Category Archives: Music Allied

Accompaniment, 1948-1960, Central, Others

“Bangali babu nahin chalega”—A not so famous lady singer refusing Bengali Tabla player

Told by  Pandit Sankha Chattopadhyay (Chatterjee)
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 16th March 2017
Place Garia, Kolkata
About the speaker Pandit Sankha Chattopadhyay is a reputed Tabla player from Kolkata. His style blends three leading Tabla  Gharanas of India, Farukhabad, Delhi and Punjab.
Tags Chourangi, Sadarang Conference, Morning session, Kanai Dutta,
Language Bengali

Sankha Chattopadhyay speaks:

Text version:

????????? ???? ????????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ?????????, ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??, ??? ????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????, ????? ????? ???? ?????, ????? ??? ??? ???? ???, ??????? ???????? (????? ?????)?? ???????? ???? ???? ??? ?????…? ?? ??????? ????? – ???? ???????? ??…???? ???????

                             Ustad Dabir Khan

???? ??? ????? ???- ‘??? ?? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ??????? ??????’?

(????? ?????)’??? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ?????’?(????? ???????)? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ????? ??? ???

?????? ?????? ????…?

???? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ??????

?? ?????????????? ????… ???????? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ??????????? ?? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ????????

Metadata & Verbatim by:  Dr. Suranjita Paul

 

Translation:

                                    Kanai Dutta

At Chowringhee, near the Lords Bakery, there was an open space, where the Sadarang Conference would be held. There would always be a huge crowd at the conference. Tickets were priced at Rs. 4 or Rs. 5. There had come to perform in the morning session, a Baiji, who was not very acclaimed at that time; referred by Kanai Da. The Baiji had said, “I do not prefer to be accompanied by a Bangali Babu…” And Kanai Da had assured, saying, “Oh, don’t you worry… I will play with you.”

Dabir Khan Saheb said, “Hey what are you doing? This is such a trouble!”

But the Baiji continued, saying “No no… I won’t allow a Bangali Babu…” (voice not clear)

Thus, Khan Saheb had to play, though the Biaji was not an infamous one.

That day at the morning session…

Do you understand, Kanai Dutta was refused!

No no, just see the way of talking-  “I won’t allow a Bangali Babu…”

These Bangalees are the one who were famous Tabla Players.

Translated by: Ankana Das

 

Picture Courtesy: Google

https://www.google.com/search?q=ustad+dabir+khan&client=firefox-b-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG2ZCh5MPbAhUIbn0KHZfpAk4Q_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=631#imgrc=oKuJ8BiExc_1EM:

https://www.google.com/search?q=kanai+dutta+tabla+player&client=firefox-b-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW7buW5cPbAhWbTn0KHW5JCSIQ_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=631#imgrc=MEg60pmNUDfCIM:

Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
North, 1921-1947, Production & Archiving

Bangal Bilaval and Nazrul Islam—A Megaphone Incident

Told by Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14th  February 2017
Place 3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known sitar player of Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags Kolkata, Ajay Sinha Roy, Guru, Meghaphone Records, Ustad, Recording, Studio, Kaji Najrul Islam, Raag, Bangal Bilawal, Bilaval, Bengali Song
Language Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

 

Verbatim:

                           Pt. Ajoy Sinha Roy

?? ?????? ????????? ??? ?????? ???? ????????, ???? ???? ???? ???????? ????, ??? ???? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ???????-? ???? ????? ??? ???? ???????? ??? ?????? ???? ????????, ??? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ??? ????????? ?? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ????????? ????????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ??????? ???????-? ????? ?????, ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ????? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ??????????, ???? ?????? ‘????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ??????’?

???? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ‘?? ?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ???, ?????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ???’? ??? ??? ???????, ??? ?? ???  ?????, ????? ?? ???? ???????? ??????, ??? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ??????? ????

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

Verbatim by:  Dr. Suranjita Paul

Translation:

I had heard this incident from Pandit Ajay Sinha Roy, whom I used to call Ajay Kaka and he was also my second Guru. Ajay Sinha Roy had told me that once a musician from the western part of India had come to the recording studio of Megaphone Records to record a Raga. Among the people present in Megaphone Records during the recording, there was also Kaji Nazrul Islam; he used to work at the studio at that time. But he failed to recognize the Raga that the Western singer had performed. So he had said, “You couldn’t recognize this Raga? This is an Indian Raga after all… it is the Bangal Bilawal.

