Category Archives: Music Allied

Ustad Amir Khan’s Introductory Concert in Calcutta

Told by Subrata Roy Chaudhury
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Pt. Subrata Roy Chaudhury 6, Canal Street, Kolkata 700014
About Subrata Roy Chaudhury Well-known sitar player, scholar
Key words Amir Khan, Jhankar, Pradyumna Mukherjee, Purabi Mukherjee, A. Kanan, Vasant Bahar, Ramdasi Malhar, Dixon Lane, 1950’s
Language English

Subrata Roy Chaudhury speaks:

Text Version:

As for example,  Amir Khan Sahib’s introductory concert. It is said that Amir Khan Sahib used to visit Jnan babu every day. Every day because he didn’t get a chance to perform and one day Amir Khan Sahib decided to leave Calcutta. He had problem in Vilayat Khan’s household because there would be a divorce between Vilayat Khan’s sister and Amir Khan Sahib, they were married. And then Amir Khan Sahib to get out of Calcutta was accumulating money.  He only gave tutorial to two or three. Pradyumna Mukherjee, he taught, he taught Purabi Mukherjee and someone else.  And he used to save this money every time so that he could go to Bombay. And one day decided – I will leave for Bombay. So he went to Jnan babu. This was told to me by A. Kananji who also Amir Khan’s oldest disciple. So he went to Jnanbabu and said- ‘Jnan babu, apke Ghar aate aate to mera chappal tut gaya. Ab to mujhe gawaiye conference main’ .(Jnanbabu, literally I torned my chappals after visiting your house regularly. Please give me a chance to perform in a conference). Jnanbabu said – Ha ha, yeh to karna hi padega’ (yes yes, of course this is surely needed to be arranged.) ab kab ja rahe hai? (When are you going?).

                Ustad Amir Khan in a concert

 

–  So did the concert happen in Jhankar?

 

(He) Make shift within fifteen days one concert was arranged. And Amir Khan Sahib…I have that recording, not here but abroad.  I got hold of that recording, Vasant Bahar. People didn’t hear Amir Khan in concert normally. Vasant Bahar and a brilliant Ramdasi Malhar, that was his introductory concert then he went to Bombay and then he signed for Baiju Bawra after which he never looked back, he became over night famous.

           Pt. Jnan Prakash Ghosh

–  Yes, in Dixon Lane, 20 or 25 Dixon Lane. I don’t remember the number but after Prachi Cinema I have to go into Dixon Lane, the first house with a gate.

–  So what would be the period, what time and in which year?

– I went to Jhankar regularly when I started learning Sitar 56, 57, 58.

– Then it should be 50’s.

– Yes, then of course then it shifted from Jnanbabu’s house. It became much smaller. Mukul Chakraborty looked after it some time. And I played there also in 1978 or something.

– I just wanted to know that in this Amir Khan Sahib’s Concert that Jnan Babu arranged didn’t happened around 1950s?

– You can find out two years before Baiju Bawra.

– Ok. Good good. That’s sorted out. It’s Wonderful.  Thank you very much.

Verbatim: Dr. Suranjita Paul

 

Picture courtesy: Google

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e70Py6kgEsc

http://www.abhijitbanerjee.com/legacy.php

 

Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University

 

Versatile Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh

 

Told by Subrata Roy Chaudhury
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Pt. Subrata Roy Chaudhury 6, Canal Street, Kolkata 700014
About Subrata Roy Chaudhury Well-known sitar player, scholar
Key words Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Masidulla Khan, Masid Khan, Girija Shankar Chakraborty, slide guitar, tabla, singing, vocal music, Dixon Lane, Jhankar, Suresh Chandra Chakraborty, Radhika Mohan Maitra, Samta Prasad, Ahmedjan Thirakawa, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Baithak, diplomas, B.V. Keskar,
Language English

Subrata Roy Chaudhury speaks:

 

