Top Ten South Asian Pieces of Music

Has anyone heard recordings of Gaan Tapaswini Anjanibai Malpekar. She is from the Bhendi Bazar Gharana and was the Guru if noted singer Kishori Amonkar (Her mother Moghubai Kurdikar was her guru too). Here is the profile of Anjanibai Malpekar.

Gaan Tapaswini Anjanibai Malpekar

Background

Anjanibai Malpekar was born on April 22,1883. She started learning under the strict guidance of Ustad Nazir Khan of Moradabad Uttar Pradesh, since the young age of eight. Her Ustad, along with his brothers Haji Vilayat Hussain Khan and Khadim Hussain Khan shifted to the Bhendi Bazar area of Mumbai and consequently, their style came to be known after this area.

Style

Anjanibai Malpekar represented the Bhendi Bazar Gharana, which stressed on Khayal singing. The basic feature of this style was its dance oriented structure and singing of the sargam as part of the Khayal. The representatives of this Gharana also borrowed rare and beautiful Ragas such as Hamsdhwani and others, from the Carnatic repertoire. The Khayal rendition, in Madhyalaya or Drut Madhyalaya in this Gharana was aesthetic and marked by delicacy. Besides Khayal, Anjanibai also mastered light classical and light music.

Achievements

Anjanibai’s first performance was at Muzaffarabad Hall, in Central Bombay in 1899. This was followed by performances all over the country. She won a number of awards and her fame spread far and wide. It is said that Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande took her help in writing sargams for complicated taans.

Anjanibai had to face a number of difficult situations in the course of her musical career. She lost her voice quite suddenly, which she regained through the blessings of a saint. No sooner had she recovered, that she lost her Ustad, her husband, mother and her spiritual guru in quick succession. This series of personal tragedies made Anjanibai give up performing altogether. However, she continued to guide students and musicians till the end of her days. Anjanibai died on 7th August 1974.

http://www.dhadkan.com/cgi-bin/dhadkan/profiles.cgi?artistID=1157&jnd=C

More on BHENDI BAZAR GHARANA

The founders of this Gharana (School of Hindustani Classical Music) were the three brothers viz. Ustad Chhaju Khan, Najir Khan and Khadim Hussain Khan, all of whom were trained by their father, Ustad Dilawar Khan. All three brothers settled in Mumbai in the area known as Bhendi Bazar and hence the name of this Gharana. The three stalwarts of this school of music were Gana – tapasvini Smt. Anjanibai Malpekar (teacher of Kishori Amonkar) , Shri Pandurang Amberkar Amanali Khan (son of Ustad Chhaju Khan) and Amir Khan. Shri Pandurang Amberkar was a disciple of Ustad Aman Ali Khan Saheb.

The Bhendi Bazar Gharana is known for its special compositions called Bandish. Ustad Chhaju Khan Saheb composed many exquisite ‘Bandish’ under the pseudo-name ‘Amar’. Following the footsteps of his father, Aman Ali Khan Saheb also composed a number of ‘Bandish’ under the same pseudo-name. The name ‘Amar’ therefore, has become the hallmark of the ‘Gharana’. One finds a delightful mixture of ‘Shabda’, ‘Sur’ and ‘Laya’ (Words, Notes & Tempo) in these compositions.

The prominent characteristics of this school is ‘Alapi’ enriched with Ghamak, Soot, and Meend. This requires a tremendous breath control, a systematic presentation of the ‘Bandish’ and its embellished improvisation according to structure of of the ‘Raga’. The entire rendering of the ‘Raga’ is based on the system called ‘Merukhanda’. ‘Merakhanda Gayaki’ is a system of various permutation and combinations of a given set of notes. This style brings out brings out the beauty and melody of the ‘Raga’ in an elaborate and aesthetically rich manner.

Another feature of this school is the blending of the Karnataka Music with the Hindustani Music. Amanali Khan Saheb had made a special study of the Karnataki Music and introduced some of the Karnataka ‘Ragas’ like Hansdhwani and ‘Pratap Warali’ in the Hindustani Music. He also made a very clever use of beautiful ‘Sargama’ of the Karnataka Music.

AJ Nabi:

This was a really enjoyable piece. I will definately grab some of the selections you selected in the list.

You should put this selection outside your home so when you run out during the earthquake, you could rattle yourself with beautiful music as you wait for the aftershocks to recede. Plus your surviving neighbors can be acquainted with the beauty of South Asian music.

Good idea for a change. Your selection is pretty good though I must admit that I have never heard of Kishore Kumar`s, Tamil one and first Bhajan. Is there any website one can listen to these rare songs?

Your choice seems mostly of fatalistic songs. Try some folk songs about union and not the sad songs about seperation.

My choice will always include Noor Jehan`s Awaz de kahaN hey and Malika Pukhraj`s Abhi to maiN jawan huN. What I really dislike is the the short 3-4 minute duration of movie songs. A good melody or tune must last for about 10 minutes to really enjoy it. That is why, a good non-movie song, ghazal or classical rendition is much better than a good movie song. Whenever I hear Awaz de kahaN hey, I always felt that Tanveer Naqvi or whoever wrote that song and the director of the movie should have added couple of more stanza to the song. I enjoy long songs like mere mahboob tujhe meri mohabbat kee kasam or akhyoN key jharokey se maiN ney dekha jo sanwrey, tum dur nazar aaye etc.

I look forward to a good exchange of opinion about music and songs on this thread.

adaab!

great choices on the whole--but what?! no Mehdi Hassan or Ghulam Ali in what is predominantly a ghazal collection?

And to the list of great film sound-tracks (Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan are my favourites alongside)--what? no Mughal-e-Azam?! :-)

And I cannot help and notice the absence of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahib (Allah Bakhshay)!

But apart from these slips--a very nice choice!

Oh! And though I dont know that piece of classical music you picked--how can you omit Ustad Nikhil Bannerjee`s awesome and moving rendition of Raag Bhimpalasi on the sitar?

My all-time favourite piece of classical music!

:-)

Of course if I had to pick another album I would pick one of naats by Syed FaseeHuddin Suharvardi too--probably his rendition in his amazing voice of Ala Hazrat`s kalam.

(If I was making a choice of albums this would be my first one)

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Ok sorry i dont know too many of the good songs from the 90`s and this year but i will tell you what kind of cd i would make or buy with all the hits

Love songs- Amitabh ji`s

Kabhi kabhi

o sathi re- from muqadar ka siqandar

are janey kaise kab kahan- from shakti

Dance songs- Amitabh ji`s

Rang Barse- Silsila

Mach gaya shor- Khud Daar

other ones i cant remember at this time

Marriage- Amitabh ji`s

Khabhi khabhi

the one he sings for his sister in Aaj ka arjun

Sadness- Amitabh ji`s

Dekh saktha houn- Majboor *a really good one

Manzilen apni jagah hain- sharabi

Meet na milan re man ka- abhiman

Tum bhi chalo hum bhi chaleyn-Zanjeer

Funny- Amitabh ji`s

eer bir phatte-Aby baby

Padosan apni murghi ko rakhna sambhal-jadugar

Mere angene mein- laawaris

hehehe

There is a song from Amitabh ji`s movies for every emotion

i know this wasn`t quite what you had asked for but this is what came in my head for the best of the best cd all of His work

`90-`00:

1) Jab kisi ki taraf dil jukhney lagay

2) Gali may aaj chand nikla--Zakhm

3) Ek din aap youn ham ko mil jain gay--Yes Boss

4) Meri sanson may basa hai tera hi ek naam--Aur pyar ho gaya

5) Chitti na koi sandes, janey woh kon sa des--DUSHMAN

6) Chanda re, chanda re, kabhi to zamin par a-SAPNAY

7) Tadap tadap kay is dil sey aah nikal ti rahi-HDDCS

8) Mast--Mast

9) Aye ho meri zindagi may tum--Raja Hindustani

OLDIES:

Khilona jan kar tum to mera dil tor jatey ho

*Zindagi deney waley sun, teri duniya say dil bhar gaya *

Koi jab tumhara ridey tor day, tarapta hua jab tumhey chor day

Dushman na karey dost nay woh kaam kiya hai

Honthon say choolo tum , mera geet amar kardo

O sathi re, terey bina bhi kya jeena

the list goes on...to part 2 (which i`ll prob. post later)....phew......

