Asif

Adaab arz!

I love Mehdi Hassan's rendition of Ghazals. He is [was?!] as superb -infact the best-ghazal singer in a classical style.

Zindagi mein to sab pyaar kya karte hain (Qateel Shifai), Aake Sajada Nashin kaise huwa (Meer), Koo ba koo phail gayee baat(Parveen Shakir), tu ne yeh phool (? Dagh), gulon mein rang bharay (Faiz), yeh dhuan sa kahaan se Uthtaa hai (Meer), aaye kuchh abr kuch sharaab aaye (Faiz), yaaro kabhi kissi qaatil se (?), arz-e-niyaz-e-ishq kay (Ghalib), dil e nadaan (Ghalib) and ab ke hum bichaday.(Ahmed Faraaz)..are my favourite ghazals of his to date..

though generally all his ghazals are excellent.

Ghulaam Ali too is excellent: chupke chupke raat din (Hasrat), tumhare khat mein (Dagh), Awaargi (MOhsin Naqvi), hum ko kisske gham ne maara (?) are amongst my favourite ghazals sung by him. He has a slightly less clasical stlye and is 'lighter' than Mehdi Hassan.

Any other khawateen/hazraat (!!) like these two out there?

Which ghazals do YOU like?

Allah Hafiz

Asif

une femme dans la nuit

I love Mehdi Hasan, although I am not educated enough in him/his work to be able to cite my favorites. All I know is that I saw him in concert when I was like 8 and I've been in awe of his voice ever since. One of his most touching songs for me, and I don't even know what it's called http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif is the one that goes something like
...nazron say gira to rahay ho, ....bhula na sako gay.
Do you know the one I mean?

I do hope you reply. You have excellent taste!
P.S. I can't believe NO ONE replied to your post. Helllllo? Mehdi Hasan ring a bell with anyone?

Asif

Dear Madame Dans La Nuit aka Yasmeen [I checked out another Forum before this! See my message there to you ] The Culture Forum I think it is!

Yes, I find it incredible that others don't like M. Hassan! But perhaps I'm the only 24 yr old who likes him?!

Sorry, i've only been interested in his music for the past year or so so I have lots of hi stuff to here yet! I can't recall that one!

Anyway, who else do you like?

Asif

Yasmeen

Assalamualaikum, Asif,
I'm so glad you're back! I really wanted to talk to you about all the poetic and musical knowledge you seem to possess. Hey, it's not every 24 year old who can "translate" Ghalib!
Who else do I like? My tastes are very eclectic. I don't like "categorization" of music, e.g. pop music, rock, country, etc...
I like individual songs/pieces of work from individual artists. Examples of stuff I like in English are A-ha, George Micheal, Michael Bolton, Chris Isaak, Eurythmix, Aerosmith.
Unfortunately, I lack substantial exposure to Pakistani music, so my tastes might seem somewhat uneducated to you. As you know, I love Mehdi Hasan's voice. I also love Vital Signs (the Dil Dil Pakistan album has established permanent residence in my CD player ), Jagjit and Chitra Singh (although some of their stuff is a little cheesy), Pankaj Udaas, and old Noor Jahan songs (none of her "come and get me" stuff http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif ), and Eesa Khailwi.
Phew! I hope that wasn't too much information for you! Tell me about your tastes, please.
Oh, and also, can you adopt me as a student? I am desperate to become more "educated" in Pakistan's musical heritage.

Asif

Aziza' Yasmeen!

Thanks for your reply too! I'm glad you responded

First of all, I dont think I am fit to be any one's Ustad! Certainly not when it comes to music or our cultural heritage! BUT I will be delighted to exchange my meagre knowledge with you about a host of things!

First of all you HAVE got an eclectic taste in music; i'm afraid that though i've lived in Inglistaan all my life [get it?!] I've not really enjoyed much english/western music and I exclusively [almost] listen to Pakistani/Hindustani music! Haan, I do like some old stuff by Lionel Ritchie and Marvin Gaye! Iss ke siwa maghribi musiqui ka zyaada showqeen nahin hoon. So, what do I like?
Well, I like a lot of the music you do: Vital Signs [all albums!], Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan [his traditional stuff not the remixes he did ], of course Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali, a single album of Jagjit Singh called 'Ghalib'--iss mein Ghalib ki ghazalein hi hain!, some Atta Ullah as well (! I WAS surprised when you said you liked him as well, mein ne socha tha ke sirf mein hi aisa dehaatee music pasand karta hoon!), Ali Haider-- kuchh songs, The SAbri Brothers, Aziz Mian, various other pop songs [pakistani], of course Hindi Film songs [mostly puraani film songs! Mostly Lata!]; there are a FEW Noor Jahaan songs I like but to be honest I hven't heard enough really: aik ghazal hai by her--brilliant:'humaari saanson mein ab tak woh hina ki khusboo mehek rahee hai', the punjabi songs from the Pakistani film Heer Ranjha by Noor Jahan and many other songs by various artists from Pakistan [and lots of indian film songs; my two favourite film tracks are pakeezah and mughale azam and also umrao jaan ada!] THERE!
Poori list bataa dee hai! There's a lot of overlap between what you like and what I like!

So, I hope we CAN have good discussions. But I'd prefer it on email if you don't mind: my email is a_jehangir@hotmail.com

BTW, aap ki umr kitnee hai? [sorry for being rude lekin it'll help me formulate my replies in the correct manner!] You're from the US right or was it Canada? Aap student hain?

Do reply! Happy listening!!

Allah Hafiz

Asif

ps Haan, yaad aaya ke Mawlana Rumi alayhi rahmat, that great Sufi poet and Saint has written, in translation:

In the rhythm of music there is a Secret
If I were to disclose it, it would destroy the world!

Beautiful haina? There's a hint there to my other great passion....

Yasmeen

Please check your e-mail.