Jon Barlow’s Efforts on Instrument Making

Told by Jon Barlow
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Jon Barlow 91/1B Bondel Road, Kolkata 700019 [Ballygunge Phari]
About Jon Barlow A man in pursuit of Indian Classical Music for more than fifty years. Learnt sarod, vocal music, music collector, music craftsman, photographer, artist, music theorist.
Tags Ali Akbar Khan, 1963, Sydney, Maihar, David, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, 1971, Radhika Mohan Maitra, sarod, Umar Khan, Kalighat, Burma Teak, Siddhartha Roy Choudhury, Tun, Picnic Garden Road, Tanpura, Box-Tanpura, Imrat Khan, Nibruttibua Sarnaik, V.G. Jog, Dilshad Khan, Bablu, Hemen Sen, craftsmanship, Manas Chakraborty, instrument making
Language English

 Jon Barlow speaks

Wishes and Waiting

Told by Samir Chatterjee
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 29 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Samir Chatterjee, 15A Gobinda Mondal Lane, Cossipur, Kolkata
About Samir Chatterjee Eminent tabla player, thinker. To know details click here
Tags Bankim Ghosh, 1950’s, partition, East Pakistan, Esraj, tuition, multiple instrument player, 1982, All India Radio, Nikhil Banerjee, wishes, waiting
Language English

Samir Chatterjee speaks:

Verbatim:

This is about the time when Calcutta was reshaping itself. Independence was in 1947, at the time East Pakistan was created, we know about the consequences of that- across the border area in the east and the west, what happened… Many of the Hindu musicians decided to leave Bangladesh and the nearest area they could think off was Calcutta. So they were all moving to Calcutta. One of such musicians was Pandit Bankim Ghosh. No one ever heard of him. He came from District Barishal and somehow landed in our house. He came into our house before I was born. I was born in 1955 so, I am talking about 52/53 – around that time he came in. As I started growing up, that was my initiation in music…. My mother became his disciple. What was his main instrument that you get to hear very rarely these days – Esraj. His father was a very renowned (musician), we found mention of his father’s name in some of the old books of music history. I did not get any chance to listen his father but I could imagine how his father was through his playing. I was nearly 3/ 4 years old and his routine was he would wake up late in the morning and then would clean himself up, had his tea and then listen to radio and then picked up and tuned a few instruments every now and then; earning his living by private tuition he had to play few other instruments and I was amazed to see he was able to pick up any instrument and played (flawlessly). We hear about Ustad Alauddin Khan Sahab was able to do that. At that time there (were something in the) few other people also less known who had same kind of ability. In front of my own eyes I saw him to play the Flute, Violin, Harmonium, Guitar. As Guitar came in he said,” Yes, I can play it, give me the instrument”. Gyan Babu also something like that, this kind of versatility we could see in him; but his (Pandit Bankim Ghosh) main instrument was still Esraj.  And, — after the lunch, late lunch at 1.30 or 2’o clock, then he will take a short nap. And then go out for tuition at 3 or 4 o clock. He will dress up and leave and he would see me, he would like to see me every now and then throughout the course of the day. That was his waiting but my waiting started until he came back home. At that age I would be put to bed at 9 o’ clock and it was quite a struggle for me to pretend being asleep for 2 hours until he came at 11 p.m. My mother knew that I was not sleeping from the blinking of my eyes. She was sometimes come and scrolled me (saying that),” Now I am going to hit you , you have to go to school and still you are not sleeping”. She knew the reason. I would wait for him to come back home and knock on the door. Usually his wife opened the door….in the quiteness of the night , I could hear every sound and knew what he was doing . He would rinse his mouth with water and he would ask for the meal then lit up the bidi and he would pick up the Esraj.

I was just waiting for the first note, which inevitably put goose-bumps. Then for half an hour or 45 minutes or 1hour…all the duration he was practicing I would be in tears.

Later on, when I was teaching at Yale University one of my students, when I asked them to write article on their experience of music. One of my students wrote that……she started the first paragraph like this — the first sentence was this …..”no one ever cries in our family … we had deaths ..we had accidents ..we had tragedies….but we have never seen anyone cries in our family. Only the time I saw my father crying was when he listens music. So this is how…this is what … this is whom I owe my musical sensibility. “

If my music can ever…..you know I play Tabla… and I always had this question that; will I be limited in scope? In 1982 that was actually what put me restless and I picked up several locations to quit my job at All India Radio because in my book ‘ Music of India ‘ – in the front of the book I confessed that until my late youth I thought that music is divine, musicians are not. I didn’t have examples in front of mine or around me….to encourage me to really take music as a profession.

