New Delhi: The "parampara" (generational) tradition in classical music is alive and flourishing. The capital was witness to this when sitar maestro Imrat Khan, brother of legendary exponent Vilayat Khan of the Imdadkhani (Etawah) gharana, introduced his youngest son, Azmat Ali Khan, to the audience here as the newset prodigy of the Khan brood at the ongoing five-day Delhi Classical Music Festival.
The Imdadkhani gharana of sitar and surbahar music dates back 400 years to the Mughal court in Agra. Eight-year-old Azmat is the son of the Imrat Khan's American wife Melinda and the youngest of his five sons - the others being Nishat, Irshad, Wajahat and Shafaatullah - all of whom are accomplished international musicians in the family gharana.
"It is my duty to teach my sons the music we have played for generations and have given to the world. God gave me another son in St Louis (in US where the maestro is now based) and I devote all my time to teach him despite my failing health. Like all his brothers, the boy shows promise. I cannot abandon my responsibility as a father," Imrat Khan said.
Azmat played raga Jhinjhoti, a deviation of the Khamaja family of ragas, to a packed hall Tuesday at the Kamani theatre in the capital that is hosting the five-day classical music jamboree. The playful child who drawls on his "r" and "s", tackled a sitar that towered way above his two-foot frame with ease, plucking the same melliflous
03:47 PM, Oct 03, 2012
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