Friday, November 29, 2019

INDIA – INDE Kesarbai Kerkar – Raga Lalat and Raga Malkauns – HMV – EALP 1278

INDIA – INDE
Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar – Raga Lalat and Raga Malkauns – His Master's Voice – EALP 1278, released 1963, recorded mid-1950s (LP)
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The legendary Kesarbai Kerkar, or Kesar Bai Kerkar, (1892–1977) was one of the greatest and most influential Hindustani singers of the 20th century. Born into a family of musicians in the village of Keri in Goa, she embraced music at an early age and was tutored by Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937) in Kolhapurat. She moved to Mumbai with her family and subsequently trained with various notable teachers, including Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale (1869-1922) and Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze (1871-1945). 

In 1921, Alladiya Khan (1855–1946), the demanding founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, accepted her as his disciple. Kerkar began singing professionally in 1930 and achieved fame throughout India. Along with luminaries like Mogubai Kurdikar (1904-2001), Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) and Gangubai Hangal (1913-2009), she paved the way for the new generation of female Khayal vocalists.


Kerkar was committed to striving for perfection through hard work, total dedication, and an uncompromising attitude: She declined to sing light classical music and refused to use any amplification or be recorded live. She resolutely shunned the limelight, remaining true to tradition by performing mostly in courts and rarely gave public performances. She retired in 1964, in her seventies, when she realized her voice was deteriorating and left only a few recordings for posterity. Her death in 1977 went almost unnoticed. Despite her indelible influence and the profound respect of her distinguished peers–from
Siddheswari Devi (1908-1977) and M.S. Subbalakshmi (1916-2004) to Begum Akhtar (1914-1974) and Bimsen Joshi (1922-2011)–this musician’s musician is little known outside the circle of connoisseurs.

These nine tracks exemplify Kerkar’s power, sensuality, clarity, balance and masterful precision. "The yogini of music," as she was affectionately called by her admirers, brilliantly expressed the humanity, reflective intellect, sense of the sacred, and lofty dignity of a bygone era.


La légendaire Kesarbai Kerkar, ou Kesar Bai Kerkar (1892-1977), fut l'une des plus grandes chanteuses Hindustani du XXe siècle. Née dans une famille de musiciens dans le village de Keri à Goa, elle se dévoue dès son plus jeune âge à la musique et reçoit même pendant plusieurs mois des leçons d’Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937) à Kolhapurat. Elle déménage ensuite à Mumbai avec sa famille et poursuit son apprentissage auprès de divers grands maîtres, notamment Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale (1869-1922) et Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze (1871-1945).


En 1921, l'exigeant Alladiya Khan (1855-1946), le fondateur du Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, l'accepta comme son disciple. Kerkar commence à chanter professionnellement à partir de 1930 et acquiert peu à peu une grande renommée dans toute l'Inde. Aux côtés d’autres grandes figures du chant telles Mogubai Kurdikar (1904-2001), Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989) et Gangubai Hangal (1913-2009), elle ouvre la voie à la nouvelle génération de chanteuses de Khayal.

Kesarbai 
Kerkar recherche perpétuellement la perfection par son travail acharné et un dévouement total sans aucune compromission: elle refusa de chanter de la musique classique légère, d'utiliser de amplification ou d'être enregistrée en direct. Elle n’aime résolument pas être sous les feux de la rampe, et, suivant la tradition, chante principalement dans les cours des maharajas et donne rarement des récitals publiques. Elle prend sa retraite en 1964, lorsqu’elle réalisa que sa voix se détériorait, et n’a laissé qu'un nombre limité d'enregistrements pour la postérité. Sa mort en 1977 est passée presque inaperçue. En dépit de son influence majeure et du profond respect témoigné par ses pairs – de Siddheswari Devi (1908-1977) à M.S. Subbalakshmi (1916-2004), et Begum Akhtar (1914-1974) à Bimsen Joshi (1922-2011) – sa musique reste peu connue en dehors du cercle des initiés.

Ces neuf pistes illustrent bien la puissance, la sensualité, la clarté, l’équilibre et la précision magistrale de Kerkar. « La yogini de la musique », comme l'appelaient affectueusement ses admirateurs, exprima avec brio l'humanité, la sensibilité, le sens du sacré et la noble plénitude d'une époque révolue.

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Our other shares of female Khayal singers:
Kesarbai Kerkar, Siddheswari Devi, Gangubai Hangal, Kishori Amonkar here
Hirabai Barodekar here & here
Sulochana Brahaspathi here

Don’t miss Tawfiq’s (https://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com/) superb ultra-rare shares of Kerkar, which he held dear in his heart, he posted a few months before he died here




Photograph below is from Ritual Art of India by Ajit Mookerjee, Inner Traditions, 1998:


Invocation of the Sun. Agni, god of fire and ritual, and also the sacrificial fire, 
gouache on paper, Rajasthan, c. 18th century:

MusicRepublic INDIA – INDE Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar – His Master's Voice – EALP 1278

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10 comments:

  1. Hi, the download links are not working.

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  2. i love your site, too, but the links aren't working.

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  3. Thank you for notifying me. I resolved the issue and am now gradually re-uploading all the links starting with my most recent posts. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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  4. Many thanks for all the beautiful music and your great work presenting it, and how wonderful that you're now taking the time to re-upload all the links. Bon courage !

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    1. Merci for your encouragements. It's really not that difficult. I'll be done uploading all the files in about 3 weeks.

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  5. Thanks for letting me know about your blog!(via SoulSeek)

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  6. First, thank you very much for this project you are doing. Many amazing and beautiful archival entries. I had a friend (now long gone) who had bought many Unesco and Ocoro recordings and it opened up my world to see and hear them. Your blog is helping me get reconnected to that world.

    You mention Tawfiq's blog in this entry. His blog is amazing. Sadly and understandable, since he has passed the file share accounts have gone dark. The blog is now a large want list.

    Again, deep thanks for your continued sharing on this blog.

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    1. Thank you for your interest and comment. I wanted to inform you that a group of people had the great idea of creating a mirror site of Tawfiq's blog with all the audio available for download: http://www.rudraveena.org/theBlog/oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com/index.html

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    2. Almost 2 yrs after the demie of Axel (Tawfiq) I deeply regret as I was unable to either meet him in person much less access any of his beautifully preserved music. I think both the blogs, The original (https://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com/) as well as the mirror prepared by Louis, Daniel & Gary (https://www.rudraveena.org/theBlog/oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com/index.html) have REDUNDANT links. I fear their cloud hosting subscriptions might have expired or so.
      I've the worst dilemma on this planet i guess. I can see great maestros playing on phenomenal instruments but cant listen to any of them.
      Any help in accessing those albums would be appreciated.
      Naman
      proaudionaman@gmail.com

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