Pt Nikjil Bnaerjee

So in 1982 when I was touring with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee I gave it a second thought that, if this man can be in music, may be, I can give it a shot. I did not know him well enough yet, but I smelt something …. I see something there which I had not seen much around me. I won’t say that there were not any other person at all, there might have a been a few, but not enough to convince me to engage, to dedicate my entire life…. It’s my life, Sanjoy, I am talking about. And I had a clear vision of my life that how I want it to spent the years on this planet. So he gave me that impetus, that encouragement that and convinced me that I could give it a shot. In one of those 3 months I asked him directly this question, “Dada, you have your Sitar, and it seems to me that you can practically express any of your emotions through the Sitar. What am I going to do with the dead skins “. He was, he barely spoke, — he put some Pan-Parag into his mouth….and then just go quite….then one/two days had gone…..he knew that I’m not going to give up, I would bring up the question again and he was thinking….clearly thinking……3 days later when I asked him again during the lunch break …. just briefly said-” If you wish”.

Sanjoy Bandopadhyay: wow!

Samir Chatterjee: There are 2 things we are not ready to do with sincerity- wishing and waiting. When you wish something be careful because if you wish anybody or something continuously…… you may get answered….and imagine this was happened in 1982…..in 1996 when my son was putting up my website, he needed my bio data and I gave him it and he said,” give me your press comments”, so all the press comments I had saved I put it together with bullet points….. some of those were in Bengali , in Hindi or in English . Then once I organize them what comes out…..I read through it….I became alert of something……and then I realize that all of the reviews I had received so far were talking about the melodious aspect…… musical aspect of my Tabla.

Sanjoy Bandopadhyay: So you got that…

Samir Chatterjee: I was amazed! Not just convinced but I was amazed. I was not even aware….it was happening. So this is how things shape up naturally and that’s what I would say you not as an advice just a humble recommendation to all musicians of our next generation that keep you intend straight and honest.

—————–

Verbatim by: Mousumi Das

21/08/16

Picture Courtesy: Google

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=KRoVW9jcBY-v9QOE3pvwBA&q=pt+nikhil+banerjee&oq=Pt+Nikhil+B&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i24k1.19616.33200.0.34594.18.13.2.3.3.0.173.1723.0j12.12.0….0…1c.1.64.img..1.11.1106…35i39k1j0i67k1j0i30k1.0.xHCwWk13UDc#imgdii=Qy2Hla9z-veQPM:&imgrc=DJrDDmwi2DB6hM:

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

Time is Up

Told by Samir Chatterjee
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 29 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Samir Chatterjee, 15A Gobinda Mondal Lane, Cossipur, Kolkata
About Samir Chatterjee Eminent tabla player, thinker. To know details click here
Tags Shyamal Bose, humaniity, musicianship, dedication, Manmatha Nath Ghosh, Pathuriaghata, Amir Khan, tanpura, ambiance
Language English

Samir Chatterjee speaks:

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

Turtle Meat

Told by Samir Chatterjee
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 29 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Samir Chatterjee, 15A Gobinda Mondal Lane, Cossipur, Kolkata
About Samir Chatterjee Eminent tabla player, thinker. To know the details click here
Tags Radhika Mohan Maitra, Dhruva Tara Joshi, D.T. Joshi, Jadavpur, recommendation, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Turtle meat.
Language English

Samir Chatterjee speaks:

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

Proving the Decision Right: Jnan Praksh Ghosh

Told by Sabyasachi Sengupta
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 30 December 2014
Place Sangeet Bhavan, B.T. Road Campus, Rabindra Bharati University, 56A, B.T. Road, Kolkata 700050
On Sabyasachi Sengupta Tabla player, Guest Teacher at the Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
Key-words Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Mallar Ghosh, Music profession, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, Deshikottam
Language Bengali

Sabyasachi Sengupta speaks:

Verbatim:

 

