Search - Ali Akbar Khan :: From Father to Son (Ragini Puriya Dhanasri)

A Middle Path

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 07/26/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A third opinion is in order. First, this is Alam Khan's debut [2001] recording. I saw him ealier in peformance with Ali Akbar Khan, where he contributed little. He is indeed young and has a long road ahead of him, especially since his father died in 2009. His much older brother Aashish Khan is a highly experienced sarod master, who studied under Allaudin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan's father. In a way, the album is a follow-up to Ali Akbar Khan's recording, Passing on the Tradition.



But this album is not about young Alam, despite the title. It is about the "feminine" raga Ragaini Puriya Dhanasri performed live in an intimate setting. By mytho-tradition, there are 6 principal male ragas: Bhairav, Malkauns, Hindol, Deepak, Shri, and Megh. Each rag has 5 raginis female partners (from which 8 offspring ragas are developed). Of the evening Puriya form, which is associated with discord and absence, this ragini manifests pathos and power and ultimately cheer but not tranquility.



What, then, about the performance and recording itself? This is not a true jugulbandi, or duet, since there are no equal partners. Alam provides mainly scale emphasis and iteration. His playing is not as strong or confident as his father. His improvisations are not elaborate. The rare ragini shows its ancient origins and it is good to have an example on record. In short, a connoisseur of Hindustani music and collector of Ali Akbar Khan's performances would definitely desire the album, but I would look for another recording if I were interested only in the better examples of Ali Akbar Khan's art."

Old seasoned master with a mediocre novice

Samir Barot | Calcutta/San Jose | 02/18/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"ok, ali akbar khan deserves appreciation, but his son really is mediocre.

wonder why such a talented musician who has a wealth of knowledge has not been able to produce ONE worthy successor. (Nikhil Banerjee was already groomed by allaudin khan and annapurana devi before comming to ali)

ive heard his son live several times and it sounds like a corpse is playing.....there just is no soul"