Music in the world for the music in me!

I have been thinking of writing about this for a while now... just could not start but today when I was responding to some comments on flickr for a recent photograph I realised that I need to write about what music means to me...

I am very fond of Indian bollywood music, but not from the current times... more from the times of Mohd. Rafi, Manna Dey, Kishor Da... not sure if I like Mukesh as much as the other three... my favorite has to be Manna Dey.. some of his songs like Aayo kahan se Ghanshyaam, Phool Gendwa na Maaro, Chalat Musafir Moh liya re, Dil ka Haal Sune Dilwala are always on the top of my lists...
Kishor Da in my opinion can be worshiped for what he was as a musician.. I don't think someone like him will ever be born again...
And Rafi Sahab... well.. the simplicity in his voice and the flow of his songs is something that makes it sound like water flowing in a mountain stream...

And then the songs with Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, and likes from the 70s and 80s... the favorites of the re-mixers...

And songs from movies like Chitchor, Rajnigandha, Gharonda, and likes...

From the last decade or so, I listen to Fusion and Sufi the most with my favorites being Indian Ocean, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahab, Abida Parveen, Shubha Mudgal, Kailash Kher and so on... I can listen to songs like Jhini, Khajuraho, Ma Rewa, Des Mera, Dama Dum Mast Kalandar, Tune Deewana Banaya to, Ab ke Saawan, Bam Badam, Teri Deewani, again and again and again...

The bollywood music of these days, I feel, does not come with age to it... you listen to it for a few days, weeks, maybe months and then you stop... Metro was amazing, Jhankaar Beats was beautiful, Dilli 6, Rules, Bombay, Roza, and the list can go on and on and on... some of them would randomly play on the ipod and bring a smile to my face !

With a lot of new bollywood music, I would like to dance... numbers from Oye Lucky, Race, Omkara, and a few more... Bhangra and Chichora music to be specific :P

Angrezi... I like to stick to the ones I like there too... Bon Jovi, Bryan Baba, Aerosmith, GnR, Boney M :), Micheal Jackson. Shania Twain, Celine Dion, U2, UB40 to name a few... and in the recent times, Green Day and Smash Mouth... Mostly I feel good with the movie sound tracks and Grammy Nominees... Ice Age, Shrek, KungFu Panda, Lion King, Madagascar (mostly animation I guess)

and then pure music... my favorites, Percussion... Dholak and Tabla come first... huge respects to Ustad Allahrakha, and his two awesomely talented sons Ustad Zakir Hussain and Taufiq Qureshi.. I wonder if there is someone today who makes the Tabla sound as good as Ustad Zakir Husain... Taufiq is more about percussion and including playing his own mouth ! Shivmani is another artist who gets so much respect... Not to forget artists like Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasiya... they make the world of music complete for me !

And how can I not mention the Bagpiper Drums Scottish Combo of Clanadonia here... they are the best !!!!

I used to play the keyboards myself when I was doing my graduation and I was not too bad either... but with time and the pressure of getting into a job, and earn money took away the time and dedication I had for theater and music... and today all I manage is listen and watch and appreciate... being on the stage a number of times and in the front row too, has helped me see and feel both sides of the music coin... Its magical to know how to play something and then play it well... its an experience that NOTHING else in the world comes closer too... and that is why when I see/hear a good performance I feel heavy in my heart and usually have wet eyes... I get overwhelmed !!!

Had not really planned this long a post, and I am sure I might have missed something that I like about music ! anyway... now that you have managed to read so much (or you just cheated and came down to this line) enjoy some of the photographs of people in a world different from ours !

Kailash Kher in concert in Infosys Campus, Bangalore

A local band in Camden Town, London who play covers for most popular numbers and are really good with it... the third photograph is an old couple who thoroughly enjoyed their music and danced like there was no tomorrow... and were amazingly fantastic as well...

Lead drummer of the Scottish Band Clanadonia... Not seen or heard anything this powerful EVER... and his energy at his age was unbelievable. Took this picture during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland

Goga Singh at Jyotisar Temple, Kurukshetra, Haryana... He comes daily to the temple to sing Bhajans and has God in his voice... the interesting thing about his singing is that he sings at one corner on the pond at the temple complex into the water, and his voice resonates in the entire temple complex in a way that it seems there is music in the air... you cannot really figure out where the sound is coming from... Makes it a magical experience.. Papa had requested him to sing a Bhajan for us when we went there... I took his picture when he was singing Papa's request...

An old man enjoying his music in the town of Crawley, near Gatwick, UK

The latest of all musical photographs... a Violinist at the Grand Avenue Mall, Downtown Milwaukee... which triggered this post

and can I dare to forget mentioning Radha when I talk about music? :) Seen here are Radha, Aro and my german friend Martina somewhere between Chamba and Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand... Mostly my music (when I am home) is experienced with Radha and that makes her most important person of my musical life :)

Have a happy weekend everyone !!! Will see you around !

And I found the performance that I had seen in Edinburgh on Youtube (Went into that hour while seeing this)... The sound is not excellent but you cannot miss the energy !!! I don't have words to explain what if felt like, listening to this live !