Ali Akbar Khan

Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Ali Akbar Khan, an Indian sarod player from Maihar. Born in 1922, Khan was originally introduced to the sarod by his father, Allauddin, a strict teacher who worked as the court musician for the local Maharaja.

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Ali went on to gain renown internationally as a sarod maestro. We’re playing two of his records of classical Indian performances. Ragas, released in 1973, contains four 20-minute pieces; the first two are collaborations with his brother-in-law Ravi Shankar. Raga Sindhi Bhairavi, from 1993, features additional instrumentation including tabla from Zakir Hussain. Khan carried on his father’s legacy, teaching thousands of students at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA, until his death in 2009.

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Ragas - Ali Akbar Khan (80m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Raga Sindhi Bhairavi - Ali Akbar Khan (50m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Have a really nice start to your week.

1. via Scroll

2. via New York Times