Among Contemporary Musicians

Contents : Preface. Glossary. 1. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (Sarod). 2. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (Saroad). 3. Dr. Balamuralikrishna (Karnatic vocal). 4. Late Begum Akhtar (Vocal). 5. Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Hindustani vocal). 6. Sri Bimal Mukherji, I.A.S. (Retd. ) (Sitar). 7. Ustad Bismillah Khan (Shahnai). 8. Pt. Chintamani Raghunath Vyas (Hindustani vocal ). 9. Pt. Dinkar Kaikini (Hindustani vocal). 10. Late Pt. Krishna Gundopant Ginde ("Chhottoo") (Hindustani vocal). 11. Smt. Girija Devi (Hindustani classical, semi and light classical). 12. His holiness Acharya Gokulotsav Maharaj (Hindustani vocal). 13. Pt. Hanuman Misra (Sarangi). 14. Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasiya (Bansuri). 15. Late Smt. Hirabai Barodekar (Hindustani vocal). 16. Pt. Jasraj (Hindustani vocal). 17. Late Jon Higgins "Bhagavatar" (Karnatic vocal). 18. Pt. Kishan Maharaj (Tabla). 19. Smt. Kishori Amonkar (Hindustani vocal). 20. Late Kumar Gandharva (Hindustani vocal). 21. Shri. U. Srinivas (Karnatic –Mandolin). 22. Late Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur (Hindustani vocal). 23. Late Maharajapuram Santhanam (Karnatic vocal). 24. Late Ustad Mohammad Hussain Sar Ahang (Hindustani vocal). 25. Late Pt. Nikhil Jyoti Ghosh (Tabla). 26. Late Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (Hindustani vocal). 27. Late Pannalal Ghosh (Bansuri). 28. Dr. N. Rajam (Hindustani-Violin). 29. Rajan and Sajan Misra (Hindustani vocal-Jugalbandi). 30. Pt. Ramnarain (Sarangi). 31. Pt. Ravi Shankar (Sitar). 32. Smt. Savita Devi (Hindustani vocal classical and semi classical). 33. Late Pt. Shamta Prasad "Gudai Maharaj" (Tabla). 34. Late Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan (Hindustani vocal). 35. Smt. Sharan Rani Backliwal (Sarod). 36. Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor). 37. Smt. Shobha Gurtu (Semi classical and bhajan). 38. Smt. M.S. Subhalakshmi (Karnatic vocal). 39. Ustad Vilayat Khan (Sitar). 40. Late Thakur Jaideva Singh (Musicologist, Scholar, Philosopher). 41. Late Nirmala Devi. 42. Pt. Niwruttibuwa Sarnaik. 43. Smt. Gangubai Hangal. 44. Shri Sawai Gandharva. 45. Late Jaddanbai. 46. Smt. Moghubai Kurdikar. 47. Shri. Baswaraj Rajguru.

"The author, being a part of that senior generation of rasikas who heard the great musical giants of the era, namely Ustads Allauddin Khan, Hafiz Ali Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Mushtaq Khan, Pandits Omkarnath Thakur, Dr. Ratanjankar, Vinayakrao Patwardhan, Narayanrao Vyas, Krishnarao Pandit as well as great women artistes like Kesarbai Kerkar, Hirabai Barodekar, Gangubai Hangal, Siddheshwari Devi, Rasoolan Bai and many others upto the numerous celebrities and prodigies of the present times, had the rare good fortune of coming into close contact with most of them because of her being the compere and interviewer of numerous leading musicians for AIR, Doordarshan and for various important papers and journals. On the basis of information directly collected from them and various other sources, she confined the profiles of these musical giants to give them the shape of the present book.

These maestros hail from different backgrounds and have been groomed in different gharanas and styles. Some of the them have achieved fame and eminence after years of struggle, suffering, poverty and even starvation. These musical faquirs have lived the lives of extreme simplicity, shunning publicity and content in their naadopasana. Numerous musicians are still enriching their gharanas by their creative contributions. Some excel as performing artistes who hold vast audiences in thrall. A whole cavalcade of unforgettable and irreplaceable forty-seven musicians have merged in this stream known as Among Contemporary Musicians". (jacket)