A.J.

What happened to the rest of your novel?

Anyway for a quick input here:


1) ``Mujh Say Pehli Si Mohabbat``: Madam Noor Jahan

2) ``Allah Hoo``: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

3) ``Hum Dekhain Gay``: Iqbal Bano

4) ``Chalte Chalte``: Lata

5) ``Tum Na Janay Kis Jahan mein Kho Gayay``: Lata

6) ``Chandni Raatain``: Madam Noor Jahan

7) ``Ranjish hi Sahi``: Mehdi Hassan

8) ``Chupkay Chupkay`` or ``Awaargi`` Ghulam Ali

9) ``Jub Say Tu Nay``: Abida Parveen.

10) ``Mirza Ghalib`` soundtrack songs: Jagjit Singh

Ras

HOW ABOUT TOP TEN BREAK UP VILAYTI SONGS

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



http://aolsvc.aol.music.getmusic.com/features/breakupclips

1. ``All or Nothing`` by O-Town

2. ``Unbreak My Heart`` by Toni Braxton

3. ``Gone`` by *NSYNC

4. ``I Will Survive`` by Gloria Gaynor

5. ``Don`t Speak`` by No Doubt

6. ``Fallin``` by Alicia Keys

7. ``Survivor`` by Destiny`s Child

8. ``Bye Bye Bye`` by *NSYNC

9. ``All Cried Out`` by Allure

10. ``Hit `Em Up Style (Oops!)`` by Blu Cantrell

How can you NOT have Ustad Bismillah Khan`s shehnai recitals on this list?

1. KL Sehgal-- Dil julta hai to julne dey

2. Punkuj Malik-–yeh raaten yeh muasum yeh huNsna hasana

3. Kishore Kumar--Jug mug jug mug karta nikla chand gagun ka piyara

4. Talat Mahmood--yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandnee teri ek ada pey nisaar hai

5. Mohammad Rafi-–zindagi bhur nahi bhule gee ye barsaat ki raat

6. Noor Jahan--Mujh se pahli si muhabbat mere



7. Bade Ghulam Ali--Ka karoon sajni aye na baalum

8. Jagjeet Singh--Sarakti jai hai sur se niqaab ahista ahista

9. Mehdi Hasan-- Gulon mein rung bharey

10. Nusrut Fateh Ali Khan--Must qalandar must must

I do not understand why Mr. KumarGandharva is called `bad boy`of Indian classical music. Can anybody explain the remark of writer. I have heard his music on musicindialine.com and one of the most spiritual music and very touching. Sure he is not a singer travelling on beaten path. He is unique in his interpretation of notes and mastery of vocal cords. He is one of few singers of Indian classical who can be sweet without all support of background music.

Due to Internet I am able to listen to many new very good classical musicians. I do enjoy Rashid Khan and Ulhas Kashalkar of young Indian Musicians. In Pakistan Indian classical music (Hindustani) is dead practically. I feel good that Indians have kept alive classical music and progressing. I was told indian classical music was on `oxygen` for some times after freedom of 47. (Due to loss of support from princely states). I tried to get CDs -Mr. K Gandharva`s songs on cd or casset but could not. (In Karachi we have all hindi film music ,here I think mostly old well to do people of old India enjoy classical music- vanishing tribe, not consumer base for pirating) .

I will be grateful if somebody can give E-address to buy Mr. K.Gandharva`s music CD. My children in USA can send me.

Lastly how old is above singer, his picture appears to be in early 50s. Does he sings `filmy` music?

Good day everybody.

The write up is so cute.. I agree with most of your choice, except that my list would *have * to include Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. What are your thoughts on him?

hmmm where I live we dont have earthquakes but constant annoying fire-alarms. So next time I am instructed to ``head to the nearest exit, donot use elevators ...`` and walk down X # of floors will listen to these !! Well someone`s attempting to cook(??) AGAIN so got to go ! thks -

Top Ten South Asian pieces of music - that`s just top ten in Hindi/Urdu guys. There are at least twenty other South Asian languages from which to pick the top ten.

Its a bit like Don Bradman picking seven Aussies in his dream team.

dost-mittar #14: Here are some gems which come to my mind, not in any particular order:

1. Pathana Khan-AsaN talub sayeeN de naam dee

2. Alam Lohar-Ley tuN wekh jadola bar da-Mirza SahibaaN

3. ReshmaN-Heer aakhdi jogya jhoot bolaiN-Heer

4. Bare Ghulam Ali Khan-SayyaN gaye Pardes-Dadra

6. Noor Jehan-Mujh se pehli si mohabbat-Faiz

7. Mehdi Hassan-Dekh to dil ke jaaN se-Mir

8. Malika Pukhraj-Abhi to maiN jawan hoon-Hafeez

9. Shamshad Begum-Bare mushkil se dil kee beqarari

10.Lata-Bachpan kee mohabbat ko dil se na juda karna

11. Kishore Kumar-chingari koi bharhke and pal pal dil ke pass

12. Manna Dey-Yeh hichkee sharab kee naheeN hey dosto

13. Pradeep Kumar-Pinjrey ke panchee rey

14. Dilshad Akhtar-Dil wich wasna aeN, rehnaN haiN akhian tuN dur wey

15. Malkit Singh-Jugni

16. Nusrat F. A. Khan-Rabba lakh lakh shukr manawaN, je kadi mera yaar mil jaye

Ras Siddiqui,

``Anyway for a quick input here:

1) ``Mujh Say Pehli Si Mohabbat``: Madam Noor Jahan

2) ``Allah Hoo``: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan``

........now that`s music to my ears:)

aj nabi,

whatever happened to the shah of chicago?

A pleasant collection. I liked the piece very much too. Can I add to Ras` concern for The Shah of Chicago.

Some of the pieces are so difficult to get hold of. Your Kishore song...have not heard of that. Can you give some more details...of that song.

Little to add on music though. Wonder if Sameer and others here can give me some explanation of this particular concern of mine. As far as film music is concerned...i have felt that i relate to the lyrics more than the music. That might be the reason why i have not enjoyed a lot of western music.

Any insights...similar-dissimmilar experiences...

Sameer, like any other matter you show extreme patience in music too. Well, I kind of like the songs which last for five minutes or so. While I also like Malika Pukhraj`s `` Abhi to main jawan hoo`` I like all the light oldies from Hindi movies along with the heavy ones. Some of them would be ``Ek chatur nar bare hoshiaar`` (Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar) from Parosan, ``Meri pyari Bindu, Meri Sinduri Bindu`` by KK from the same film, ``Hum Kale Haito Kya Hua Dilbale Hai`` by Rafi in Gumnam, ``Hum jindegi ki sath nivata chala gaya``, ``Dil ka bhamar kare pukar`` of Rafi.



Can go on forever, this is the most favorite topic of mine. While I work, musicIndia on-line is always at the back playing..... How I wish we exchanged gazal, not golis. Remember the song of Rafi set at Kashmir? ``Ai Phulo ki Rani, Baharo Ki malika, tera muskarana gazab ho gya``......Now the films are shot at New Zealand, Switzerland, Alaska... Does not feel the same.

