His popularity as a tabla player may be due, in large measure, to the fact that he was one of those rare musicians who was able to totally engage the mind of his listener with what he was playing.
— From a chapter on Ustad Allarakha in Master on Masters, by Amjad Ali Khan
While writing about the towering, almost spiritual presence of Ustad Allarakha in his life, sarod virtuoso and Padma Vibhushan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan — the sixth-generation sarod player from the illustrious Senia Bangash gharana — recalls what it was like to watch a founding member of a musical dynasty in action. As someone who has accompanied the great Ustad Allarakha (lovingly called ‘Abbaji’), Khan has undoubtedly had a mehfil -like intimate view to his genius.
Nineteen years after Abbaji’s passing in 2000, Khan’s sons and sarod players, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash paid tribute to the tabla maestro on February 3 at ‘A Homage to Abbaji — Ustad Allarakha’, the annual series of concerts that commemorate his life and legacy. Held every year since Abbaji’s first barsi (death anniversary), his renowned son Ustad Zakir Hussain curates three sessions featuring eminent artists and students of the Ustad Allarakha Institute of Music.
The Bangash brothers drew from their own experiences with Abbaji as they took to the stage for the first time in his honour.
Says the younger of the siblings, Ayaan Ali Bangash, “The last time I met Khan saab was in Ahmedabad. Since it was a late evening concert, he performed before me. When it was my turn, I obviously came on and announced that it’s against tradition, not to mention completely out of place for me, to sit (to perform) after Khansaab, my senior. But it was his command that I do so. Imagine his greatness that he sat in the wings throughout my performance. I value those blessings even today.”
Inheriting a legacy
Blessings are in abundance for the Bangash brothers, who represent the seventh generation of sarod players, from a family credited with creating the sarod from the Afghan rubab, and whose musical lineage traces back to Miyan Tansen.
Legacy is not a word lightly thrown around here. Amaan says, “Legacy is a blessing of god to you, and what you do with it is your gesture of appreciation or your biggest gift back to god. So many people ask us how we’re going to take Khansaab’s legacy forward. I tell them my first aim is to not be a cause of embarrassment to him. I should play the sarod the way it has been taught to me, the way he wants me to play.”
A big part of their relationship with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is the balance between him as their guru and as their father. Wholly aware of how that weighs on them and the opportunities and difficulties that come with the turf, Amaan is candid in analysing his life thus far. “I feel if I was not Abba’s son or disciple, whatever little I have accomplished in life, would have taken me another 25 years. To be born under a father-guru of his stature is not easy. One has a very high standard to live up to. He has been the most loving father to us. As a guru, he has been strict. There were many great sarod players in the world, but my father is my hero,” he says.
On his part, Ayaan found the relationship confusing when he was younger. He recalls, “He was more of a father and less of guru. But as time went by, he became more of a guru. The change between the two relationships today is somewhat effortless. He could be a father from the hotel lobby to the car and then suddenly from the car ride to the concert, he could be a guru. The great thing about our father is that he has allowed us to fly and do things our own way. He always reminded us that to be loved by the audience was more important than to be the best at something.”
Audience appreciation is a significant part of an artist’s life. Indian classical music, which evolved from intimate spaces like royal courts and temples, has grown to occupy packed auditoriums and arenas.
New directions, new sounds
Over time, much has been written about every subsequent generation’s lack of interest in classical music. Ayaan though believes today’s digitised generation is actually at a vantage position to use technology to find its roots. He says, “Today is a very fascinating time for classical music, for this is one genre that has organically redefined and reinvented itself. Year after year, newer elements are being incorporated. It’s wonderful that you have so many platforms including web streaming, social media, YouTube and such sites to give access to rich traditional music.”
Amaan, more scathing in self-assessment, believes that dwindling audiences for classical music is a myth, perpetuated by some musicians and picked up by the media.
He says, “God forbid, tomorrow if I don’t have a full house, I can’t blame the audience... I have to blame myself for not being able to attract people to my concert. Not having an audience for a particular musician doesn’t mean interest in that form of music is going down. I have never heard Ustad Vilayat Khansaab, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshiji, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Hariprasadji or Shivkumarji or my father make such comments. They have always said that it (classical music) is growing. That’s the best part about the nature of music; it evolves with time and with collaborations.”
Aural experiments
While the classical is in their DNA, they have experimented with sound over the years, releasing world fusion album Reincarnation in 2006, and the thematic album, Mystic Dunes , in 2007. Collaborations with world musicians have also taken this generation of Bangash sarod players in newer directions.
“Unlike Western music, Indian classical music is an incredibly oral tradition. We don’t write music in the conventional understanding of songwriting, but we have broad guidelines of how we wish to collaborate when we’re working with Western musicians and instruments. Indian classical music is like Indian cooking; you don’t really follow a recipe, you follow your gut. I play a traditional instrument. I don’t want to make it into an overly ‘cool’ westernised instrument. In fact, I don’t feel like a musician; I feel like someone who works for an industry that preserves Indian art, culture and heritage,” says Amaan.
The author dabbles with being a mum, an editor, a music journalist, and a budding bass player.
