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27/03/09

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 !

18 comments:

  1. I can give you a 'same pinch' for almost all the songs, singers and genres mentioned in this post...
    [minus the chichora songs, which I rarely enjoy :)]
    Agar likhne baithi to teri post se lamba mera comment ho jayega :)

    Anyway, Badawala SAME PINCH!!!
    Oh!Lagi kya??? ;P

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  2. By the way, the pics are super cool...kailash kher wali ek dum mast hai.
    Aur Radha to bahut hi sundar lag rahi hai last wali pic main :)

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  3. Looks like you might have been the one person to identify the musicians in this old vinyl record that I found at a flea market!
    Check it out- http://onceuponateatime.blogspot.com/2009/03/flea-market-and-garage-sale-treasures.html

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  4. Love the pictures.. very spirited !

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  5. @ Swati...
    chal tere saath kabhi drive par music ko lekar jhagda to nahin hoga :D

    and chicora songs are like the heart beating for me... ho chichora songs meaning to heart beating !!!

    :P

    thanks... Radha is beautiful... its been a while I have seen here though !

    @ Aditi
    will try :)

    I could see Pt. Ravi Shankar in that photo though..

    @ Shivi
    thanks budds !

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  6. first of all nice set of musical pics here :)

    IO, Sivamani rock and IO music is very original hence repeatworthy..can never get tired/bored listening to them...

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  7. Music is the food of Love.. Play on Play on !!

    nice pics.. more nicer write up ..
    nicest choice of singers.

    One of Manna Dey's fav has to be Madhushaala sung by him.. I have been listening to it regularly these days!
    Have you heard?

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  8. Plan and start taking drum set lessons from a professional. Invest in a good drumset. Practice regularly. In five years you will be an expert drummer. DO it or else in five years you will be just older by five years.

    Find a good music academy close to your house. Usually the cost is 20 dollars per lesson.(maximum) .Or if you go to a local highschool , they usually have a band programe where they have instructors to give private lessons who charege like 9 dollars an hr.

    Jagjeet singh is on a tour in US. May be you might want to attend his concert.

    Vinita

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  9. loved the kailash kher pic - could almost hear that voice that could give you goose pimples. Nothing like live music, you bet! and thanks to all the annual IIM fests here, i have attended quite a few :)

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  10. @ Reeta
    :) thanks !!!

    you are so right about Indian Ocean and Shivamani... Had attended a concert with Shivmani and Taufiq Qureshi... mind blowing stuff !!!

    @ Kshitiz
    you bet bro...
    thanks !!!

    you remember we had talked about Madhushala once... and I had told you that I can only manage to like the one sung by Manna Dey... even more than the one recited by Amitabh :)

    @ Vinita
    super solutions :)

    I cannot handle Jagjeet Singh... too much ho jaata hai for me !

    @ Bhoomi
    yea... it was very nice sitting in the first row while he was singing.. he has a good band too... very nice artists on all instruments !

    College Fests are great for such performances... I remember attending Euphoria 4 times in an year in Delhi in various functions and they rocked bigg time !!! heard a few backstage things too which kind of dampened my love for that band though !

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  11. Lovely pictures as always that gel with your posts.

    I kinda liked Mukesh...my favorite song being "Woh tere pyar ka gam, ik bahana tha sanam".

    And SD and RD Burman, Kishore for sure...

    "Khoya Khoya Chaand, Khula Asmaan"...the most romantic song ever!

    "I like to move it move it"...I actually danced to it with my friends' kids over the weekend!

    And I practically only listened to "Beedi Jalayi le" all summer long last year!

    And few years ago my summer song was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, and the other "They see me rollin, they hatin Patrolling they tryin to catch me ridin dirty" by Chamillionaire.

    Have you listened to Canadian band K-OS, excellent music.

    And Jazz...Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr...

    As you can see, my music likings fall into a pretty broad spectrum! :)

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  12. And "Clanadonia" was awesome!

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  13. aap to bahut kuch sunte ho :) sahi hai... send me something by that Canadian band please...

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  14. Hey awesome pictures and lovely post...I think I pretty much like all the stuff that you described, except that my all-time favourite is Rafi :) His voice just transports me to another world :)

    I love the picture of the guy in the blue shirt with the guitar...I faved it on Flickr I think :)

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  15. You indeed have varied interests!!
    I like most of them too..plus DEV D from the Bollywood section,minus the oldies!!
    :P

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  16. Zaroor. Ek ek karke bhejti hum K-OS ke gaane.

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  17. @ Madhu
    thanks :)

    Rafi is amazing...

    @ Vaishali
    :) thanks... Dev D is good music... very good infact

    @ Jas
    looking forward to it :)

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  18. kewl. . . .Music makes me happy :) !!

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