INDIA Bhimsen Joshi – Raag Lalit and Raag Shush-Kalyan – His Master's Voice – ECLP 2264

INDIA – INDE
Bhimsen Joshi – Raag Lalit and Raag Shush-Kalyan – His Master's Voice – ECLP 2264, 1961 (LP)

Bimsen Joshi (1922-2011) was among the greatest and most popular Hindustani Kyal singers of the second half of the 20th century. Though he did not come from a musical family, from a young age he felt such an intense passion for singing that he left his home in Karnakata at the age of 11 for two years in search of a guru in Northern India notably in Gwalior, where he met singer Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1894–1989)* and sarod master Hafiz Ali Kahn (1888–1972) and began a stringent 12-hour-a-day musical training. Returning home he was accepted by Sawai Gandharva (1886-1952), the most famous disciple of Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937)*, as his disciple, in 1935. 

The brilliant student began performing and recording shellac 78 RPMs in the early 1940s, crafting a unique singing style influenced by great singers like Begum Akhtar (1914-1974), Kesarbai Kerkar (1892-1977)* and Amir Khan (1912-1974)*. Steeped in the time-honored tradition, Joshi also embodied a changing modern India, playing music that transcended class, caste and religion, by singing bhajan and abhang devotional songs in Kannada, Hindi and Marathi languages which brought him a large nationwide audience.

This second LP, released by the virtuoso in 1961, features Joshi’s powerful voice, dazzling improvisation techniques, and fluid creativity.

In an interview quoted in the English-language periodical India Abroad in 1997, Mr. Joshi explained his eclectic approach to his art.

“For a few years after learning music, I did not sing, I only listened; I heard a lot of music of different kinds,” he said. “This is an education which is as important as practicing music.” He added:

“The singer has to be a great thief. From each person take the best to create your own style.”**

* Listen to these luminaries here

** https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/arts/music/06joshi.html

Bimsen Joshi (1922-2011) fût l'un des chanteurs Hindustani de Kyal les plus populaires de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Bien que n’étant pas issu d’une famille de musiciens, il éprouve une passion dévorante pour le chant dès son plus jeune âge et quitte même le foyer familial à Karnakata seul à l’âge de 11 ans pendant deux années à la recherche d’un gourou en Inde du nord, notamment à Gwalior, où il rencontre le chanteur Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1894-1989)* et le maître du sarod Hafiz Ali Kahn (1888-1972). C’est là qu’il s’adonne corps et âme à la musique pendant plus de 12 heures par jour. De retour chez lui, Sawai Gandharva (1886-1952), le plus célèbre disciple du fondateur de l’école Kirana Gharana Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937)*, l’accepte comme son disciple en 1935.

Le brillant élève commence à se produire en public et à enregistrer des 78 tours à partir du début des années 1940, forgeant un style de chant unique inspiré par des grandes figures comme Begum Akhtar (1914-1974), Kesarbai Kerkar (1892-1977)* et Amir Khan (1912-1974)*. Profondément ancré dans la tradition, Joshi incarnait également une Inde moderne en mutation. Il propose ainsi une musique qui transcende les classes sociales, les castes et les religions, avec notamment des chants bhajans et abhang dévotionnels en kannada, en hindi et en marathi, ce qui lui valut une très grande renommée dans l'ensemble du pays.

Ce second album, publié par le virtuose en 1961, présente sa voix puissante, ses techniques d’improvisation éblouissantes et sa créativité fluide et débordante.

* Ecoutez ces grandes figures d'Inde du nord ici

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Photograph below is from Tales of a Parrot by Ziya al-Din Nakhshabi, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978:

Fourteenth night: The origin of music with a mythical bird with seven holes in its beak, symbolizing the seven notes, acting as the vina player's muse, 16th century. 

Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global curation            project and share the best finds with you on this blog:

NIGERIA Ayinla Omowura & his Apala Group – His Master's Voice Vol. 2 – HNLX 5085

NIGERIA

Ayinla Omowura & his Apala Group – His Master's Voice Vol. 2 – HNLX 5085, 1971 (LP)

We now share a second rare LP by Ayinla Omowura (1933-1980), the master of a fiery, fast-tempoed Apala, featuring his deep, authoritative voice, powerful backing vocals and spellbinding, multilayered percussions, including iyalu talking drum, agogo bells, sekere rattles, akuba drums, and agidigbo thumb piano.

Nous partageons ici un deuxième album rare d’Ayinla Owomura (1933-1980), le grand maître d'un Apala rapide et fougueux, avec sa voix grave et intense, des chœurs puissants et des percussions polyrythmiques envoûtantes, comprenant des tambours parlants iyalu, des cloches agogo, des hochets sekere, des tambours akuba et un grand piano à pouce agidigbo. 