Hmmm....must go see if I can find some of those, since the ones I knew I liked.

But you left out MS Subulakshmi! Have you heard her? Her traditional carnatic style stuff is absolutely wonderful (do not accept her attempts at hindi bhajans, where her light unfortunately does not shine as it should).

IMO, appreciation of music is like enjoying a flower garden or a sumptuous feast, in that the wide variety available enhances the special beauty of a few.

For instance, apart from the large variety available in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music, Begum Akhtar is just wonderful in `Woh jo hum me tum me qaraar thaa` and DV Paluskar in his bhajans, and Saigal in his `Baabul moraa naihar chooto`, and Yesudas in his Ayappa devotionals, etc but items like traditional folk music and `boondo`n se baathe`n` have their place too.

So I suggest you run with your whole collection :).

AJ NABI, is that really your name or is it just a moniker (ajnabi?)

I am confused you keep narrating your experiences in Peshawar and Rawalpindi and then you are nostalgic about your childhood in INDIA?

Anyway, are you going to put these songs up on some web-site to be downloaded? Maybe, on morpheus so all of us can share your tastes.

HN #20

Yes, I too enjoy the songs which has good lyrics to it. But they mostly belong to the melodious variety. For dance, excersice or just simple fun one needs more peppy music and there the lyrics dosn`t matter.

Besides Hindi/ Urdu songs their are some English songs as well with great lyrics like ``You fill up my sense``, ``Love Story``, ``Evergreen Tree`` and so may more.

But one must agree that even great lyrics with bad music just does not appeal.

Mona

South Asian music and no place for Ustaad Karim Khan, Ustaad Nazaakat Ali Khan,Salaamat Ali Khan,

Lalguddi Jayaraman,Amjad Ali Khan,Ustaad AliAkbar

Khan,Pandit Ravi Shankar,Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia,Ustaad Amir Khan,Ustaad Umrao Bundu Khan,Ustaad Sultan Khan,Parween Sultana,Roshan Aara Begum,Begum Akhtar,Girija Devi, Farida Khanum and Ustaad Allah Rakha.

Intrestingly,there were a few interactors with

Iqbal Bano and a single interactor for Bhimsen Joshi.Probably,its all a matter of taste and the

taste changes with the passage of time.

Regards.

Man people on Chowk have such classy tastes in music. I`m very impressed. I do know the song you refer to by Kishore Kumar, quite by accident ofcourse, and like it a lot.

My fav desi music is anything that involves Amitabh Bacchan. (I can feel the groans going around, but please bear with me). The Gen Xers of South Asia are kids of the 70s and 80s. Amitabh was king. Okay he was not a singer himself, but the songs he got in movies were great.

The one song I know he sang was in Mr Natwarlal. ``Challa ja raha tha....`` But also Silsila, Shaan, Sholay, Kaalia, Amar Akbar Anthony....all great movies with great songs.

Also, and yes this is bringing in a populist touch to a hitherto elitist discussion, who can forget Nazia Hassan? Currently, I like the guy who sang Billo dey Ghar, Abrar. He`s more earthy and son of the soil type than Junoon shunoon. Immitation being the sincerest form of flattery, Abrar should be very flattered from the response across the border from India.

P.S.: This is such a nice topic. A sincere request to all Chowkies (myself included) to please not bring Kashmir, religion, politics in this board. There are many other boards that can be soiled.

Whaat?????

No RabindraSangeet???!!?? All you bourgeoise!! Shame on you!

Whaat?????

No RabindraSangeet???!!?? All you bourgeoise!! Shame on you!

What about Mehdi Hassan?

When I was a young boy the song ``mummi ne meri tujhe chai pe bulayea hai`` sounded the best song...my heart used to start beating like crazy at the imagination of the possibilities on the chai table...(talk about being a paindoo!huh)...but after the ``chai pe bulayea`` incident happened in real life...I think it was a rip off.(I mean the song, not the chai wale hosts:-)).

I love the Punjabi folk tales and Sufi music in general. Everything else I like few days and then forget like it does not even exist. Here is my list without which life won`t be worth living.

1. NFAK: Sultan Bahu and Mian Mohammad Bakhash`s kalam.(30 min each).

2. Pathane Khan: mayeiN ni main kehnu aakhaN, dard wichoRay da haal.

3. Puran Shahkoti: saiyeO ni asiN nainaN de aakhay laggay

4. Alam Lohar: Mirza (Jatta putter moye nai bhulde, bhaweiN hoke marn faqeer...wah that just kills me)

5. Shazia Mansoor: saRkay saRkay jandiye mutiaare ni, kanDa chuba tere pair bankiye naaray ne.

6. Surinder Kaur: aa vas mandRay koll, dhol sipahiaRa...(Ghulam Farid`s kalam)

7. Hans Raj Hans: sanu tere shehar diyaN paiNDeyaN ne kha liya

8. Parkash Kaur: jutti kasoori pairee na poori haye Rabba ve sanu turna piya

9. Assad Amanat Ali: UmmeraN langhiyaN pabhaN bhaar.

10. bol mitti diya baweya (many diff singers)

dost mittar,

among all the greats, it was nice to see your vote for Zakir Hussein!

Reply Neptune #27

“No RabindraSangeet???!!?? All you bourgeoise!! Shame on you!”

Ki? Ami bourgeoise? Tumi ki SHAMELESS Neptunedada! Now Tagore, yes, Tagore was a bourgeoise (floating up and down the Hooghly in a barge doing hushti nushti ont he way to his baganbari) but the people`s struggle is (as should be obvious) well represented on Chowk...

Stuka #26: I liked your post about no junoon shunoon here. I also like Abrar Ahmed. He is young and hopefully around for many many years. Both of his albums were super hits, Billo and Beh ja saikal te, maiN talliaN wjanda jaun. Shazia Manzoor is another one to keep an eye on. She has already sang some of the famous oldies and some new ones. By the way, Abrar was a student at my Alma mater, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad before hitting big. I do not think he is from Pind Dadan Khan or Bhaun-hehehe

DullaBhatti: You selection is impressive. Nobody has done what Surjit Kaur/ Parkash Kaur did for Punjabi music. The people in the villages still listen to their cassettes more than modern ones. What about Sui we sui and Kala doria kunde naal.....they are great. Another good song is Chan kithaN guzari aei raat ve by Ata-Ullah Khan. What can I say about Hans Raj Hans. He is probably the best Punjabi singer right now.

dost-mittar #29: Let me use my trump card here against all of your selection. It is Munir Niazi`s ghazal-Us bewafa ka shehr hey aur hum haiN dosto. Listen to this, not by Musarrat Nazir but Munawwar Sultana??? It is Us and not US, otherwise F_K will be posting his usual bewafa US and west stuff.

Other gem:

1. Jagjit Singh-Loh-e-mazar thee na koi saugawar tha

2. Ghulam Ali-Mere shauq da naeeN ehtabar tenuN-Ghalib`s punjabi translation by Ghulam???

3. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan-HontuN pe kabhi unke mera naam he aaye-Ada jafri

4. Habib Wali Mohammed-Na kisi kee aankh ka noor huN and aey nigar-e-watan tu salamat rahey

5. Geeta Dutt-Ae dil mujhe bata de tu kiss pe aa gaya hey

6. Surriya-just forgot???

7. Najma-Aadmi ko bhi muyassir naheeN insaN hona-Ghalib

8. Talat Mahmood-Tum ko fursat ho meri jaan to idhar dekh to lo.

Do you remember that famous qawwali by Lata/ Asha and Shamshad Begum? Was it na to karvan kee talash hey?

Shima: Parosan is my all time favorite movie also. I love watching Mahmood playing Tamil music teacher. Yup! ik chatur naar kar ke singhar....By the way his son, Lucky Ali is into singing and doing fine.

same old, same old...