???? ??????, ?????? ??????????? ??? ??????? ????, ???? ??????? ????????, ?????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ??????, ???? ?? – ????? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????????????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ????? ??????, ?????????????? ???????????? ??????? ????, ??????? ???? ???? ???, ?????? ???? ???? ????,??? ???? ???? ????, ?????? ????????? ??????? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ????, ???? ??, ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????????? ???? ???????? ????????? ????? ???????? ????? ??????? ??????, ???? ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????, ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ?????????? ?????, ???????????? ????, ??? ???? ???? ????, ???? ??????? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ??, ?? ??? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ???????????? ????, ??? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? –

Pt. Jnanprakash Ghosh

“???? ???? ?? ?????? ??, ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ???? ????, ???? ??????, ???? ?????? ?????? ??????????, ??????? ??????? ????????,  ??? ?? ????? ??, ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ???, ????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ????, ??????? ???? ??????, ?? ?????? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ????, ????????? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?? ???, ???? ??? ??, ?????? ???? ??????????? ??? ?????????? ???“    ??????? ???

?? ??????? ???????????? ????????  ?? ?????? ?????, ????? ???? ???????  ?????? ???? ??????? ?????, ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????????? ????????? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ????????? ??? ?????? ??? ????

Verbatim by: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Translation:

I heard this incident from Mallar Ghosh, my Gurubhai, the son of my Guruji Pt. Jnanprakash Ghosh. Last year, Mallar and I had gone to take an examination in Santiniketan. We were to return together by train, but the train was late, so we were in the waiting room, that is when he narrated this incident. We were talking about Guruji. That is when he narrated the story. He said that Guruji’s father did not want his son to take up music as a profession. It was against his father’s wishes that Guruji entered the world of music as a professional. According to Mallar Ghosh, all his uncles, that is, all of his father’s elder brothers were lawyers. Guruji’s elder brother used to call Guruji Genu. When Guruji received the Deshikottam from Santiniketan, when they received the news, Guruji’s brother hugged Guruji and said, “Genu, our father never wanted you to be a part of the world of music. He wanted you to take up law as a profession. But now that you have received this award, this world-wide recognition, it pleases me to think that no matter where father is today, he will be extremely happy that this honour has been bestowed upon you. You could not have received such an honour in any other profession. This is a great reward. You have received this honour today because you were determined to stay in this profession. This is not just a matter of pride for you, but for the entire family. Thank you.”

 

Translated by:  Sarbajaya Bhattacharya

PhotoCourtesy: Google   

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=jnan+prakash+ghosh&client=firefox-b-ab&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwioj4mqiq3aAhVBp48KHfJLAGkQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=631#imgrc=KQZlDRwZVlAHQM:

 

Edited and Desgined by: Ms Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee 

 

 

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

The Striped Kurta

Told by Sabyasachi Sengupta
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 30 December 2014
Place Sangeet Bhavan, B.T. Road Campus, Rabindra Bharati University, 56A, B.T. Road, Kolkata 700050
On Sabyasachi Sengupta Tabla player, Guest Teacher at the Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
Key-words 1978, Sealdah, Radha Kanto Nandy, Bhupalbabu, striped kurta,
Language Bengali

The Striped Kurta

Sabyasachi Sengupta speaks:

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

Towards Perfection

Told by Samir Chatterjee
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 29 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Samir Chatterjee, 15A Gobinda Mondal Lane, Cossipur, Kolkata
About Samir Chatterjee Eminent tabla player, thinker. To know in detail click here
Tags Shyamal Das, Chetla, tabla-maker, shreekhol, dedication, tabla-sound, 2001, making
Language English

Samir Chatterjee speaks:

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.

 

Thoughts on Bandish Archiving

 

Told by Jon Barlow
Obtained by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14 December 2014
Place At Kolkata residence of Jon Barlow 91/1B Bondel Road, Kolkata 700019 [Ballygunge Phari]
About Jon Barlow A man in pursuit of Indian Classical Music for more than fifty years. Learnt sarod, vocal music, music collector, music craftsman, photographer, artist, music theorist.
Tags 1972, 1973, Sangeet Natak Academy, sound archive, NCPA, Radhika Mohan Maitra, Narayan Menon, Arvind Parikh, recording studio, bandish, stories, anecdotes, D.T. Joshi, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Vijay Kichlu, Bandish collections, 1974, Peter Row, Ford Foundation, 1979, SRA.
Language English

Bandish Recording and Archiving: Thoughts during early 1970’s

Jon barlow speaks

 

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.