Showing posts with label Nadhaswaram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nadhaswaram. Show all posts

Monday, May 16, 2011

Madurai Brothers - Nadhaswaram 1970


The Madurai Brothers - Nadhaswaram
M.P.N. Sethuraman & M.P.N. Ponnuswamy
EMI India - S-33 ESX 6037 - P.1970



Side A 

A1 Anadhudanuganu - Jingla 4'04
A2 Swararagasudharasa - Sankarabharanam 17'54
B1 Manasa etulo - Malayamarutham 4'25

Side B

B2 Naane unai nambinen - Hamsanandhi 13'25
B3 Aadum chidambaramo - Bhehag 5'21 

More Nagaswaram for the needy!  This is an excellent record we did not have here before presented to me by a musician friend whose wonderful collection of rare West African and Moroccan music we shall hear more from when some of the more rare ones appear here on Anthems as time allows. 

He has generously let me go on excursions in his record shelves and this one was an odd out, I used to have a copy of this record myself but that one had vanished sometime over the years. 

There were several other Carnatic LP's but alas, sometimes overlapping tastes means that there are many copies of the same, so unfortunately this one was the only "unique". The rest were mostly african and some of those I am sure will find a good audience here. 

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Madurai Brothers - The Enchanting Nadaswaram


M.P.N. Sethuraman & M.P.N. Ponnuswamy
"The Madurai Brothers" - The Enchanting Nadaswaram
EMI India - ECSD 40507 - P.1983




Side A

A1 Entha Vedukondu - Saraswathi Manohari
- Adi - Thyagaraja 8'39
A2 Pirava Varam - Lathangi
- Adi - Papanasam Sivan 13'15

Side B

B1 Krishna Nee Begane - Yamuna Kalyani
- Misrachapu - Vyasaraja 6'05
B2 Oothai Kuzhiyile & Magudi - Ragamalika
- Pambatti Siddhar Paadal 14'52
B3 Kadi Modi (Tiruppugazh) - Kanada
- Arunagirinathar 3'10




Another great find by my good friends Arvind & Costis from their latest excursions in South India. All ripping and editing again done with the help of the benevolent and patient Zwan. Thank you all for that!

We had some good Nadaswaram before and I can promise that there will be more by the brothers coming later. Here and there a little crackly, nothing terrible, the sound is very good and the music is great, especially the Papanasam Sivan composition Pirava Varam in Lathangi!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sheik Chinna Moulana - Still more Nagaswaram


Sheik Chinna Moulana - Nadhaswaram

EMI Columbia - S-33 ESX 6104 - P.1974



Side A

A1 Sri Maha Ganapathy - Gowlai 5'52
A2 Rama Bhakti - Suddha Bangaala 5'40
A3 Saraswathi Namosthuthe - Saraswati 11'09


Side B

B1 Padmanaba Paahi - Hindolam 12'43
B2 Pibare Rama Rasam - Yamuna Kalyani 3'56
B3 Thiruppugazh - (Mani Rangu) 3'42


Still more nagaswaram with Moula Sahib... The opening piece on the B-side, Padmanaba Paahi - Hindolamand the concluding Thiruppugazh are long time favourites. Hope you like them as well! I will continue posting nagaswaram later but now I think it is high time for some Carnatic Classical Male Vocal so watch out for following posts! A few of the real masters are clearing their throats and waiting to please your ears!




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Friday, March 4, 2011

Sheik Chinna Moulana - Nagaswaram


Sheik Chinna Moulana - Nagaswaram
EMI Columbia - S-33 ESX 6029 - P.1970




Side A

A1 Janaki Ramana - Suddhaseemanthini 5'33
A2 Valli Nayakane - Shanmugapriya 16'09

Side B

B1 Marugelara - Jayanthasri 7'51
B2 Karuninchutaku - Sindhumandari 2'33
B3 Itu Sahasamulu (Javali) - Saindhavi 3'44
B4 Thullumadhivetkai (Thirupughaz) - Hamsanandhi 6'37



I promised more Nagaswaram music and here comes another of the great masters. The profound artistry of Sheik Chinna Moulana. He was a childhood admirer of T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai, and in later years emulated Pillai's approach to the nadhaswaram.


"For many in the audience, the Dalai Lama’s address was the night’s high-point. But there was a final treat awaiting us; for, at the break of dawn, the peerless nadaswaram player Sheikh Chinna Moulana made an appearance. Here was a man who embodied the Mahatma’s (and Ramu’s) ideals as well as any Indian then living. Born in a Muslim family in Andhra Pradesh, and a practicing Muslim himself, his faith was capacious enough to embrace a deep devotion to Lord Ranganatha. By the time we heard him that morning in Delhi, he had lived for 25 years at Srirangam, making his home just outside the great temple there. Thus was one of the holiest of Hindu holy spots enriched by the presence, and the music, of this Telugu-speaking Muslim."

from The Hindu here



Sheik Chinna Moulana (1924-1999)

Sheik Chinna Moulana - "chinna" (in this case meaning younger, as opposed to "pedda" elder) - might have remained a provincial musician had he not learnt to combine the Thanjavur style of music with that of his native school; in the event, he was accepted as a nagaswara vidwan of great merit in Tamil country. His hero was Nagaswara Chakravarti T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai, whose birth centenary was celebrated two months ago. There was poignancy when Chinna Moula, delivering his presidential address at the Music Academy's annual festival last December, said that he would place the Sangeeta Kalanidhi title at the "feet" of the late Rajarathnam Pillai before accepting it; poignancy because the Academy had not deemed it fit to honour Rajarathnam with the title, apparently because he had thumbed his nose at the establishment.


Sheik Chinna Moulana was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, into a musical family whose ancestry goes back to Sheik Nabi Sahib of Sattalur. He received his initial training from his father, Kasim Sahib, and later from vidwan Adam Sahib of Chilakalooripeta. He received further training in the Tanjore style of playing under the Nachiarkoil brothers, Rajan and Dorai Kannu.

Sheik Chinna Moulana gave his first performance in 1960 in Tamil Nadu, India and quickly gained renown.

He was an artiste in great demand and performed extensively in India and abroad. He served as an honorary professor at the Tiruvayyar Music College in Tanjore district. He was known to be a devout follower of the Hindu deity Ranganatha, which lead him to reside in the pilgrim city of Srirangam where he established the Sarada Nagaswara Sangeeta Ashram, a school for aspiring nagaswaram players. Notable students of the ashram were his own grandsons Babu, Pedda Kasim and Chinna Kasim as well as Mahaboob Subani and Kalishabi Mahaboob.

The Music Academy in Madras chose to honour Chinna Moula for a combination of reasons. First, no nagaswara vidwan had been given the title for 37 years. Secondly, Chinna Moula was an outstanding exponent of the nagaswara, a maestro no less, with a large following. Thirdly, he hailed from Telugu country and it would be in keeping with the image of the Music Academy as an all-India organisation to go beyond the boundaries of Tamil land to honour an 'outsider', although Chinna Moula had lived in Srirangam, near Tiruchi, for many years and acquired the status of an honorary Tamil. Finally, as the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of Independence, it was fitting to honour a man who symbolised not only linguistic but also religious harmony.



"Moula Saheb"

This cover below is the typical generic cover that many records were sold with when the originals were used up. This is the most "generic" of them all, with the same image on both sides. Some had the same artwork but would at least have the name of the artist and the titles of the music printed on them. The original cover would be great to see, so if someone visiting this blog has it please pass it on to me.


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