Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan on what performing with classical music greats was like

Bismillah Khan Sahab addressed my father as Chacha Sahab (uncle). He was friends with my eldest brother, Mubarak Ali Khan; they were the same age. He was always kind and affectionate towards me.

I had been receiving invitations to music festivals from the age of twelve, and had the privilege of meeting all the great musicians of the time, including Bismillah Khan Sahab.

Once, I was asked to perform at a music festival in Varanasi organised by Pandit Ravi Shnkar. That day I was concluding the session. The first performance was by Birju Maharaj and Zakir Hussain, followed by Bhimsen Joshi.

To be the concluding act after so many brilliant performances by musicians and dancers was an honour for me, but, at the same time, immensely challenging, taxing and risky. At 3am., accompanied by Pandit Samta Prasad alias Gudai Maharaj on the tabla, I went on the stage.

I could see several great musicians in the audience, including Bismillah Khan Sahab, and as a mark of respect, took ijaazat (formal permission) from all of them.

I began the concert with my own composition, Raga Lalita Dhwani. The concert ended at 7 am Many years later, in 1989, when we honoured Bismillah Khan Sahab in Chennai with the Haafiz Ali Khan Award, Khan Sahab lavishly praised my Varanasi concert in his acceptance speech.

During my concert, he said, he had wanted to go out for his morning namaaz but he was deeply moved by some portions of my concert and felt a strong connection with God. “Sangeet bhi toh ibadat hai,” he had told himself and stayed back.

Performance

On several occasions, Raviji (Ravi Shankar) and I performed in the same music festivals. A particularly memorable incident took place at a festival in 1964 in Calcutta. It was the last day of the week-long Sarba Bhartiya Music Conference at Shyam Park.

I was scheduled to play and the concluding item was a duet between Ali Akbar Khan Sahab and Ravi Shankar. Bhimsen Joshi was to perform in between.

In the middle of the night, I received a phone call from the festival secretary Dhiren Mukherjee saying that Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan wanted to play before my concert and I should take a taxi and come quickly.

I was a bit startled as I was unable to understand the reason for this. (They told the presenter that they had to catch a flight.) They were big stars at that time and my playing after them was unthinkable.

Dhiren Mukherjee was my well-wisher; he wanted me to sit on the stage before the sarod and sitar maestros came. When I reached the pandal, there were about 7000 or 8000 people in the audience. Child artist and actor Daisy Irani was giving a Kathak performance.

The moment she finished, Dhiren Babu pushed me on to the stage. Legendary tabla maestro Samta Prasad was accompanying me. When the curtain opened, I was still tuning, and I could see Raviji with his sitar on one side and, on the other side, Ali Akbar Khan Sahab with his sarod, standing in the wings and trying to catch my attention. I was a bit overwhelmed but I closed my eyes and started my performance.

When I finished, both the musicians came on the stage soon after and immediately began playing a duet sitarsarod recital. That concert was a turning point of my life. Memorable Our family was close to Bhimsen Joshi.

Once, my wife Subhalakshmi requested Bhimsenji to sing on my forty-ninth birthday at our residence. It was a memorable concert. He remained alert till his last days, watching TV, and having newspapers read out to him.

His fans and other artists would visit him now and then. His face always lit up when he conversed with fellow artists and old friends. The recordings of maestros were his constant companions in his last years.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

(Re-printed with publisher's permission.)

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