P for Patiala…the ABCD of the Patiala Gharana (I)

A- E

 

Ali Baksh and Fateh Ali Khan founded this school of Indian classical music in the 19^th century. The formidable duo, who trained under stalwarts of the Delhi and Gwalior Gharanas, earned the military titles of Jarnail ( General ) and Kernail ( Colonel) for their singing prowess from the Maharaja of Tonk. The pair were also fondly referred to as Alia-Fattu in the music circles.

Akhtar Hussain, son of Ali Baksh, was an accomplished musician who enjoyed the aptraonage of the King of Patiala but when partition happened in 1947, he chose to move to Pakistan. It was a struggle to establish himself again because he had left behind everything he owned. He slowly picked up the pieces of his life by giving music lessons.

But let’s talk here of   A for “Ashiq Ali Khan”

This lesser talked about a artist of the Patiala Gharana was quite a maverick. It would be hard to find a Hindustani classical singer who performs in tailored western suits even in this day and age but that’s precisely what he did. His illustrious father, Fateh Ali Khan, one of the co founders of the Gharana, passed away when he was still in his teens. He received some music training from Ali Baksh, his Uncle and the other cofounder of the Gharana, but soon ran away from home and sought solace in opium and Sufi shrines. Some of his father’s students came to his rescue and made sure he received further training. There’s a story about him being poisoned by jealous contemporaries and his losing his voice. To overcome the setback he is supposed to have developed a special style of singing the highlight of which were the immensely fast,yet precise taans. Ashiq Ali Khan taught several students – names like Zahida Parveen, Farida Khanum, Mukhtar Begum.

B for “Bade Ghulam Ali Khan”

The best known student of Aashiq Ali, Ghulam Ali Khan took the Patiala tradition to great heights. There are many a folklores associated with the singer. How he agreed to sing in Mughal- e – Azam, for instance. Or his return to India from Pakistan

Bade Ghulam Ali is often refered to as belonging to the Qasur Patiala Gharana, an an off shoot of the original Patiala Gharana, but many think that his ties with the other branch were as strong. An article in fact describes his Shakkar ceremony where he officially honoured his Gurus Ashiq Ali and Akhtar Husaain ( Son of Ali Baksh and grandfather of Shafqat Amanat Ali) in a public ceremony.

But Bade Ghulam Ali Khan did add to the Patiala legacy in a big way and is credited for developing Punjabi ang  thumri and khayal singing of Patiala.

C for “Coke Studio”

Patiala Gharana has been represented on this music series more than once. Shafqat Amanat Ali‘s  immensely popular Khamaj and Ankhon ke Saagar were a part of Season 2. He featured again in the 10^th season after a considerable gap.

Meanwhile season 6 featued Ustad Fateh Ali’s son Rustam Fateh Ali Khan

Hamid Ali Khan sang in the season 7

Infact Shafqat has featured even on Coke studio India..a feat matched by Shila Rao when she sang Paar channa de in season 9 of the Coke studio Pakistan

D for “Darbari” 

This drut Khayal features the duo of Ustad Amanat Ali and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan which took Patiala to great heights in the 60’ s and the 11 minutes of this recording shows us why. It showcases everything Patiala- the fast taans, the delicate ornamentation and the perfect division of parts while singing in jodis, which is another Patiala tradition.

 

E for “East meets West”

Fusion experiments with the west in the Patiala Gharana began probably with this collaboration between the Norwegian Sax player Jan Garbarek and Ustad Fateh Ali.

https://soundcloud.com/owais-raza-14/ragas-and-sagas-jan-garbarek-ustad-fateh-ali-khan

Then there was a band called Fuzon …and rest, as they say is history.

to be continued… 🙂

Ghar Waapas Jab Aaogey Tum, Kaun Tumhe Pechanega?

A recent episode of my perennial favorite Coke Studio Pakistan featured a song called Umra langhiyan– rendered by a young talented singer Ali Sethi. The credits of the song mentioned the original singer and composer- Asad Amanat Ali Khan. There are many young music lovers (especially in India) who are unaware of the existence of this extremely talented and accomplished singer of the Patiala Gharana.  He was very popular in Pakistan and much mourned when he died quite young of a heart ailment in 2007.

His voice was unique- slightly nasal with that tinkle that he inherited from his father, Ustad Amanat Ali. His training gave him great control and a good range. But there was something in his voice, beyond all technicalities…and that was expression. Whether he sang about love, or separation, or joy- you could feel the emotion so well.

He would have turned 60 today if he were alive, he was only 52 when he passed away. On his birth anniversary I pick some of my favorite performances of his from YouTube.

Kacchi jeyi tand  teri yaari

Feel the aftermath of a broken relationship here-

“kuj tu sen tez mizaajan di

keeti kadar na merayan laadan di

assi ujar de ujarde ujar gaye

assi holli holli vichar gaye”

Blame it on your fiery temperament

And the fact that you never appreciated my affections

Slowly what we shared fell into ruin

Slowly we grew apart…

Kal chaudhvin ki raat thee

it’s hard to beat the Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali versions etched in our minds, but this delightful rendition grows on you after a few listens..

Laagi re tosi laagi najar saiyan laagi

A bhairavi thumri which he performs with Ustad Hamid Ali Khan. There was a tradition of singing in jodis (pairs) in the Patiala Gharana. Asad said in an interview that it was his chacha,Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, who made the decision that Asad should sing with his (Fateh Ali Khan’s) younger brother Hamid. He had hoped that they would follow the footsteps of the Amanat Ali Khan and Fateh Ali Khan pair-probably the most popular classical duo in the 1960’s in Pakistan. And to some extent these two did succeed  in recreating some of that magic!

Mora saiyan mose bole na 

A  Khamaj bandish of the Patiala gharana was later adapted by Shafqat Amanat Ali to give one of his most popular numbers till date. Asad renders it here in the more traditional format.

Ye Arzoo thee tujhe

With lyrics by Haider Ali Aatish, this was a very popular ghazal sung by Ustad Amanat Ali. Asad renders it here as a tribute to his father

Umran Langiya

Don’t need to elaborate on this any more. Just listen to this, my favorite out of all versions on YouTube…19 minutes or so of pure bliss.

Insha Ji Utho

A very young Asad sings these Ibn- e- Insha words which were originally sung by his father( soon after his passing away). Ustad fateh Ali Khan is in the audience and  breaks down while listening to it, as he remembers his brother. Since both Ustad Amanat Ali and Asad passed away young, this song began to be considered a jinx of sorts by the family and Shafqat’s sisters and aunts made him promise that he would never perform this one.

Ghar Waapas Jab Aaogey

And this one just to remember this great artist.  He came back to enthrall music lovers through a song that he composed and sang, but how many actually knew and remembered him?

I hope more people listen to his songs, I hope more people sing them.