Provoked Thoughts Options

[zippoo]

Aaj HF padhhtey padhhtey desh ki bahut yaad aa gayi. Abhi ja toh nahi sakta, socha gunh gaan hee sun loon.

[rom]

Unni:
As a little kid, I saw him at a function of the Malayalee Association in Kolkata. He was the special invitee and appeared on stage to sing a few lines of the popular Malayalam song "Ambili Amaava". It was a great honour for the Malayalee community of Kolkata, since he was a legend in his lifetime and the pride of Bengal.

Thanks once more, sir!
Why don't you tell us more about your musical experiences? There are few on the HF who've actually seen legendary singers, musicians perform live... you have, and I'm sure you haven't exhausted your store of tales. I'm sure we'd all love more of those.

[unni]

Why don't you tell us more about your musical experiences? There are few on the HF who've actually seen legendary singers, musicians perform live... you have, and I'm sure you haven't exhausted your store of tales. I'm sure we'd all love more of those.

rom:

You would recollect my posts of recollections of some live concerts I've attended: a few of Rafi-sahab, and one each of Kishore-da and Talat-sahab, while in India. One of those concerts, held over two evenings, also featured Manna Dey, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Suman Kalyanpur and Usha Khanna. Apart from those, I've attended Lata-ji's (where Dilip Kumar sang a song too) and Asha-ji's (with Amit Kumar) concerts in the USA. I guess, apart from Hemant Kumar, I've had the opportunity to see/hear most of the legends in person. If I were to recount them again, it would be a rehash of earlier posts.

I consider it "special" that to see/hear Pankaj Mullick. At least I can say that I had the opportunity, although it was so brief and even though I was then only about 6 years old! But the amazing part is that his fame was such that even I, as a kid, was aware of his stature. Thinking back, it was the next best thing to seeing/hearing Saigal-sahab in person! Of course, Saigal-sahab had passed away even before I was born. But Pankaj Mullick was a hark-back to that generation and the music of that era.

The atmosphere at the venue would be different, depending upon the artiste. In the instance of Talat-sahab, the audience had a sober, serious approach to the concert. For his songs were slow, melodious and drawn from the past. Only connoisseurs of old HFM would attend and appreciate a concert by Talat-sahab in the 60's and later, when he was no longer "current". It was not excitement but nostalgia that characterized the event. But to such a "niche" audience, a musically sophisticated one, the experience of listening to Talat-sahab live was just divine! In the midst of a small, select audience, I realized my ignorance when I heard the "requests" called out for rare non-filmi ghazals. In the 80's he gave a live-performance in USA in the same city where I lived then. But I declined to go. For he was then well past his prime and I didn't want to spoil the memory of the earlier concert.

Kishore-da was at the height of his popularity at the time I saw/heard him. The audience expected both soulful numbers as well as 'chaptpati' ones. And he gave them both, but carefully segmented. The expectations of the audience would be built up with his opening number, "Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam", and he would continue in that vein of catchy, popular songs for some time. Then move on to what he called "heavy-weight" songs --- the slow, sad melodies. For me, that was the highlight of the program, when he would immerse himself in soulful tunes/lyrics such as "Jeevan Se Bhari" and "Chingari Koi Bhadkey". And he would bring the house down with his final "Eena Meena Deeka"!

For Rafi-sahab, the audience came with a sense of awe, of respect. Apart from his immense popularity, his stature in HFM was already an imposing one. We knew we would hear some nostalgic old songs and also some 'mast' ones plus some melodious current songs. Every time I heard him, he would start off with the semi-classical "Madhuban Mein Radhika", almost like 'riyaaz' before the performance! From the visual aspect as well as the musical one, it was most memorable when he sang "O Duniya Ke Rakhwaley". He would be totally "involved' in the rendition, oblivious of the audience --- just his heart, his voice and his harmonium. At the end of the song at its highest pitch, it seemed as if the audience collectively held their breath. There would be pin-drop silence for a few seconds, followed by prolonged rapturous cheers. Yet later, there would be spontaneous dancing in front of the stage when he switched to "Yahoo"! And on every occasion he sang "Suhani Raat Dhal Gayi".

My recollections about other artistes, I shall post separately.

[iqbal]

I've attended: a few of Rafi-sahab, and one each of Kishore-da and Talat-sahab, while in India.

Unniji, please share more info about these, how many live shows in total have you attended and were they all in the US?, did you meet Rafisaab backstage in any of these shows ?

Thanks
Iqbal