhythms that help to create the dynamic interplay between the late, great tabla player Mahapurush Misra and Maestro Khan. These are rare recordings captured through vacuum tube electronics by the ground breaking Connoisseur Society label. (Originally released on cassette in 1982 on AMMP)
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
03/08/2011
Ali Akbar Khan (1922 - 2009) is one of this generation's most legendary Indian classical musicians. Considered a "National Living Treasure" in India, he was admired by both Eastern and Western musicians for his brilliant compositions and his mastery of the sarode (a beautiful 25-stringed Indian instrument). The late concert violinist Lord Yehudi Menuhin called Khan "an absolute genius... the greatest musician in the world," and many consider him "the Indian Johann Sebastian Bach." "Darbari Kanada" is a late-evening rag played between 9:00 PM and midnight. Most classical performers treat this rag with reverence, as it is one of India's most majestic ragas. This session took place in 1969 in a New York City church, with the natural reverberation adding a tremendous and distinct element, along with audible sounds of the city streets. No attempts were made to alter the original content of the master recordings. Khan's electrifying performance of this heroic rag adds notable weight to his stature as "a musician's musician." He plays with subtlety and control along with the strength of a master.
2XCD $16.00
02/16/2010
MP3 $14.99
02/16/2010
***"Narayani Gauri" is a new mixture of two traditional ragas ("Narayani" and "Gauri") woven together by Ali Akbar Khan. It is an evening raga mostly used for prayer for one's soul and mind. The moods are devotion, peace, joy, pathos and detachment. "Chandra Dhani" was composed by Khansahib when he went to Washington DC to receive the National Heritage Fellowship in 1997. He performed this raga for the first time at an event showcasing the Fellowship recipients. There was a wonderful moon in the sky. One could see the whole city from where the raga was composed, and the beautiful face of the moon was hanging over the city. This was the mood - peace and joy - Khansahib sought to create through sound. (Chandra means moon and Dhani is the capital city.) These recordings were made in Sausalito, California, on May 7, 1998 - recorded directly to a hard drive, the first recording AMMP has released without the use of an analog or digital tape. Ali Akbar Khan, 81, has studied vocal music since the age of three, and went on to learn several instruments before his father decided that he must concentrate on the sarode and singing. For over twenty years, Khansahib trained and practiced 18 hours a day. His father continued to teach him until he was over 100 years old. Khansahib has continued his father's tradition, that of the Sri Baba Allauddin Seni Gharana of Maihar and Rampur, India. In 1967 he founded the Ali...
CD $12.00
10/14/2003
MP3 $9.90
10/14/2003
***One of the first Indian musicians to introduce Hindustani classical music to the west, Ali Akbar Khan is the undisputed master of the sarode, a 25-string fretless string instrument with a sweet, guitar-like sound and overtones of banjo and oud. This is absolutely transcendent music by the master of a revered tradition dating back to the 16th century. Khansahib's numerous releases on AMMP cover 40 years of his finest performances - from 1955 through his esteemed Signature Series in the 1970s to his Grammy-nominated '90s titles. Ali Akbar Khan was born in 1922 in East Bengal (Bangladesh). His father and teacher, the late Padmavibhushan Dr. Allauddin Khan, was acknowledged as one of the greatest figures of North Indian classical music in the 20th century. He trained his son for over 20 years with a practice schedule of 18 hours a day. In 1967, Khansahib founded the Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM) in San Rafael, California, where he still teaches nine months of the year. Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri is considered one of India's finest tabla-players as both a soloist and accompanist. Along with accompanying Khansahib in concerts around the world, he regularly performs and records with India's greatest musicians, and has held the position of Master of Percussion at AACM for the past 21 years. * Live footage of living legend whose reputation as a performer, composer, recording artist, and teacher is unparalleled * Contains rare bonus footage The Making of Legacy (about Khansahib's Grammy-nominated album with Asha Bhosle) Track Listing 1. The Making of Legacy 2....