It`s mostly north ``indian`` and filmi music.

If i ever made a list, Veena Sahasrabuddhe would top it. She has a haunting, beautiful voice and i don`t normally care for female singers (she is the only indian female in my collection).

One way to rank the worth of a singer is how much one would pay to buy his/her recordings and/or go to his/her concert. Top ten South Asian singers (Urdu/Punjabi; only two languages I understand), still singing, I would pay the most money to see/hear (not in any order):

-Daler Mendhi (the ex-Silicon Valley cab driver parties like no one else. He also sang a version of umran langiyan)

-Lucky Ali (just found out he is Mahmood`s son; his socially conscious songs are a treat; the Dave Mathews of South Asia or vice versa)

-Jagjit Singh (Kaghaz ki kashti and Chodween ki raat are the two best geets ever sung)

-Pankaj Udhas (the best and most entertaining combination of ghazals mixed with geets)

- Ghulam Ali (the most melodious ghazal voice in South Asia; meray shauq da naeen aitebar tainu is the best punjabi ghazal of all time)

- Attaullah Niazi Esa Khelwi (the most popular punjabi (Mianwali style) singer, by far, on the stereos of Pakistani buses; Dard ka safeer (Ambassador of sorrow); actually starts crying while singing; his orchestra`s flute player is the best; Balo Battian is a classic; made a pilgrimage to his village of Esa Khel, next to Mianwali, once to pay respects)

- Asha Bosle (the second best female voice in South Asia, next to Lata. Lata has not crossed over to the new stuff like Asha, however. And Lata`s concerts are quite boring. Asha is more entertaining)

- Janice Miller (An American singer, who doesn`t speak Urdu, but can sing Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Saraki etc. songs like an expert)

- Sabri Qawwal (Easily the best traditional qawwali singers of all time. I believe one of the brothers has passed away, however.)

- Abida Parveen (Bhulay Shah is my favorite. And no one sings him like Abida.)

stuka,

``Also, and yes this is bringing in a populist touch to a hitherto elitist discussion, who can forget Nazia Hassan?``

....not i. who can forget aap jaisa koi? i think her disco deewane still holds the record for the best selling album in south asia

``Currently, I like the guy who sang Billo dey Ghar, Abrar.``

....yeah, he`s pretty big in pakistan, and with an ego to match

``He`s more earthy and son of the soil type than Junoon shunoon``

......here i must disagree:) i quite like junoon shunoon....it was their music which introduced me to sufiyana kalam

Hmm ... interesting debate ...

I`ve been visiting Chowk for quite some time now but this is the first time I feel compelled to participate in a discussion ...

Its interesting that the author has the heart to nominate ten songs as his favourites !! I mean I, for one, would never be able to decide which one to include or which to exclude !!! How can one include `Insha jee utho` by Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and forget about `Honton pay kabhi` by the same singer ... Plus talkin` of Lata or Kishore or Rafi, it would be hard enough selecting their respective best ten songs, rather than selecting one from each singer ...

One more thing in the discussion which kinda disappointed me was that there`s no mention of Tina Sani ... I mean her `Bol kay lab azad hain teray`, `Bahar aai`, `Gar tujhay is ka yaqeen ho`, `Ae Masjid-e-Qartaba`, etc. etc. are my all time favourites !!!

And hey, nobody talks bad of Junoon ... Junoon rocks :)

A.J. Nabi,

What a lovely article. I too live in the earthquake belt [N.W.Canada ]Hmmmmm the thought of running with one`s favourite possessions at short notice is always there in the back of my mind. However my priorities keep changing with my mood.

If anyone remembers , there was a big threat of a huge flood approaching Karachi , sometime around `84.People were actually vacating parts of the city , filling their cars with gas ,loading it with everything they could , and preparing to fled.I thought everything for me was precious , most of all the fond memories in our newly bought town house soon after we got married .So i tried to narrow my list to a single item . My mind scanned a huge list of things, such as important documents, transcripts , favourite pieces of jewellery, my wedding outfit ,some nice pictures framed of the family, a few of my favourite books, and the list was odder and odder as it grew.. I asked my husband what he was planning to pack and he said `` just us ``. That changed the entire flow of thoughts . I felt ashamed at myself , for clutching onto items which seemed immediately worthless .However i was set in my mind , that i should take at least something .I would have felt a little daft if i had not , so again the thinking process began anew. Finally after going room to room, closet to closet , i picked the thing i would take with me .They were 3 large albums of my wedding photos. The darn photographer never gave out negatives, so in case the flood did come, perhaps his negatives, and my copies could have been swept away. So off they were packed , and i kept them in a plastic bag next to me.

With kids for the longest time it has been their childhood videos .

When my husband and kids dont listen to me , and i am left screaming at them, then it is my cd`s which are brought into a closer focus.

I liked your collection, so i wont bother keeping those .However i see Chandan Daas missing. Some of my favourites of his are

1. dil na miltae to mulaqat adhooree rehtee

2.sub ko dushman bana liya mey ney .

3. Aap ka pyar miley ga to sanwar jaien gey .

Now , let me know where you plan to head, i will follow you ..... shirin x 4 of us ..... we`ll swap cd`s ... how`s that ?

love,

sa:)

Zafar #33

Na Na Jafor-da, tumi bhishon proletariat. Only anti-rebholution reacshanaries are bourgeois and nonshense.

Semipreciousme:

I didn`t mean to run down Junnon. Just think their image is too designer desi, even though the music is good. Reminds me of the people who speak Punjabi with clipped British accents at the Delhi Golf Club.

SammerJB: There is another song by Abrar, I can`t remember the name but it has something to do with GT Road. Also, talking of Bhaun, my absolute favorite Punjabi song is the one sang by Army recruiters during world war 2....

Bharti ho jao

Baahar khadey rangroot

O Bharti ho jao

This is a complete song and I`ll try and get the lyrics. It used to be sung by recruiting parties, and the lyrics bring out the rustic culture and lifestyle of the era in a beautiful manner.

``i don`t normally care for female singers``(Soysauce)

Why not?

Now here is remark to start a battle of sexes on this board like an ``alcohol`` war goinng on on another Chowk board.

Hmmm. Any comments, ladies.

You don`t think they are INFERIOR to men singers, by any means, soysauce -- do you?.

What about Puveen Sultans, Girja devi, Subhh Lakshmi ---prepare to take cover, soysauce.

To all the Punjabi devotees: Since we are on the subject, the third and four words of, ``umran langiya`` (sung by both Asad Amanat and Daler Mehndi) are ``pahbban parrh.`` What are the various meanings of this phrase in Punjabi....

Check out www.teenstation.com

Lot of new desi music, but they also have a decent oldie collection. Some good regional music too.

Romair: ``PahbbaN bhaar`` signifies the perpetual unrest, continuous suffering, time passing too quickly etc. I think the ``MukhRa``(the repeating lines, ``matla``)and some other stanzas are written by Mazhar Tirzimi.

Stuka: There is a whole bunch of such songs as ``bharti ho jao``...songs about ``chhoTa parivaar sukhi parivaar``, nassbandi, how to prevent maleria, how and why kill mice in fields, polio de teekay lagwana etc:) Some of them used to be quite hillarious.(I remember when in school, school used to get choohay maar dawa that teachers used to give to students and organize them in groups to go through the village and fields and kill mice. Also ``laal dawai`` for the wells)

You remember the one `` BhaNDay kalli kara lo, vekho khaN zara Pandit jee ki ay laal mera?.

Sameer: Lyrics and songs don`t get popular because they say something deep, philosophical or arty but because they say something about common man`s emotions. Thats why some of our greatest poets of recent times don`t have a single poem that common man could remember. e.g Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... after that she became too philosophical, un-enjoyable.