                  Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kaji Saheb couldn’t shrug off the fact that a Western singer had challenged him. So he had said, “No no. Who said that we couldn’t recognize the Raga? It is a very common one, and we all know it here. It is so popular that we even have Bengali songs on it.” Saying this, Kaji Nazrul had at that very moment composed a Bengali song based on the Raga, and sung it to the Western singer, to show that the Raga was known to him. This proved that we Indians are in no ways lacking behind Western singers.

This incident was narrated to me by my Guru Pandit Ajay Sinha Roy, whom I used to call Ajay Kaka.

Translation by: Ankana Das

Picture Courtesy: Google

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazi_Nazrul_Islam

http://www.itcsra.org/TreasurePast.aspx?TreasuresId=4

Kaji Najrul Islam Beganleft HMV for megaphone Company during 1932-33.  Therefore the time period has been tagged between 1921- 1947 in this anecdote –Editor

Reference:

“Islam, Kazi Nazrul – Banglapedia.” Accessed April 19, 2017. http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Islam,_Kazi_Nazrul.

 

Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul

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

 

Kolkata, Concert Management, After 2000

Socialization and Concert Engagements

Told by Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14th  February 2017
Place 3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known sitar player of Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags Kolkata, Musicians, Profession, Tuition, Programme, Socialize, Programme arrange, Promote, Guruji, Dipak Choudhury, After 2000, Corporate House
Language Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
South, Instrument Making, 1975-2000

Identification and Rectification of a Musical Instrument: Remembering Hiren Roy

Told by Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14th  February 2017
Place 3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known sitar player of Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags Hiren Roy, Early 80’s, Naskar Instrumental Shop, Sitar, Kishori Naskar, Meend
Language Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

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

 

Performance, South, Concert Management, 1975-2000

Organizing Music in Baithak Format

Told by Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14th  February 2017
Place 3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known sitar player of Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags Kolkata, Baithaki Programme, Tradition, Sur Sagar Society, Akhi Ranjan Das, Organiser, Bhawanipur, Beltala Road, Siddhartha Sankar Roy, Lav Kush Apartment,  90’s, Artists, Sound System, Classical Programme, funding, Donation, Membership,   Joydeep Ghosh, Biswanath Ghosh, Vocal, Instrumental, Tabla, Harmonium, Taxi Fare, Kartick Kumar, Subhra Guho
Language Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
South, Listening, Others, After 2000

Listening to Ustd. Amir Khan till the last breath

 

Told by Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date 14th  February 2017
Place 3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known Sitar player of  Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags Dipak Bandopadhyay, Economist, London School of Economics,  Kanpur, Dover Lane Music Conference, Amir Khan, Mahanirban Road, Dhakuria
Language Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

Text version:

???? ???? ??????? ???? ?????????? , ???? ?????????????? ???? ??????? ?????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ??? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ???? ??????? ????????, ??????????? ??? ???????????? ????? ????, ??? ??? ??? ??????? ?????????????? ????????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ?????????, ??? ???????? ??. ??. ?? ?? ????? ????????? ??? ??????, ???? ???? ??????? ??????????, ????? ??? ?????? ?????????, ???? ???????????? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ????????? ???????, ???? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ???

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

?? ???? ???????????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ????????? ??????, ?? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?????, ?????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ?????? ?????, ???? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ???????????????? ????? ??? ???, ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???-? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ?????????? ????, ??? ?? ??? ?????? ???, ?????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ……?????? ???? ??????? ??? ????? ???, ???????? ???? ?? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??, ??, ?? (??????) ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?????????? ??? ?? ????????? ?????? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??????? ???? ????????? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ???, ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ???????? ???, ???? ??? ????? ?????

 

Verbatim by Dr. Suranjita Paul

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

 

South, Production & Archiving, After 2000

Discovery of Some Concert Recording of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Told by Dr. Amlan Dasgupta
Obtained by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date 20th Februray. 2017
Place Jadavpur University, Department of English
About the speaker Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Tags Bangalore, Archive, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Concert Recording, Cassettes, 2007, 2008
Language English

Dr. Amlan Dasgupta Speaks :

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
South, Production & Archiving, 1961-1974, After 2000

Radio Recordings of Ustad Mustaque Ali Khan recorded in thirty cassettes—A Gift that came all the way from Venezuela

Told by Professor Amlan Dasgupta
Obtained by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date 20th Februray. 2017
Place Jadavpur University, Department of English
About the speaker Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Tags John Barlow,  Mustaque Ali Khan, Radio Recording, Cassettes, Venezuela, 1960’s
Language English

Professor  Amlan Dasgupta Speaks :

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
1921-1947, South, Production & Archiving, After 2000

Live Recordings of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan : an Unexpected Source

