Ustad Nishat Khan | Photo Credit: Tanveer Farooqui Ustad Nishat Khan is choosy about where he performs, and so his concerts are eagerly awaited. His recent Strings of Melody show in Delhi — he played there after seven years — organised by HCL Concerts drew a full house. Nishat is the eldest son of Ustad...
Category: Music
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Alvin Presley steps onto the global stage as an indie musician to watch
Alvin Presley | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Chennai is experiencing a rare week of summer rain. It is sultry, humid, and the smell of mud mixed with the sea breeze carries through the city. Moments like these are numbered. They call for some hot tea, a balcony with uninterrupted views of the overcast skyline, and...
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Greatest songs of Manoj Kumar: From ‘Lag Jaa Gale’ to ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’
Legendary Indian actor Manoj Kumar passed away at 87 in Mumbai after battling prolonged illness. A celebrated actor, filmmaker and lyricist, Manoj Kumar was known for patriotic films that helped define ideas of Indian nationhood. His movies such as Woh Kaun Thi?, Upkar and Purab Aur Paschim are not only cultural touchstones but a repository...
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Tickets for Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus World Tour 2025 go on sale this Saturday
Tickets for Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus World Tour 2025 will go on sale tomorrow | Photo Credit: BookMyShow Tickets for Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus World Tour 2025 will go on sale on Saturday, April 5, at 12 PM IST, exclusively on BookMyShow. The American rapper and producer will perform in India for the first time...
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Musician Fink, drummer Tim Thornton to play in Bengaluru
In 2012, British artiste Fink aka Fin Greenall made his way to India for the first time as a performer, playing every where — from a theatre in Mumbai and the NH7 Weekender festival in Bengaluru, to the erstwhile Blue Frog club in New Delhi. That is quite a range of spaces for the often-acoustic,...
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Rama, as described by Muthuswami Dikshitar
It is usual in Carnatic Music to associate certain deities with certain composers. The term frequently used is Ishta Devata, and thus when we speak of Rama, it is usually Tyagaraja who comes to mind. His illustrious contemporary Muthuswami Dikshitar has a small but significant corpus of songs on Rama as well. Given his association...
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How relevant is the time theory of ragas today?
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan once said that when you have to play Marwa, a raag of twilight, you have to imagine stones crying in distress, waiting for the night. With that imagery, it’s hard to think of playing Marwa in bright sunlight. In the classical music tradition, predominantly in the North, it was spelt out...
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How women singers made gramophone a household object
Gauhar Jaan, first Indian artiste to record on gramophone When Thomas Alva Edison wrapped tin foil around a metal cylinder to create the phonograph (a crude recording device), in 1877, he sang ‘Mary had a little lamb’ to test it. He couldn’t possibly have imagined that in just 25 years, his ‘favourite invention’ would travel...
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Kumar Gandharva music school inaugurated in maestro’s native village
The Kumar Gandharva music school, built by Murkumbi Itihas Upakrama, in Sulebhavi village in Belagavi district of Karnataka was inaugurated on March 31, 2025. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Last week, many residents of Sulebhavi in Belagavi district of Karnataka gathered at the government high school in the evening to witness an important event —...
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Rama Bhaktha Sabha rings in Ramanavami celebrations in Bengaluru
Medha Vidyabhushan, daughter of renowned vocalist Vidyabhushana, will be performing at the Rama Bhaktha Sabha this year | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The music of Ramanavami fills the city again as the 119-year-old Rama Bhaktha Sabha, the oldest festival banner in Bengaluru, flagged off its annual programme of seasonal music and discourses. The festival which...