INDIA – INDE Bismillah Khan – The Soul of Shahnai – His Master's Voice - ECSD 2833

INDIA – INDE
Bismillah Khan – The Soul of Shahnai –  His Master's Voice -  ECSD 2833, released 1979 (LP)

We now present a first-rate album by Bismillah Khan (1916-2006), the great master of the double-reed shehnai. Born into a family of court musicians at Bhirung Raut Ki Gali in Dumraon, Bihar State, Khan elevated this woodwind folk instrument, traditionally played during ceremonies (marriages, etc.), to the status of classical Indian instrument suitable for the concert hall.

 

Khan had a long and highly successful career, during which he released many recordings and performed widely onstage and for radio broadcasts, which brought him great fame throughout India. His name has become synonymous with his instrument.

Khan’s masterful heartfelt and imaginative melodic musings are accompanied by six unidentified musicians, including a chorus of three other shehnai players, two percussionists and a harmonium player. 

Nous présentons maintenant un superbe album de Bismillah Khan (1916-2006), le grand maître du shehnai à double anche. Issu d'une famille de musiciens de cour à Dumraon, État du Bihar, Khan a élevé cet instrument folklorique à vent, traditionnellement joué lors de cérémonies (mariages, etc.), au statut d'instrument classique de salle de concert.

 

Khan rencontra un grand succès tout au long de sa riche carrière, au cours de laquelle il a publié de nombreux disques et s'est souvent produit sur scène et pour des émissions de radio, ce qui lui a valu une grande renommée dans toute l'Inde. 

 

Les envolées mélodiques chaudes et imaginatives de Bismillah Khan sont accompagnées par six musiciens non identifiés, dont un chœur de trois autres joueurs de shehnai, deux percussionnistes et un joueur d’harmonium.

Download:

Flac

MP3

Photograph of Ustad Bismillah Khan below is from Inde - Hommes, Rites et Dieux by Indira Gandhi and Jean-Louis Nou, Vilo, 1978:

Influenced by Bismillah Khan and other Indian masters, Jazz legend John Coltrane (1926-1967) crafted a shehnai-inflected sound on his straight soprano saxophone and presented some of his most entrancing experimental flights in raga-like fashion. Khan's influence is clearly audible on his stunning version of My Favorite Things performed live at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1963, featuring John Coltrane on soprano saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano,  Jimmy Garrison on bass and Roy Haynes on drums:

Selflessness - Featuring My Favorite Things – Impulse! AS-9161

Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global 

curation project and share the best finds with you on this blog: