| Imrat Khan |
Website Links For Khan |
Information AboutImrat Khan |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT IMRAT KHAN | |
| 1936 births | |
| khan, imrat | |
| hindustani instrumentalists | |
| indian musicians | |
| living people | |
| sitar players | |
| washington university faculty | |
| etawah gharana | |
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TRAINING AND EARLY CAREER Imrat was born in Calcutta into a family of musicians tracing its pedigree back for several generations, to the court musicians of the Mughal rulers. His father was Enayat Khan ( 1895 – 1938 ), recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar player of his time, as had been the grandfather, Imdad Khan ( 1848 – 1920 ), before him. His father died when Imrat was just a child, so he was raised by his mother, Bashiran Begum, and her father, singer Bande Hassan Khan. In 1944 , the family moved with rising star Vilayat to Bombay and sent Imrat to uncle Wahid Khan. Wahid Khan was a surbahar master, and taught Imrat on the instrument in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani Gharana (school), or Etawah gharana, after a village outside Agra where Imdad Khan lived. In 1952 Vilayat and Imrat moved in together in Calcutta . For years they would perform together, but had a great falling-out after which they were for a long time not on speaking terms. From the 1960 s onwards, Imrat has performed and recorded solo, playing both sitar and surbahar. SOLO CAREER AND LEGACY For decades, Imrat has recorded extensively on both his instruments. His full performance pratice starts with a surbahar alap in Dhrupad ''ang'' (embellished with more romantic touches), followed by a shorter alap on the sitar leading into gat in traditional Imdadkhani style – (sitar players such as Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee added bass strings to ther sitars to achieve at least some of the surbahar's lower range on a single instrument). He has toured to Europe, the Americas and East and South-East Asia . Surbahar players are rare today, and with the possible exception of Smt. Annapurna Devi who has not performed in public for many decades, Imrat is the greatest living exponent. He has four sons, and Shafaatullah typically accompanies his father on the Tabla . The surbahar tradition is continued by Irshad, who has made some very traditional solo recordings. According to his official website {Link without Title} : " Khan is a consummate musician whose art is based on the deepest insight into the melodic subtleties of rag and the rhythmic intricacies of tal. His breathtaking virtuosity, always used with unerring taste and profound musicality, is placed at the service of a brilliantly inventive wit, which communicates a generous humanity reaching across to audiences of widely different cultures and turns each performance into an unforgettable experience." Imrat Khan currently spends a portion of each year teaching classical Indian music and instructing students in the sitar at Washington University In Saint Louis . FAMOUS STUDENTS George Harrison , the Beatles (Later George became a student of Ravi Shankar) Brian Jones , the Rolling Stones Nikhil Gutha, the Meatheads EXTERNAL LINKS |
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