I am not into present day dhol Dhamakka and don;t listen to much bhangra music but once in a while I find some very powerfull imaginary in some songs by unknown poets. a line from one such song I heard few weeks ago `` asin chaadraN vashaunday rehge chaahRke, te sajjan gawanDoN murh gaye``...such a simple words but who ever lived in a village could easily relate to the pain in this lyric.

Neptune # 40

Na Na Jafor-da, tumi bhishon proletariat. Only anti-rebholution reacshanaries are bourgeois and nonshense.

Neptuneda,aapni kono din mithya kotha bolen naa,aami jaani tow:)

Nomoshkaar

nasah #41

While i think that women are SUPERIOR to men in every other way ;), when it comes to music, the female voice in the subcontinent tends to be high pitched and grating to me. Mrs. Subbulakshmi was an exception but she doesn`t move me as V.S. does. Samples of Veena`s music are available at mp3.com. Give it a listen if you can. Her bhajans are especially good, even tho i don`t understand a word of what she`s saying.

Reply Neptune #40

“Na Na Jafor-da, tumi bhishon proletariat. Only anti-rebholution reacshanaries are bourgeois and nonshense.”

Thank you, I am reassured. Now off to read next chapter of Das Kapital. (Ki brilliant, na?)

DB #45: I have heard three definitions for this phrase. The first is the one you have given. The second is, ``pain.``

The best one I have heard implies pabbhan (pb)harr meaning someone attempting to look over their outside wall, waiting for his/her beloved to arrive. However, the person cannot see over the wall, so he/she has to stand on his/her toes. Now he/she can see over the wall, but cannot stay on his/her toes forever, because it is too painful. This act of standing on one`s toes in pain, while simulateneously waiting for someone to arrive, who isn`t showing up is called pabbhan (pb)harr (according to some).

Soysauce #36: Veena Sahasrabuddhe is without a doubt, cuurently the queen of classical Indian music. She was introduced to me at chowk by a dear friend of mine, Gnostic. I do not have any of her CD but some of her music, as you pointed out, is available at mp3.com.

The problem with classical music is that most people do not have the background in classical music to really appreciate it. They listen to popular music for entertainment.

DullaBhatti: You are right about what you said in post #45. Oral traditions are more important in Punjabi language and poetry as well. They have passed across the Punjabi plains through word of mouth and with distinct music. A large number of them are folk songs for festive ocassions and often sung in chorus. A chorus represents active participation by common people. On the otherhand classical and ghazal singing was traditionally patronized by elite. The outlet for Urdu or philosophical poetry was mushairas which is not related to seasons or festivals. Poetry was often full time job of poets and for survival they needed patrons. Besides intellectual literary curiosity of the poets, pleasing the patron was most important thing. It was not until socialist poets started writing about common folks experience, like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Faiz etc.

Although you may feel great deal of interesr in poetry and ghazals at chowk but no ghazal record or CD, to the best of my knowledge, has outsold NFAK, qawwalis or folk collection. The ghazal listening phenomenon is very much limited to cities with more than high school education and more than 20-25 years old, in general.

Romair & DullaBhatti: I think you both are right in defining PabhhaN (pb)harr. It is basically perpetual unease, unsettled state, often used when it is caused by the conditions and no fault of your own. The blame goes to poor rain, bad crops, large family, cunning relatives, bewafa mehboob etc. (pb) sound becomes definite B as the accent changes going from east to west in Punjab, definite B for Ata Ullah Khan Isakhelvi.

Stuka: You must be talking about ``GT road te breakaN lagiaN, billo teri tor wekh je``. Another of my favorite from the same album is something like ``haq, haq kar bandya``

Ref DB Ji #45:

``Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... ``

I always confused her with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Yes I vaguely remember this poem but I wonder if West Punjabis know it that well. If you find time, could you please submit a translation to the chowk or just post it on this thread?

Had to do a double take on `wapis` to realize a typo.

Samir Sahib,

I confess to be one of the unwashed masses weaned on Filmy muzak, but I am reading your and others` posts on classical music with great interest.

By the way, Surinder Kaur has an oldy `Lathe di Chaadar Uteey, Saleti Rang Mahiya`. Did you hear it and can you tell me if it has Pothohari Punjabi in it? What in the world is `` Ussi Kandhan da Mocha Moria``?

How is Gnostic? I hope he shows up here once in a while. He is a walking encyclopedia on classical music.

Dost Mittar Sahib:

Was Sehgal a Kashmiri or a Punjabi? I Never heard any Punjabi song of his before. Did he sing any other Punjabi songs?

Sadhna Ji:

Sehgal`s ``Babul mero`` is a great song from the thirties. I wonder if other singers tried their voices on it since then.

SameerJB:

I`ve heard some of your selection you posted. Will try out the rest.

Stuka:

Please don`t underestimate Junoon. I like Abrar too and always say he has the pulse of the nation on his fingertips. Recently I heard this beautiful `hamd` he wrote and sang during the independence day celebration. the guy writes ace lyrics. If there is anyone I can say is the IDEAL representative for Pakistanis and their desires, it is Abrar. BUT, Junoon is still Junoon. Granted Ali Azmat needs serious practice in vocal skills, but musically the amount of successful experimentation done by Junoon is unmatched by any modern band from the subcontinent.

Ref DB Ji #45:

``Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... ``

I always confused her with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Yes I vaguely remember this poem but I wonder if West Punjabis know it that well. If you find time, could you please submit a translation to the chowk or just post it on this thread?

Had to do a double take on `wapis` to realize a typo.

Samir Sahib,

I confess to be one of the unwashed masses weaned on Filmy muzak, but I am reading your and others` posts on classical music with great interest.

By the way, Surinder Kaur has an oldy `Lathe di Chaadar Uteey, Saleti Rang Mahiya`. Did you hear it and can you tell me if it has Pothohari Punjabi in it? What in the world is `` Ussi Kandhan da Mocha Moria``?

How is Gnostic? I hope he shows up here once in a while. He is a walking encyclopedia on classical music.

Dost Mittar Sahib:

Was Sehgal a Kashmiri or a Punjabi? I Never heard any Punjabi song of his before. Did he sing any other Punjabi songs?

Sadhna Ji:

Sehgal`s ``Babul mero`` is a great song from the thirties. I wonder if other singers tried their voices on it since then.

Speaking of Abrar, he is now a philanthrapist, attempting to build a hospital. Check out www.saharaforlife.org

Someone told me he used to be a teacher in Aitchison College, before he sang Billo day ghar. I would say Abrar is the closest thing Pakistan has to Daler Mehndi. Abrar is not in the same league as Daler Mehndi, but Abrar`s punjabi is definitely very creative and more geared toward the common guy on the street.

SameerJB: For some reason Attaullah Niazi never gets the attention he deserves in the educated Pakistani crowd. If you go beyond Sargodha from Lahore, toward Mianwali on any road, the only thing you will hear on the buses and wagons is Attaullah Niazi. He is easily the most listened to singer in Punjab on the bus routes (perhaps Noor Jehan also, with her punjabi stuff).

I heard Ataullah`s girlfriend left him a long time ago, and since then he has been singing sad songs. If one listens to his cassettes closely, one can actually hearing him crying during some of the songs.

Romair

``If you go beyond Sargodha from Lahore, toward Mianwali on any road, the only thing you will hear on the buses and wagons is Attaullah Niazi.``

I think I know the person you talk about. Isn`t he the one who sang ``Acha silla diya tuney mere pyar ka, Yaar ney he loot liya dil Yaar ka``

I first heard this song at the bustop which is right outside Birla Institute of Technology, In Pilani Rajasthan. This song became very popular and the rumor in India was that Attaullah killed his girlfriend and was in prison when he sang Accha Silla. Don`t know if its true or not...