DVD $16.50
07/22/2003
***Rag Medhavi, Rag Khammaj and Rag Bhairavi Bhatiyar, with Mahapurush Misra on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/2002
***The art of Indian classical music has been passed down from father to son, generation to generation as naturally as time goes by. This particular school of music, the Baba Allauddin Senya Binkar Gharana, dates back to the 16th century and the courts of Emperor Akbar. Ali Akbar Khan was taught by his father, Baba Allauddin Khan, who told him to spread the music as far as the sun and the moon. Joining Khansahib on this recording is longterm rhythmic companion Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, the brilliant master of tabla, who credits his family for the encouragement and early training that have earned him a place among the greatest classical musicians of India. His style is based on the long training he received from his Guru, Santosh Krishna Biswas of Calcutta—the eminent exponent of the Lucknow Gharana. Khansahib's son, nineteen-year-old Alam Khan follows in the footsteps of his eldest brothers Aashish Khan and the late Dhyanesh Khan, both of whom studied sarode with their father and grandfather. Alam has studied with his father since he was seven years old. Indian classical music's place in the history of music is unique: most of what is performed on stage is composed on the spot according to the rules of the tradition. For a student, this is the most challenging time of one's life—listening and responding at the feet of one's guru with an intensity felt every moment. The traditional raga performed here, "Ragini Puriya Dhanasri" is an evening raga with a mood of peace, pathos, joy...
CD $12.00
04/02/2002
MP3 $9.90
04/02/2002
***1997 GRAMMY Nominee! The coming together of two stellar talents-- master-sarodist Ali Akbar Khan and singing diva Asha Bhosle-- in an unprecedented collection of eleven ancient, 16th-18th century songs from the Court of Emperor Akbar, handed down through family and lineage. They are presented in forms of prayer, tarana, hori, kheyal, dhrupad, and sadra, with the added richness of the sarangi, sitar, cello, and harmonium. Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla and pakawaj.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/2000
***Rag Marwa, with Mahapurush Misra on tabla. Rag Misra Shivaranjani, with Shankar Ghosh on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/2000
***A duet with Ali Akbar Khan, sarode, and Nikhil Banerjee, sitar. Rag Manj Khammaj and Rag Misra Mand, with Mahapurush Misra on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/2000
***Rag Mian-ki Todi and Rag Sindhu Bhairavi, with Mahapurush Misra on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/2000
***Rag Misra Kirwani, with Zakir Hussain on tabla.
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
***Rag Bihag and Rag Hem Bihag, with Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla.
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
***Rag Mian-ki Malhar and Rag Desh Malhar, with Shankar Ghosh on tabla.
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
***Rag Darbari Kanara, Rag Madan Manjari, Rag Marwa and Rag Paraj Basant, with Pranesh Khan on tabla.
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
***Rag Nat Bhairo, with Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla.
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
*** Two disc set of solo sarode. “Shri Rag (Rag Shri) is a serious rag for the hours of sunset and twilight. Expressed in the mood, the qualities of devotion (bhakti) and heroism (vir) are supreme with touches of pathos (karuna). A particular character of the rag is brought out in the inflection of the flatted second scale degree, or komal re. It is several degrees flatter than it might be intoned in Western tuning and further, is played with the slow wavering of pitch known as andolan. The quality of this note is very strong in the coloring of the rag, and puts a virtuostic demand on the player to keep the rag pure. Evening Rag Pilu Baroowa (Light Classical Rag) Pilu Baroowa is a popular rag now almost always rendered in the light classical style with a restless and charming mood (chanchal ras). Love and joy are mixed with a nostalgic and touching pathos. It is to be played in the late-afternoon or evening. There are several forms of the rag Pilu, and when it is played in the light classical thumri style, as Khansahib does in this recording, the note motion incorporates several of the older classical forms of the rag as well as a specific lullaby which lays at the heart of its expression. Nearly all of the notes, with the possible exception of the raised fourth degree (tivra ma) can be employed. Evening Rag Ragini Iman Kalyan ...
2XCD $21.50
08/17/1999
MP3 $19.99
08/17/1999
***Rag Chandranandan, Rag Gauri Manjari, and Rag Jogiya Kalengra, with Mahapurush Misra on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MC $6.75
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/1999
***Rag Marwa (alap) and Rag Puriya Kalyan (gat) with Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla.
CD $12.00
08/17/1999
MP3 $9.90
08/17/1999
1996 GRAMMY Nominee! Disc One: The first long playing recording of classical Indian music (1955). Rag Sindhu Bhairavi and Rag Pilu Baroowa, with Chatur Lal on tabla. Introductions by Yehudi Menuhin. Disc Two: Two selections from a 1994 U.S. concert. Rag Hemant and Rag Hindol-Hem, with Zakir Hussain on tabla.
2XCD $21.50
08/17/1999
MP3 $19.99
08/17/1999