09/07/2025
CELEBRATING A MAESTRO
USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN ~ (PART 2)
It is with immense pleasure and honour that we at Navras Records commence the celebration of the 80th year of a legend, the Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, with whom we have enjoyed a very special relationship and a bond that transcends a professional relationship. On 9th October this year Ustadji turns 80 and we mark this auspicious year with a series of his performances selected from the Navras Catalogue and Archives which we will share on both the Navras YouTube channel and here on the page.
Amjad Ali Khan was born in 1945 in the city of Gwalior, which has musical associations in India comparable to those of Florence and Vienna in Europe. It is the birthplace, and resting place, of the legendary Miyan Tansen, court musician to the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the late 16th century, and the seat of some of the most important traditions of North Indian (Hindustani) classical music.
Amjad Ali Khan (Khansaheb) is himself the youngest son of the famous court musician at Gwalior, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, and represents the sixth generation of a family of musicians traced back to Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a horse trader and player of the instrument known as the Rabab, who moved from Afghanistan to India. The family developed this Afghan instrument Rabab into the modern Indian Sarod. Khansaheb’s heritage is this family tradition, the Bangash gharana of sarod playing, and the Senia beenkar gharana (instrumental music tradition of Tansen and his family). He has continued the pioneering work of his father and ancestors. Although Amjad Ali Khan grew up in the dhrupad vocal tradition of the Tansen tradition, he has also introduced the more common khayal style of singing to the Sarod. His early passion for the tabla drums and interest in the Carnatic (South Indian) music give further breadth to his style.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has helped secure the sarod as one of the most popular instruments in India, established his own name as one of the leaders of Indian classical music and his fame has spread all over the world. His many prestigious visits to Britain have included concerts at the BBC Proms, recitals at the House of Commons, Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican and for the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III. He has been an Honorary Professor of Indian Music at the University of York and has been a Wigmore Hall Associate Artist since 2021.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has far too many distinctions and honours to fit in here but among many are the most prestigious recognition awarded to him is the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour from the President of India, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and a Grammy in 2010 for the Best Traditional World Music Album.
Amjad Ali Khan is married to an outstanding Bharat Natyam Classical Danseuse Subhalakshmi Khan (née Barooah), and they have two sons, both outstanding Sarod players, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, representing the seventh generation of this legendary lineage. Ayaan’s 12-year-old twin sons Zohaan and Abeer are also following in the footsteps of their ancestors in pursuit of playing the Sarod.
Navras Records and Sama Arts have a long history of a very special relationship with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. His performances, along with both his sons, are very well represented on the Navras Catalogue and feature in the unpublished archives now with Sony Music India.
We continue this 80th year celebration of the Maestro with his masterly rendition of one of the most profound ragas of North Indian Classical Music, Raga Malkauns, which he performed at London’s Barbican Centre in July 1997, accompanied on the Tabla by Pandit Kumar Bose and on the Sarods by his two sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash.
This performance, to mark the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence, was released on the Navras Catalogue under the title “Sarod Ghar” (NRCD 0123).
https://youtu.be/nuzXIP_Cr3E?si=W_UpIY4cjWSpp915