I might as well Add my little list in here

1. Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai ( complete version ) by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

2. Ranjish He Sahih by Mehdi Hassan

3. Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolay Gey Woh Barsaat Key Raat by Mohammed Rafi

4. Baat Niklay Gey Tau Phir Duur Talak Jaiey Gey by Jagjit Singh

5. Yeh Baatein Jhootey Baatein Hain by Abida Parveen

............

Acerbic Jazbati

Mannyd #52

Saigal (btw that`s how he spelt his name) was Punjabi, but born in Jammu. But he always called Jullundhur as his home town.

I am not aware of any Punjabi numbers by him, only Hindi and Bengali (since he spent most of his active years in Calcutta).

`Babul Mora` is a classic, composed by Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Oudh. In your music classes, it is shown as what a Bhairavi thumri should be like. For the last 130 years or so, this has been sung by various singers, but none has reached the height of Saigal.

PS: If you are in any doubt -- SAIGAL RULES!

I would put Ustads Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Faiyaz Khan at the top of my list.

Amir Khan was the most understated phenomenon in Classical music for years to come. I think he reached his peak with his Hamsdhwani and Saraswati Vandana. Now these are numbers which make your hairs stand on end.

Even if he had not sung a single other number, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan would be remembered for his `Aye na balam` number. But the mood he gave to thumris ... even Begum Akhtar could come only that close.

As for Faiyaz Khan, there is a story that when he used to sing Malkaus, `prets` and `jinns` would come and listen. While he himself was extremely embarassed with all these stories, he does not remain the `Aftaab-e-mousiki` for nothing.

I have deliberately not added living singers in this since I don`t believe they have all achieved their best effort till date.

dost-mittar #55

[...Late Gangubai Hangal...]

Wallah! Last report was that she was alive and well.... Pls inform .... worried at this end. She is one of the few whom I have had the honour to touch the feet.

Dost mittar #54: People say no one would have known about nizam-ud-din aulia if it weren`t for amir khusro (i think i am relating them correctly). Someday people may say no one would have known about bulle shah if it wasn`t for abida parveen. I certainly fall into that category.

Bulle Shah was quite the sufi, from what I have read. Infact, if anyone is into Punjabiat, Sufism, philosophy, linking one religion to another etc., then his poetry is a must read. He was born in Bahawalpur in the 1680s, then moved to Kasur. He has written quite a bit about religious hypocrisy etc. He has been called a Vedantic Sufi by Hindu writers, i.e. because they feel his writings refer to religion and God in a very abstract form, thus combining the teachings of different religions.

``Denis Matringe puts forth the argument that many Punjabi Sufi poets make use of themes from Punjabi popular culture, which include Hindu traditions. Bulle Shah makes use of references to God as a yogi as much as he makes use of the Heer-Ranjha story. Mustansir Mir distinguishes between the critical aspect of Bulle Shah’s poetry, in which the poet criticises hypocrisy in religious practice, and the constructive aspect of poetry, which is decidedly Islamic in structure and detail......Robin Rinehart says, “The fact that Bulle Shah’s poetry has remained popular among Punjabis of different religious communities indicates that a serious study of his work may be a means of discovering common threads in the religious traditions of Punjab.” (http://www.tribuneindia.com/20010413/ldh1.htm)

``Your description of ``pabhan pbhaar`` was really poetic, especially from a military man :-).``

Why is it when someone has been in the military at some stage of their life, it is assumed they are in it for life?

``She rocks! or at least makes me rock from th waist up.``

Can I ask who makes you rock from the waist down? :-)

``Now, if only we could agree on Kashmir (sigh!).``

Very true. How about asking Bhulle Shah? See if you can find the second lines to the following two verses (i am not sure 100% if the second verse is by Bulle Shah, though). It will answer your question?

Chal Bulleah, chal uthay challiay, jithay saray annhay

?

and

Dha day masjid, dha day mandir, dha day jay kij dhainda aay

?

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#55.

Gangubai Hangal is alive. Classical musical fans lost GaanTapaswini Smt. Moghubai Kurdikar (mother of Kishori Amonkar) this year (Feb, 2001).

Other singers with robust voice are Shobha Gurtu (famous for Khayals), Bhimsen Joshi. Some other classical singers I like are Kishori Amonkar, Malini Rajurkar, Anjanibai Malpekar, Kesarbai Kerkar, Ashwini Bhide, Padma Talwalkar, Prabha Atre. Looks like Maharashtrians have made a big contribution in classical music (vocal) and Bengalis in instrumental music.

Mannyd: lao paahjin tusi khush rahvo:)

Ujj aakhaN Waris Shah nu[Punjabi].

Ajj aakhaN waris shah nu, kitoN kabraN vichoN bol,

Te ajj kitabe ishq da koi agla varka khol.

Ikk roi si dhee Punjab di, tooN likh likh mare vain,

Ajj lakhaN dheeaN rondiaN, tainuN warish shah nu kahen.

Ve dardmandaN dia dardia, Uth takk apana Punjab

Ajj bailey lashaN vichhiaN te lahu di bhari Chinab

Kise ne panjaN paaniaN vich ditti zahar rala

Te ohna paaniaN dharat nu ditta paani la.

Is zarkhez zameen de looN looN phuttia zehar

gitth gitth charhiaN laaliaN foot foot charhia kehar.

Veh vallissi vaa pher, bann bann vaggi ja,

ohne har ik baans di vanjhali, ditti naag bana.

Pehley dang madariaN, mantar gaye guach,

Dooje dang di lagg gayi, janey khaney nun laag.

laagaaN keele lok munh, bus fir dang hi dang,

Palo pali Punjab de, neele pai gaye ang.

GaleoN tutte geet fir, trakaleoN tutti tand,

TrinjanoN tuttiaN saheliaN, charakhare ghookar band.

Sane sej de berian, luddan dittiaN rohR,

Sane daliaN peengh aj, pippalaN ditti toRh.

Jitthe vajdi si phook pyar di, Ve oh vanjhali gayi goach

Ranjhe de sab veer aj, bhul gaye ohdi jach!

Dharti te lahoo vassiya, kabraN paiaN choan,

Preet diaN shahzadiaN, aj vich mazaraN roan.

Aj sabbhe kaidoN ban gaye, husan-ishq de chor,

Aj kitthoN liayiye labbh ke Waris Shah ikk hor.

Aj aakhaN Waris Shah nu, kitoN kabraN vichoN bole,

Te ajj kitabe ishaq da, koi agala varka phol.



Ujj AkhaN Waris Shah nu[English]:

I say to Waris Shah today, speak from your grave

And add a new page to your book of love

Once one daughter of Punjab wept, and you wrote your long saga;

Today thousands weep, calling to you Waris Shah:

(one daughter here refers to Heer)

Arise, o friend of the afflicted; arise and see the state of Punjab,

Corpses strewn on fields, and the Chenaab flowing with much blood.

Someone filled the five rivers with poison,

And this same water now irrigates our soil.

Where was lost the flute, where the songs of love sounded?

And all Ranjha`s brothers forgotten to play the flute.

Blood has rained on the soil, graves are oozing with blood,

The princesses of love cry their hearts out in the graveyards.

Today all the Quaido`ns have become the thieves of love and beauty,

Where can we find another one like Waris Shah?

Waris Shah! I say to you, speak from your grave

And add a new page to your book of love.

Romair:

Mandir dhaah de masjid dhaah de,

te dhaah de jo kujh dhehNda.

par bandeyaN da dil na dhahviN,

sohna Rabb dillaN wich rehnda.

As for as I know this couplet has been wrongly attributed to Bulleh Shah in numerous songs/movies and books. Original poet of this one is Mian Mohammad Bakhash(writer of Saif-ul-Malook)..