   

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Our other Ayinla Owomura Apala share, includes a profile of the artist:
Ayinla Owomura - 25 x40 - Africa Song Ltd NEMI 0515 here

Our other Yoruba Apala shares:
Haruna Ishola & His Apala Group - Star Records SRPS 32 here
Haruna Ishola & His Apala Group - RPS 16 here

Our Yoruba Sakara shares:
Yusufu Olatunji & His Group - Vol. 17 - Philips PL 636 1050 here
Yusufu Olatunji & His Group - Vol. 18 - ORSL 1706 here

Our Yoruba Fuji share:
Sikiru Ayinde Barrister - Fuji Exponent Vol. 8 - AS 46-L here

Our modern Yoruba music share:
King Sunny Adé & His African Beats - Check E - SALPS 26 here

Photograph below is from Yoruba (Visions of Africa) by Babatunde Lawal, 5 Continents, 2012:

Shango priestess, dressed in red, holding double-axe sceptres (Ose Sango); 

photograph by Robert Farris Thompson, Nigeria 1960s.

  Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global curation                              project and share the best finds with you on this blog:

BAHRAIN – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Pêcheurs de Perles et Musiciens du Golfe Persique – OCORA 42

BAHRAIN – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Pêcheurs de Perles et Musiciens du Golfe Persique – OCORA 42, recorded by Poul Rovsing Olsen, 1962-1963 (LP)

This precious LP, recorded in 1962-1963, offers a rare glimpse into the fascinating traditional music from Bahrain and Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) in the Persian Gulf (aka the Arabian Gulf).

Side A features stunning side-long singing by pearl divers from Muharraq, Bahrain, who have been diving for pearls for more than 4,000 years. By the early 1960’s, when this recording was made, they had almost disappeared following the competition of cultured pearls from Japan in the 1930s, the discovery of oil and the area’s gradual modernization.

As pearl diving was a physically exhausting and perilous job, pearl boats welcomed professional naham lead singers onboard with accompanying musicians playing drums and hand cymbals to encourage and sustain the energy of the divers and their helpers. Nahams sang at top volume, supported by percussion, and the crew responded in deep, low drones (similar to vocal drones in Tibetan Buddhist music), exclamations, clapping, and whistling. These extraordinary trance-like collective worksongs were played uninterrupted from dawn to dusk.

Side B showcases inspired and dense performances highlighting the region’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity:

(B1) Salim Ahmed performing a Taqsim (maqam rast) on the oud lute, Manama (Bahrain);

(B2) Baluchi wedding music featuring a surnai oboe and tabl drum, Sharjah (UAE);

(B3) Kafur Moubarek, lyre (or tanboura) and voice, interpreting a love poem, Manama (Bahrain);

Kafur Moubarek was a Sudanese Bahraini. “Nowadays the lyre is rarely used, except by East Africans; lyres may be found in Saudi Arabia and several sheikhdoms of the Arabian Gulf but the musicians who play them are always Africans of Sudanese origin,” says Poul Rovsing Olsen in the liner notes. (see miniature below).

(B4) Rajab bin Khamis on droneless jirbe bagpipe, and two tabl drums, Manama (Bahrain).

Ce disque précieux, enregistré en 1962-1963, offre un aperçu rare de la remarquable musique traditionnelle de Bahreïn et de Sharjah (Émirats arabes unis) dans le golfe Persique (ou golfe Arabique).

La Face A présente des chants fascinants de plongeurs de perles de Muharraq (Bahreïn) qui pêchaient la perle depuis plus de 4 000 ans. Au début des années 1960, lorsque cet enregistrement fut réalisé, ils avaient presque disparu en raison de la concurrence des perles de culture du Japon dans les années 1930, la découverte de pétrole et de la modernisation progressive de la région.

Comme la pêche à la perle était un travail particulièrement éprouvant et périlleux, les bateaux-perles embarquaient des chanteurs professionnels naham, accompagnés de musiciens jouant du tambour et des cymbales à main pour encourager et soutenir l’énergie des plongeurs et de leurs assistants. Le naham chantait fort, soutenu par des percussions, auquel l’équipage répondait par des bourdons profonds dans l'extrême grave (rappelant les bourdons vocaux que l’on trouve dans la musique bouddhiste tibétaine), des exclamations, des applaudissements et des sifflements. Ces extraordinaires musiques collectives qui mènent à la transe étaient jouées sans interruption de l'aube au crépuscule.