Told by Dr. Amlan Dasgupta
Obtained by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date 20th Februray. 2017
Place Jadavpur University, Department of English
About the speaker Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Tags Abdul Karim Khan, Live Recording, Karachi, 1930’S, Seth Narayan, Bal Gandharva
Language English

Dr. Amlan Dasgupta Speaks :

Verbatim:

There is something which is for me, might be a great experience which I have had for the last five years, is listening to live recordings of Sahib, which was recorded by in the early 1930s by a Karachi or Lahore business man called Narayan on some equipment which I have not been able to indentify. He was recorded in ten mini clips. So what recorded in ten minutes at that time I have no idea. Books don’t say anything about it. History of technology is silent on this till date, what thing it is, because it was interwar period or and clearly what they were, for instances, transcription discs. But they weren’t here at India.

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan

It is possible that Seth Narayan got it from somewhere. He was a rich man, he used to fly aeroplanes. At that very early time, he was very fond of Bal Gandharva. He likes the recordings of Bal Gandharva. But he has three or four recordings of Abdul Karim Khan Sahab. This the only thing only time I have been able to hear.

 

Verbatim by: Dr.Suranjita Paul

Picture Courtesy: Google

http://camitava.0catch.com/maestros/abdulkarim.htm

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 

 

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
South, Production & Archiving, 1975-2000, After 2000

The Making of School Of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University

Told by Prof. Amlan Dasgupta
Obtained by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date 20th Februray. 2017
Place Jadavpur University, Department of English
About the speaker Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Tags Archive, Singers, Collectors, 1980,s, Anjan Sen, Biman Sinha, Rantidev Moitro, Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, You Tube, 2004, Jadavpur University, 2003, Sukanta Chowdhury, School of Cultural Texts and Records, Instruments, Raaga, Gharana, Classical Music, Mallikarjun Mansoor, Anindyo Banerjee, John Barlow, British Library, UGC, Records, Wire Recordings, Spool Recorder, Cylinder Records, Private Collector
Language English

Prof.  Amlan Dasgupta Speaks :

File- 1

File – 2

Text version:

The idea of having music archive is something we have thought about, we thought about for a long time ever since we are listening to music, a lot of us, it was a kind of community activity.

Spool Recorder

Many of my friends were learning music, others were interested in music, so there was lot of lot of talk about music, and you there was these things, oh only if there was some place where we could listen to these things, and the more that we heard about great singers of the past that you thought that whether it will be possible ever to go and listen to these songs.  At that point of time it did not seem possible. It’s much later infact that we came to know about these great 78RPM record collectors but we had no access to them, as music, young,  extremely young music, very frankly we would not get much you know much of their time or they would not  really allow us listen to the music, unless we have some kind of connection.

Cylinder Recorder

So it’s somewhat later only I think after, in the early 80’s that there were these music collectors like Anjan Sen, Biman Sinha, later Rantideb Maitra who gave us access to their collection and we heard a lot, somewhat around this time I got acquainted with Sarbari Da, we also listen to music there, its then we started understanding there is a great den of music in private hands. So the idea of having an archive where people could just come and listen to music as people  reads book in the library, something that we, Now to tell the truth  I wouldn’t do it anymore because  today you can listen to most of these on YouTube. Only thing I can say  that distinguishes The   archive  from a collection like You Tube which is ultimately probably even larger totally even than the archive and much more   but much less organized is that a, The archive is organized on a  different principle, even the largest collection is not organized in the same principle. The principle of the  archive is that the archive  pays attention both to connect and the metadata. That is what makes it valuable, makes easier  recourse for research. So there are other things too without the archive.

Verbatim by:  Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Picture Courtesy: Google

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=kyMNW6b0DNCw9QPn5qW4DA&q=cylinder+recorder&oq=cylinder+recorder&gs_l=img.3..0j0i5i30k1l2.13826.16049.0.16466.5.5.0.0.0.0.152.726.0j5.5.0….0…1c.1.64.img..0.3.442…0i7i30k1j0i7i5i30k1.0.ZjU3VQjIvQc#imgrc=ch64V3-a5BVQxM:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=kyMNW6b0DNCw9QPn5qW4DA&q=spool+recorder&oq=spool+&gs_l=img.1.0.35i39k1j0i67k1j0l8.5215.6568.0.8690.6.6.0.0.0.0.163.901.0j6.6.0….0…1c.1.64.img..0.6.900….0.CaxHxnyhFMI#imgrc=vElH5GmpXUrOTM:

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee 

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