Mannyd: I think ``ussi kandgaN da mocha morhya`` is actually ``asi kandhaN tu munh cha morhya-nikki jai gal tu ??? kar chorhya`` meanig that I became angry due to your minor tease (or pretending to be indifferent towards me) and turned my face away from your wall.

dost-mittar: I mistakenly wrote Surjit instead of Surinder. My apologies. No I was not talking about Mughal-e-Azam qawwali in one of my previous posts, it was actually a pre-Kashmir problem qawwali by Noor Jehan-Zohrabai-Shamshad Begum from movie Zeenat. Did you get it? It was, ``aahaiN na bhareeN, shikwey na kiye, kuch bhi na dawa se kaam liya``.

Romair and Stuka: Yes, we are talking about same Ata Ullah Khan who sang, ``yaar ne hee loot liya ghar yaar ka``. It was after T-Series releasing many of his songs in much better quality than in Pakistan that he became somewhat known in India during late eighties and early nineties. In Pakistan, he has been well-known since late seventies. Actually some of his best folk songs are from his early years. He brought into attention some of the local Punjabi folk songs (from western part of Pakistani Punjab) which were rather unknown to even majhi Punjabi speaking central and east Punjabis. We have never heard folk songs like, kameez teri kali, sohney phullaN wali or ``tehnde (tuhade in majhi Punjabi) khoo te mahiya...........bedard dhola`` and a whole set of different couplets from Mianwali tappeys.

He was the first one in Pakistan to very successfully sang Urdu ghazals mixed with Punjabi folk and Punjabi Sufi poetry with the help of only tabla and harmonium. One could not claim if those songs were in Urdu or Punjabi. One of his 30 minute song released by T-Series was a beautiful mixture of the above mentioned literature. It was awesome and covered the whole one side of the cassette. It was famous ghazal, na haram maiN, na kaleesa maiN, na but-khaney maiN-chain milta he to saqi terey maikhaney maiN. Another of his beautiful urdu/ punjabi mixed song was, ``woh bahar ka zamana, woh haseeN guloN ke saye``. This song reminds me of another beautiful ghazal by Chanchal Singh, ?kabhi gham se dil lagaya, kabhi ashk bhi bahaye``. Incidently, Chanchal Singh was in a great position to sing Urdu/ Punjabi mixed songs after the success of ``beshak masjid mandir torho, Bukkey Shah yeh kehta`` from movie Bobby but he did not follow up on that success and soon moved to religious singing.

The story of Ata Ullah`s early infatuation with his cousin in his home village is more of a myth than reality. The fact is that he was engaged to marry her according to the decision of elders but her father reneged on the elders promise because Ata Ullah was very poor and unsuccessful during his early years. He was a waiter, a truck driver and worked at low paying job before becoming known as a singer. He married, I believe more than once and has happy married life with children.

The question as to why he did not achieve the kind of success as other famous singers, although enjoyed as much or even more fame for the last twenty years is perhaps due to a number of factors. It may have to do with poor managers, poor marketing and thus not getting the backing of the best recording studios, best musicians, and so on. He was releasing poor quality recording on cassettes when rest of the artists were heading to London or India for CD releases and better recording studios. He was even lax when recording for releasing songs. One can find a lot more obvious mistakes in his songs, sometimes forgetting the line or words in a line. He had to compete in an era dominated by NFAK and moreover he did not get the backing from famous personalities like Pathana Khan was backed by Ghulam Mustafa Khar and at earlier stages NFAK was popularized by Imran Khan and Peter Gabriel. All Ata Ullah needed was a Bally Sagoo or backing from British Oriental Star or Indian T-Series.

Despite all that, his fame is unmatched at mass level, as Romair has rightly pointed out. Around 1990, I had a collection of about 30 cassettes of his songs but over the years lost them because of more interest in CDs and more recent Punjabi music.

It was A. S. Kang who started the current Punjabi trend out of London and Kulwant Singh Bhamra and Sardar Gil of Apna Sangeet took it to zenith. Punjabi music has never been the same since then. Now it is moving, it is dynamic with so many singers and attracting large crowds. Abrar and Shazia represent this latest trend in Punjabi music where folk is mixed with practically everything and no longer limited to a singer sitting with harmonium and one or two tabla players in the back. However, the small town and village culture is still easy going with respect to music and it is Ata Ullah Khan style that touches their soul much more easily than modern innovative Punjabi music. Ata Ullah Khan still rules the truck drivers, Pakistani dhabas, small teas houses and festive gathering-between rivers Jhelum and Indus.

A sonf in a particular accent of Punjabi touches chords with the people who speak in that accent. At local level, Mansoor Malangi is very popular in and around Jhang and Pathane Khan among the Saraiki speaking people.

Re: Saigol: He was a Punjabi speaking (perhaps from Jammu) and employed in Indian railways, before becoming singer. His standard line, after recording every song was, ``gana hee te gaya hey, koi sher te naheeN marya`` when appreciated by the director or producer. He died one day before Inida/ Pakistan gained independence. He would only sing after having few or many drinks. Begum Akhtar would only sing after smoking several cigarettes and chewing paan. Bare Ghulam Ali Khan would like to sing only after being treated with 1-2 kilos of sweete-jalebis, laddos, barfi etc.

Regards,

Sameer

Here`s my list:- ( In no perticular order)

Bol- Tina Sani (Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

Mujhey tum Nazar Sey - Mehdi Hassan

Aaah ko Chahiyey - Jagjit Singh (Mirza Ghalib)

Rooney ka to Aalam Ayesa tha - Pankaj Udas

Hum key Therey Ajanbi - Nayara Noor (Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

Dashat-e-Tanhai mey- Iqbal Banoo

Yey kisney kaha tum Kooch karo - Ustan Amanat Ali khan

Kiya hey Pyar jisey humney zindagi ki terha - Jagjit Singh

Aye watan key Sajeeley Javaano - Noor Jahan

Indian Movie Fav.

Mera Kuch Saaman - Film: Ijazat

Kahania Sunati hey - Film: Rajput

Aye mere Pyarey watan -Unknown film to me

Chaltey Chaltey- Film: Pakeeza

Junoon is untouched by all, above and beyond...All its songs are great!

Pakistani non-ghazal songs:

AaNkho ko Aankhoney- Junaid Jamshed

Inteha-e-Shauq - Hadiqa Kiyani

Zara maan ko dekh- Unknown singer to me

Ajnabi- Ali Haider

Mey Bhi Khareedar hun- Sajjad Ali

Aansoo- Ali Azmat

Hoga- Awaz

English:

Bitter Sweet Symphoney

Open Road- Gary Barlow

We are the world

This used to be my playground- Madonna

Everything I do- Bryan Adams

Children of the night- Richard Marx

:) Aisha: The one who loves music

Still pervade our musical ethos

Saeed Malik

Almost three years ago on August 16th Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, the world renowned Pakistani musician died in a London hospital, when he was proceeding to a tour of the United States. His death cast a pall of gloom was cast on music buffs, not only in Pakistan and India, but also in many countries of the world, which he toured frequently to demonstrate his melodic prowess. The Faisalabad-born Pakistani maestro stormed the world of entertainment and showbiz soon after his voice had been used by British Composer/Singer Peter Gabriel for background effects in his film. After the release of the film and especially after the release from Birmingham of the first album of his songs, Nusrat`s fame skyrocketed. He became a sought after musician in many countries including UK, Germany, France, the United States, Canada and Australia.

The State University of Washington, Seattle, in the United States invited him to teach qawwali music for one academic year to students of music. It was during that year that the late maestro from Pakistan toured several different areas in the United States and Canada, where he regaled large audiences with absorbing melodies. He is among a handful of Pakistani melodists who introduced Pakistani music in the countries of the West. But he alone succeeded in putting Pakistan on the music map of the world.

