One of the greatest Indian
classical musicians of the century, sarod exponent Ustad Ali Akbar Khan who took Indian music
to the west, was in personal life a man of great compassion, innocence and humility.
He felt that life's greatest lessons were either taught by children who knew nothing, or by stalwarts - because the mediocre always found faults.
Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan passed away in California Friday after a prolonged kidney aliment. He was 88.
Citing an instance of his sharp memory, humility and compassion, noted Indian
classical vocalist Rita Ganguly of the Dhrupad gharana recalled, “Once as a three-and-a-half year old, I attended a concert by the Maihar band conducted by Baba Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan's father, the founder of the Senia-Maihar gharana. I just walked up on to the centre-stage and started dancing on my own till the band played. No one could stop me. Several decades later in 1982, at a concert in Udaipur, Ustaad Ali Abkar Khan, who was a part of the band in Lucknow reminded me of the incident and narrated it in details because it had slipped off my memory. He said he learnt from me- a toddler who knew nothing about music- how much he had achieved because of the gay abandon with which I danced.”
That fateful night in Lucknow was the beginning of Ganguly's career and the “reminder of the incident by none other than the maestro himself” intensified her life-long love affair with the music of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
“He is the greatest musician India has ever produced and his death is nothing short of tragedy in the world of Indian music. He tops list of three trend-setters in Indian music that includes Begum Akhtar and Ustad Amir Khan,” Ganguly said.
Born on April 14, 1922 in Bangladesh, maestro Ali Akbar Khan traces his ancestry to Mian Tansen, the 16th century musical genius and court musician of Emperor Akbar. His sister, Annapurna Devi, was married to Pandit Ravi Shankar.
The sarod maestro is survived by his son, Ustad Ashish Khan, his wife, hundreds of students at the Ali Akbar College of Music in California and millions of fans across the globe. Ali Akbar Khan, a contemporary of sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was one the early band of Indian classical musicians who took Indian traditional music to the world – especially to the US and helped it carve a niche for itself.
Musician-writer Peter Lavezzoli, in his book on Indian music, “Bhairavi” says sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan was the first Indian classical musician to appear on US television. At the request of violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Ali Akbar visited US in 1955 and performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He also cut an LP – the first recording of Indian classical music – in US.
Ali Akbar Khan gave his first public performance at the age of 13. In his early twenties, the sarod
exponent cut his first HMV (His Master's Voice) label and subsequently became the court musician of the Maharaja of Jodhpur for seven years. He learnt music from his father and uncle Fakir Aftabuddin. He was also part of the Uday Shankar's music and dance ensemble.
His upbringing was austere and he practised music for 18 hours a day.
He founded the Ali Akbar College of Music in Kolkata in 1956 and relocated to US in 1965 to teach Indian music to American youth.
“I recorded an half an hour interview-based programme with him on Doordarshan 15 years ago. He was playing at Maihar near Jabalpur, the hub of his gharana of music. I think Ali Akbar Khan was a purist and one of the greatest Sarod players of the century,” veteran television presenter and music crtitic-writer Sharad Dutt said.
Recalling his contribution to Hindi cinema music, Dutt said Bollywood musician Jaidev was one of his disciples. “That is why Jaidev's compositions are full of sarod,” Dutt said.
Ali Akbar Khan composed the songs and background score for the 1953 movie “Aandhiyan”, a Navketan production directed by Chetan Anand, starring Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik. “The music was widely acclaimed,” Dutt said.
His list of awards is long. In 1960, he was conferred the Best Musician of the Year Award for his work in the movie “Hungry Stones” directed by Tapan Sinha and in 1963 he was honoured with the President of India Award. He was also given the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibushan by the Indian government.
Besides, he was honoured with several prestigious awards in United States and United Kingdom.
“But for the Indian classical music fraternity- which is tight- he was always the affectionate big brother. We bonded over the soirees and the radio programmes in Delhi and Lucknow in the 1940s and 1950s. He lived in a house near the Bengali Market when he was in Delhi,” reminisced Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj.
--Madhusree Chatterjee