Category: Hindustani Music

  • Book: Voice of the Veena – S Balachander by Vikram Sampath

    “Voice of the Veena – S. Balachander, A biography”, by Vikram Sampath, Rain Tree (Rupa Publications), 2012 ——————————————————————– S. Balachander, best known to many of us as a veena maestro, was very different from the musicians one usually comes across. He was much more than just a great vainika. A…

  • Padma Awards for Musicians

    Padma Awards for 2012 have been announced and the following are the Indian Classical musicians who have been honored with the same: Padma Bhushan: Shri M.S. Gopalakrishnan (Carnatic – Violin) Shri T.V. Gopalakrishnan (Carnatic – Vocal & Mrudangam) Pt. Buddhadev Das Gupta (Hindustani – Sarod) Padma Shri: Ustad Zia Fariduddin…

  • Chennai December Season 2011-12 Concert Schedules

    Have made more updates to the Chennai December Season 2011-12 concert schedules page. You can access the same at https://ramsabode.wordpress.com/concerts-in-chennai/     My concerts schedule is available at https://ramsabode.wordpress.com/my-concerts/                

  • Chennai December Music Season 2011-12 Schedules

    I have updated the navaratri concerts series by various sabhas/ temples in Chennai and have started posting the schedules for the Music (December) Season for this year 2011-12 on this blog at https://ramsabode.wordpress.com/concerts-in-chennai/ . Please keep checking for more updates in the coming weeks.

  • Book: Hindustani Music – A Tradition in Transition

    “Hindustani Music – A Tradition in Transition” (D.K.Printworld, 2005) is a collection of Deepak Raja’s writings on Hindustani Music. The book is divided into 5 parts. Part 1 titled “Culture, Technology and Economics” discusses the changes that have happened in Hindustani Music and to its patronage over the years, the…

  • Book: The Lost World of Hindustani Music – by Kumar Prasad Mukherji

    Anybody who comes in contact with Indian Classical musicians and/or moves around for quite some time in the ‘music circle’ will hear a lot of stories and anecdotes, not just about the current crop of musicians, but also about past practitioners. Many of these usually cannot be verified but do…

  • Book: “Raga’n Josh – Stories from a Musical Life” by Sheila Dhar

    Sheila Dhar had the knack for penning down in an interesting manner, her experience interacting with different people she came across in her life. In her book “Raga’n Josh – Stories from a Musical Life” (Black Kite, 2005) that combines her two earlier books “Here’s Someone I’d Like You to…

  • Book: A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music by Rajeev Nair

    Though there are many books on Hindustani Music, Rajeev Nair’s “A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music” is one of the few I would highly recommend to all rasikas of Hindustani Music – from the uninitiated to the seasoned ones. Rajeev’s mastery over the English language is no surprise I guess,…

  • 50 Maestros, 50 Recordings

    “50 Maestros, 50 Recordings” (HarperCollins Publishers, Dec 2009) is a tribute to select masters of Indian Classical Music who influenced its authors Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan (sons of sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan) the most. It starts with a very brief introduction to Indian Music – Carnatic…

  • The Music Room

    I was glued to Namita Devidayal‘s book “The Music Room” (Publisher: Random House India) last Sunday. Though not exactly a biography, the book gives us details about the life of three great singers of the Jaipur Gharana – Alladiya Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar and Dhondutai Kulkarni and about Nandita’s journey into…

  • Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan – The Phenom

    It’s 4AM and it’s been more than 3 hours now since I started to listen to Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (BGAK) today. Time has just flown past and I am forced to wind up only with thought of catching some sleep before I leave for office in another 2.5…