This scribe remembers his marathon performance at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Canada, in the year 1992, when he mesmerized a standing-room-only audience for several hours. So popular was music, especially modernised qawwalis in Western countries that music buffs fell over each other in seeking admission to the concert halls, where the late Khan Sahib was scheduled to perform.

As a medium of emotional communication, music is more expressive than poetry. Poetry symbolises words, ideas and sentiments, but there are certain feelings and moods, which even words cannot convey. It is here that music steps in. The roots of music, therefore, lie deep in the sub-conscious minds of the humans, and spring from vast hinterlands of different continents. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan`s music appealed to the sensibilities of the listeners from all over the world as it did not have to rely much on words of a language.

The late Nusrat Khan was a highly gifted practitioner of music the world has produced so far. He made original contributions, not only to the genre of qawwali, but also enriched other vocal varieties by blending sub-continental melodies with African swinging beats and Western harmony, creating effervescent sonic enchantment for millions of music lovers across the continents.

A trendsetter and highly creative artiste, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was one of the frontline musicians of the world, whose mission was to evolve an accepted mode of melodic expression which could have equal appeal to the sensibilities of the people living in all the continents. To a considerable he succeeded in evolving and practicing a genre, which the people enjoyed in different countries of the world.

No wonder the citizen of Paris bestowed upon him the highest civic award for creating a kind of music, which had much sonic appeal for the French people. He also won a UNESCO Award of Excellence and several from different cultural organisations from Australia, which he visited frequently, especially during the 1992 World Crick Cup championship. His bag of awards also included IMC-UNESCO award at Cologne, Germany and Fukuoka (Japan) Asian Cultural Prize, in addition the coveted Pride of Performance Medal in Pakistan.

A number of prestigious and world-renowned newspapers and magazines, including American TIME magazine, editorially commented on the talent and skill of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan following his death on August 16, 1998. Rich tributes to the virtuosity and superb musical sense and eloquent vocal expressions of Pakistani melodist were paid by international cultural organisations, who praised his services for the evolution of World Music.

So far the impact of Nusrat Khan`s music on Pakistani music buffs remains the same despite the passage of three years after his death. Any repeat telecast of his performance by PTV recreates the special aura of Nusrat music creating deep nostalgia about the maestro.

Romair,

``Speaking of Abrar, he is now a philanthrapist, attempting to build a hospital.``

....yes, him and a couple of other singers donate half (or so) of their concert proceeds to build basic health facilities and tropical diseases hospitals in far flung areas

``someone told me he used to be a teacher in Aitchison College, before he sang Billo day ghar.``

....he used to teach geography there before he hit it big w/billo day ghar

and speaking of attaullah esa khelvi (or however u spell it), i think he used to be a truck driver himself before he became famous with his songs......has anyone heard ``kameez teri kali``?

btw, i don`t think anyone`s mentioned nayyara noor...

Stuka #57: I am not quite sure whether Ataullah Niazi sang that song or not. I will have to check my collection.

I don`t think he killed anyone. Singers generally aren`t the killing type. I do remember hearing the story of his girlfriend/fiancee leaving him. Most of his songs are tragic and talk about being dumped by a girl. Due to this he is known as, ``dard ka safeer.`` Some of his famous hits are:

Balo Battian, Chan kittha guzari gaye raat, Bol Sanwal, Ishq mein hum tumhein kiya batain, tu bhi kissi ka payar na paye khuda karay, etc.

Mianwali`s punjabi, and hence Niazi`s singing style, is different and easily distinguishable, from regular Punjabi. They use the word, ``wat`` a lot. Esa Khel (A. Niazi`s hometown) is a very small village next to Mianwali. In the year that I spent in Mianwali, there were two striking features about the city: 1) I never saw a single female outside, other than at the bus stand catching a bus. 2) Everyone`s last name was Niazi (including the famous cricketer Imran Khan Niazi, whose family hails from that area also).

ajnabi:

...not fair...where are the rest of the installments of the novel?...


sameer:

...and then there are geets and ghazals that come to ‘personify’ the singer...it becomes their signature...

....there was one singer...s.b. john...and his immortal rendition of ‘tu jo naheeN tou kuch bhee nahiN...yeh maana kay mehfil haseeN hay jawaaN hay’...

...likewise...suraiyya multanikar would for ever be associated with ‘baRRay bay murawaat haiN yeh hus’n walay...’ just as iqbal bano with `sitaro tum tou sou jao paraishaaN raat sari hay...`

...for the rendition of khayal and dadra in the mould of late begum akhtar there is her star pupil rekha surya...don’t know if you have heard her.. or of her...she is out of delhi and comes to north america regularly in the summers for private concerts...has a set of fours cds ready for release in nov/dec...she has a very ‘pukhta’ voice...and she tells me the cigarettes you mentioned in your post were no regular cigarettes;)...

rgds,

t

mohajir #67:

Sorry to quibble, but technically Bhimsen Joshi is from Karnataka, as he is from Dharwad. Also from Dharwad are Gangubai Hangal and the late Mallikarjun Mansur.

Sarwari,

``Aye mere pyare watan`` is from Kabuliwalah. It was sung by Manna Dey.

Dost-mitter ji your answer(#65) to Romair`s question would have been acceptable only if you were a female;)

I am outaaaaaaaaa

By the sheer number of weeks it was on the top of the charts, I propose the following for honorary mention in the `South Asian` list.

Habibi, ya nour el ain

Ya Saakin Khayali

Aaasheq bakali sneen

Wala ghayrak fibali

.....

...

i heard rahmat nusrat fateh ali khan a few days ago in nyc. awesome.

Sameer,

I find myself getting more and more into classical music as i get older. Even tho i cannot tell one rAgA from another, i find the music soothing and transcendent. As a corollary, i have been finding (starting in my late 20s) filmi music to be increasingly banal and boring. Again, i put this down to the fact of my getting older. What`s been your experience?

dostmittar,

it`s the voice, my man! The japanese women were taught to speak a certain way (high voice, trailing sentences) that was considered feminine. Similarly, in the subcontinent (and most of asia) feminine singing voice is high. Not something that i find attractive.

On a related note, i hate the western violin with its high pitch. I like what we have done with a borrowed instrument.

Ajnabi: ooooooooooh I am an expatriate, ooooh my rear orifice hurts sooooooooooo much, and I am sooooooooo nostalgic... ooooooooooh peace out dude.

The true top 10 list of South Asian Songs:

1) Saqinama : Junoon

2) Jazba : Junoon

3) Maula : Vital Signs

4) Azaadi: Junoon

5) Yehi Zameen: Vital Signs

6) tu bhee Pakistan hai: Shehki

7) Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhay

8) Is Parcham Kay Sai talay: Nayaara Nur

9) Pyar Bina: Junoon

10)Khudi: Junoon

-YLH

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SameerJB: Thanks for the info on A.K. Niazi. Seems like he has lived quite a life. Interestingly, it is very difficult to find any real audio sites on the Internet with his songs. I haven`t seen him much on television either. This shows that the educated Pakistani community hasn`t really picked up on him. On the other hand, the bus drivers and truck drivers seem to love him. It is also interesting that he includes the name of his tiny village in his own name. I heard him sing, ``balo battian`` and have been hooked ever since.

Ref Dulla Bhatti #68:

Thanks for the post. It is indeed a beautiful poem. I wonder if you have a book that you looked up in or just have a great memory. Anyway you are a scholar and a gentleman.

ManeshG,

Thank you for the info. I absolutely love the voice and the lyrics.

Aisha :)

Kabuliwala, that is a movie