La face B présente des musiques denses et inspirées qui reflètent la riche diversité ethnique et culturelle de la région:

(B1) Salim Ahmed exécutant un Taqsim (maqam rast) sur luth oud a cinq double cordes, Manama (Bahreïn);

(B2) Musique de mariage Baloutchi avec un hautbois surnai et un tambour tabl, Sharjah (Émirats arabes unis);

(B3) Kafur Moubarek, lyre (ou tanboura) et voix, interprétant un poème d'amour, Manama (Bahreïn);

Kafur Moubarek était un Bahreïni soudanais (voir miniature ci-dessous). « De nos jours, la lyre n’est guère utilisée que par les Africains de l'Est ; on trouve des lyres en Arabie Saoudite et dans plusieurs émirats du Golfe mais les musiciens qui s'en servent sont toujours des Africains d'origine Soudanaise, » explique Poul Rovsing Olsen dans les notes de l’album.

(B4) Rajab bin Khamis jouant de la cornemuse jirbe sans bourdon, accompagné de deux tambours tabl, Manama (Bahreïn).

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Our other share of the region's music:
Abu Dhabi/Bahrain - Les Emirats du Golfe Arabique - Disques Alvarès C 471 here

“ONE OF THE MOST MUSICAL CULTURES OF ITS TIME?

The result, demographically and socially, of having professional musicians on so many pearling boats is remarkable. In 1907 J.G. Lorimer stated that Bahrain had 917 boats. If only half of the vessels had two musicians on board, in a population ca 70,000 that would indicate that 1.3 percent of Bahrainis were professional-level musicians. If we go back in time, the proportions are even greater. The Dutch explorer Carsten Niebuhr noted that by 1750 Kuwait actually had 800 pearl diving boats in a population of 10,000. If only 500 of the boats had one nahham, then 5 percent of the population of Kuwait were active musicians. This is a remarkable amount of people devoted to music in a lone community. Comparatively, in the US in 1910, not even a quarter of 1 percent were considered professional musicians (Lorimer 1907; Niehbur 1792, 127; Shamlan 2000, 53; US Census Bureau; U.S. Census of Population). The large proportion of Gulf musicians did not just have an impact on the seamen but also on the greater community. After four months on the pearling boats, musicians returned and were heard by, and influenced, the local residents. (…) Certainly, the Arabian Gulf is historically one of the most musical regions of the Peninsula.”*

*From the fascinating and richly-documented Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar by Lisa Urkevich, Routeledge, 2014.

Photograph below is from Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories by Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016:

Lyre player (track B3), presumably Sudanese, Mughal painting, India, c. 1640-1660.

Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global curation            project and share the best finds with you on this blog:

INDONESIA Sulaeman – Kacapi Suling - Sundanese Flute & Zither – Universitas Nasional - Fakultas Seni - Bakti Budaya

INDONESIA
Sulaeman – Kacapi Suling - Sundanese Flute & Zither – Universitas Nasional - Fakultas Seni - Bakti Budaya, recorded in Jakarta, 1975 (10 in, 33 RPM)

I first heard Sulaeman’s bamboo suling flute with zither on half of the Flute and Gamelan of West Java LP (1978) on the Tangent label. Everyone I played this music to, even people unfamiliar with traditional music, fell under its ethereal spell.

The Sundanese suling master, born c. 1910, started his career very young accompanying famous singers in the 1920s and 1930s, with whom he recorded a string of shellac 78 rpm discs. Sulaeman lived as a recluse and disappeared from view until he was rediscovered, in 1970, and invited to join the Faculty of Fine Arts at Jakarta’s National University. Sulaeman subsequently toured in Indonesia and abroad and recorded this precious duet featuring his exquisitely magical suling flute acccompanied by a delicate and lyrical 18-string kacapi zither played by the brothers Sukaya and Sukatma Di Karta.

J’ai entendu la flûte suling de Sulaeman avec de la cithare pour la première fois sur l’album Flute and Gamelan of West Java (1978) sur le label Tangent. Toutes les personnes à qui j'ai fais écouter cette musique, même celles peu familiarisées avec la musique traditionnelle, sont tombées sous son charme éthéré.

Le grand maître du suling sundanais, né vers 1910, débuta sa carrière à un jeune âge en accompagnant des chanteurs célèbres dans les années 1920 et 1930, avec lesquels il enregistre une série de disques 78 tours. Sulaeman vivait en solitaire et disparu de la circulation jusqu’à ce qu’il soit redécouvert en 1970 et invité à rejoindre la Faculté des beaux-arts de l’Université nationale de Jakarta. Sulaeman donna par la suite des concerts en Indonésie et à l'étranger et enregistra ce précieux duo présentant son jeu magique de flûte suling en bambou accompagné d'une cithare kacapi à 18 cordes délicate et lyrique jouée par les frères Sukaya et Sukatma Di Karta.

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Our other Sundanese music post:
Gamelan Degung directed by Enip Sukanda (suling) - Galloway Records here

Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global curation            project and share the best finds with you on this blog: