We use cookies on our website to provide you with the best experience. Most of these are essential and already present.
We do require your explicit consent to save your cart and browsing history between visits. Read about cookies we use here.
Your cart and preferences will not be saved if you leave the site.
play
Out of stock

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan

1934-1935

Label: Important Records

Format: CD

Genre: Folk

Out of stock

More than seventy years since his death in 1937, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan retains his reputation as one of the greatest singers India ever produced. Possessed of an elastic, honied voice that poured out like mercury, he influenced generations of singers including Mohammed Rafi, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, and Pandit Pran Nath. Born at the end of the 19th century to a family of musicians that extended back in time for centuries, his art was formed in the culture of the courts of the maharajas under British colonialism but was changed by his genius and imagination and a life marked by sacrifices for love, unsatisfied ambition, abandonment and heartbreak. These performances were culled from sessions made during his peak final years 1934-35, newly transferred and restored and with extensive notes by Ian Nagoski. Ustad Abdul Karim Khan's recording of the composition 'Jamuna ke tir' in Raga Bhairavi stands as one of the great masterpieces of music. When I first heard the recordings of Abdul Karim Khan I thought that perhaps it would be best if I gave up singing, got a cabin up in the mountains, stocked it with a record player and recordings of Abdul Karim Khan, and just listened for the rest of my life."– La Monte Young, 2004


"If there is any real trace of miracle, of phenomena, of wonder, it is the voice."
– Hazrat Inayat Khan, 1926

More than seventy years since his death in 1937, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan retains his reputation as one of the greatest singers India ever produced. Possessed of an elastic, honied voice that poured out like mercury, he influenced generations of singers including Mohammed Rafi,
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, and Pandit Pran Nath. Born at the end of the 19th century to a family of musicians that extended back in time for centuries, his art was formed in the culture of the courts of the maharajas under British colonialism but was changed by his genius and
imagination and a life marked by sacrifices for love, unsatisfied ambition, abandonment and heartbreak. These performances were culled from sessions made during his peak final years 1934-35, newly transferred and restored and with extensive notes by Ian Nagoski.

Details
Cat. number: IMPREC346
Year: 2012
Notes:

Tracks 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10 recorded in Bombay in March 1934. Tracks 1, 6, & 7 recorded in Bombay in February 1935. Tracks 3 & 8 recorded in Bombay on December 22, 1935. Both the later sessions are presumed to have the same accompanists.

Digipak with booklet of notes.

Comes with a 12-page booklet of notes and photographs.