Amjad Ali Khan - Moksha (2LP)

There are no musicians in India with a lineage as long and illustrious as Amjad Ali Khan's. It stretches back in an unbroken link over 200 years. On this Indian classical album, he offers the listener a variety of ragas, including folk music from two beautiful states of India - West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

Amjad Ali Khan was born in 1945 in Gwalior, one of the great cities of Madhya Pradesh, India. There are no musicians in India with a lineage as long and illustrious as Amjad Ali Khan - he’s the sixth-generation sarod player in his family and his ancestors have developed and shaped the instrument over two hundred years. Amjad Ali Khan is revered by an astonishing number of people and he has received a huge number of awards, but unlike many of the other Indian musicians who’ve become famous in the west he has stayed true to pure Indian classical music. For Amjad Ali Khan, his music is a serious art that deserves time and respect. He has taught his two sons Amaan and Ayaan, born in 1977 and 1979 respectively, who are starting out on solo careers.

In the West, the sitar has become better-known than the sarod, but in India both string instruments are held in the highest regard. For this Real World recording, Moksha, Amjad Ali Khan tried something quite new for him and very unusual in the Indian classical music tradition. Instead of the usual lengthy slow introduction which explores the raga (scale pattern) before heading off into faster compositions, instead Amjad Ali Khan presents eight different ragas in relatively short compositions. This album gives the listener a variety of ragas, including some folk music. Amjad Ali Khan has named each piece according to its mood, but stresses they are just guides according to his (or his sons’) vision while performing the piece. “I just want listeners to enjoy the music and the feelings it creates without knowing any technical background.”

1. Sandhya

2. Vignaraja

3. Calcutta City

4. Ebaadat

5. Maa Durga

6. Atma

7. Himaalaya

8. Moksha