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On February 4, jointly with Lahore Arts Council, the Sham Chaurasi Music Circle presented a three-hour plus music concert mostly by the offspring of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, the legendary exponent of Kheyal style of singing. Billed as 'An Evening of Raag, Thumri and Kafi with Shafqat Ali Khan', the youngest son of late Ustad, the programme started with a short but impressive presentation of Raag Ragesheri by Shujaat Ali Khan, the grandson of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, which was followed by the rendition of a couple of ghazals of contemporary poets by Latafat Ali Khan, another member of the family.

Former Chief Secretary of the Punjab Javed Qureshi, the current Chairman of the Lahore Arts Council, did well by instructing LAC officials to commence the proceedings promptly at 6.30 pm the time mentioned on invitation cards. Not only that!, he also announced that in future all LAC programmes would start on time regardless of size of the audiences.

This is a good example, which should be emulated also by other music promoting organisations as it will save precious time of both the organisers, the invitees and the artistes, which is unnecessarily wasted on such occasions. Another aspect of music concerts, which should also be taken note of is the trickling in of invitees, especially in the middle of a presentation, which causes irritation to the invitees and distractions for performing artistes. While a song is being rendered, no one, regardless of his social and official status, should be allowed admission in the hall. They should be asked to wait until the item is completed.

Shujat Ali Khan, the grandson of late Salamat Ali Khan was the first to perform during the three-hour long presentation. Although young in age, his expertise in the Sham Chaurasi style of kheyal singing came as a pleasant surprise to the votaries of classical music. He was followed by a solo tabla performance by Nafees Ahmed, to whom harmonium accompaniment was provided by his brother, both of whom live in London. He played peshkaar, qaida, gat and paran in seven-matra (beat) difficult Rupak taal, which was followed by a presentation in 10-matra Jhapp taal.

The London-based Latafat Ali Khan, another son of late Salamat Ali Khan, whose forte is melodic interpretation of literary ghazals, presented a couple of ghazal of contemporary Urdu poets. With the striking of the first note, he established a rapport with the musically enlightened audience of Lahore from whom he won ebullient praises. The thumri-accented ghazals sung by Lataflat were reminiscent of the enticing and enchanting styles of such maestros of yore as Ustad Batkat Ali Khan and Ustad Ijaz Husain Hazravi.

Last to perform was Shfaqat Ali Khan, the youngest son of late Salamat Ali Khan, who likes to use the suffix of Ustad. The raga he chose to dwell on was Darbari, whose invention is attributed to Mian Taan Sen, one of the nine jewels in the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar, the Great.

A raag sung in the night, Darbari by the very nature of ambience is such a soulful classical formulation, which needs subtle treatment. As requited, inveterate singers lay greater emphasis on its alap, the slow progressive delineation of its theme, especially in the lower register. A good composition in this raag creates a feeling of serene exaltation among perceptible listeners. In his highly tuneful and forceful voice Shafqat Ali Khan sounded so good while progressively delineating the melodic theme of the raag. However, he frequently and unwarrantedly used gammak (trill) taans, which not only caused a jarring to the ears of the listeners but also were misplaced according to the scalar parameters of the raga. In raag Darbari, more emphasis should be laid in its alap segment than on tayyari (speedy flourishes)

Shafqat would do better if he curbs his excessive proclivity for using gammak taans and avoid taking liberty with the thematic thrusts of raags by not including in his presentations the cacophonic gammak taans, which are used only in an exercise for culturing the voice of a singer. His unbridled use of these tanns, especially in such raags as Darbari is not justified according to the grammar and mood of the raag..

Another appreciable feature of the concert, which was appreciated by the audience was that among the participants in the concert were two sons and a grandson of a legendary singer of a single gharana, who managed its organisational and promotional aspects quite efficiently, making it an almost a family affair.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005


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