 Alam Madina Music Productions (AMMP) was started by Ali Akbar Khan
(Khansahib) in 1979. The family-run, independent label has provided a
vehicle for Khansahib to release music of his choice. Our emphasis is on
capturing and archiving the pure heritage of North Indian Classical music.
Along with our already established titles, we have begun to release "The
Signature
Series", a superb collection of recordings originally released on the
"Connoisseur Society" label. These were known to many as the first albums
to "turn on" America to the real world of Indian Classical music. The
master tapes were recorded by David B. Jones using custom-built, vacuum-tube
electronics and mixer.
In April of 1993, AMMP released a two-CD set titled Ali Akbar Khan Plays Alap (a
sarode solo without drum accompaniment), also recorded on Cello, Ltd.
equipment. We presented three new additions to our list of CD's in 1994.
Volume 3 of The Signature Series brings back Mr. Khan's infamous "The Forty
Minute Raga" Marwa, with Rag Misra Shivaranjani. Volume 4 is a masterful
duet between India's great artists Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Nikhil
Banerjee. Our third release was Morning Visions, presenting two ragas
recorded during the same years as our Signature Series. These historical
morning compositions had never before been released.
Then and Now (a 2-CD set), was released in March of 1995 in honor of the 40th
anniversary of Ali Akbar Khan's arrival in America. Mr. Khan was invited in
1955, by
violinist Yehudi Menuhin, to tour the U.S. where he introduced American
audiences to classical Indian music at a concert at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City. During that tour he recorded (for Angel Records) the
first-ever long playing record of classical Indian music. Disc one (1955)
is a re-release of this historic recording, which includes introductions of
the artists and their instruments by Yehudi Menuhin. Disc two (1994) is the
complete first half of one of Mr. Khan's recent U.S. concerts. All of our
CD's were mastered by Bob Ludwig at his Gateway Mastering Studios, Inc.
On February 23, 1996, AMMP released Legacy, an unprecedented collaboration
between Ali Akbar Khan and Asha Bhosle (the world's most recorded vocalist).
Together at George Lucas' Skywalker Sound in Marin County, they recorded
eleven ancient 16th century songs from the Court of Emperor Akbar, handed
down through generations and taught to Mr. Khan by his father. These
compositions would be lost forever if not for this historic recording
session.
Our new release, Passing on the Tradition, is an electrifying concert
performance by
Khansahib accompanied by Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla. The performance
took place at Cowell Theatre in San Francisco, on May 26, 1995. Mr. Khan
has spent his life passing on the tradition he learned from his father/guru,
Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan, who was one of India's foremost musicians of
this century. Khansahib's rendering of Rag Marwa in this recording, played
in the old style of his father, together with Mr. Chaudhuri's rich and
textured tabla accompaniment make for a remarkable recording.
Khansahib's future plans are to continue to record rare ragas never heard
before, and unknown to anyone except Ali Akbar Khan. Through his teachings,
concerts, and recordings, Khansahib will continue to educate Westerners and
Indians alike in the world of classical music in which he was trained.
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