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Review

I'd not heard much of or even about Ustad Ahmed Hussain and Ustad Mohemmad Hussain. Infact I didn't even have a page for them ! I had only seen and heard them briefly in finals of Pankaj Udhas's ghazal talent show on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) sometime back, where they were one of the many guests. So my recent India visit I picked up this CD, out of curiocity.

This CD is produced by Music India Limited (MIL), a part of Polygram India Ltd. The music is arranged by popular Hindi film music director Lalit Sen (of Jatin-Lalit fame). I suppose he only arranged the music, but didn't compose it.

Ustad Ahmed & Mohd Hussain belong to a rare breed of ghazal musicians who actually try to sing it the way it should be sung. Not in "pop" or worse, "Indi-pop" style. They are well trained in the intricasies of Hindustani Classical, and since they sing together, it is a unique experience for the listeners. I'm not aware of any other brothers singing together. Usually one gets to hear husband-wife combination.

The album starts with Momin Khan Momin's classic ghazal.

Several ghazal singers have sung this, including a very good rendition by Ghulam Ali. But I'd have to say the presentation here would rank as among the best I've heard, if not the best. This is obviously the high point of the album and by itslef makes the CD worthwhile. So it gets best by artist rating of 4.5 .

The second track by the popular poet Hazrat Jaipuri is a new ghazal for me.

This has also been sung quite well. Though at times (actually throughout the album) one gets the feeling that the brothers vocal chords don't always co-operate with them fully, especially in the higher octave. But, rarely do ghazal singers use 3 octaves now-a-days that any effort is indeed welcome !

The third track of poet Munawwar Rana, is the below par, and must have been included because they (MIL ?) wanted a sharaab song in the album. The next track fares only slightly better. But the next two tracks fare somewhat better and get a above average rating. Particularly the sixth track, Tujhse Milne ko kabhi yaar zaroor aawoongaa just misses out getting a 4 rating.

The last two tracks are worth a listen and get ratings of 4. The first one by Zubair Rizvi is quite good on lyrics too.

The album closes with an unlikely ghazal by Abbas Dane, though quite well sung.

But the question as to whether they are the worthy successors to the classical ghazal singers remains. I remain optimistic ... and am willing to wait and listen !

Overall 3.5 stars for the music and 3.5 stars for the recording. Recommended.

CD Information

Tracks

Nu.	Ghazal	Poet	Time	Music	Recording
1	Woh jo hum mein tum mein qaraar tha Tumhe yaad ho ke na yaad ho	Momin Khan Momin	07:51
2	Hum raaton ko uth uth ke jinke liye rote hain Woh ghair ki baahon mein aaramse sothe hain	Dr. Hazrat Jaipuri	07:59
3	Mein uski aankhon se chalki sharaab peetha hoon Gareeb hokebhi mehangi sharaab peetha hoon	Munawwar Rana	05:03
4	Aaja ke mile hum tum dono Ulfath ki kahani banjaye	Ikram Rajathani	05:20
5	Ye Hasin Jawaan nazaare yeh bahaar yaad rakhna Woh door jaane waale mera pyaar yaad rakhna	Charagh Jaipuri	04:45
6	Tujhse Milne ko kabhi yaar zaroor aawoongaa	Parsa Kausari Jaipuri	05:27
7	Apne ghar ke dar-o-deewar ko ooncha na karo Ithna gehera meri awaaz se pardaa na karo	Zubair Rizvi	07:22
8	Kagzi phool liye phirta hoon bazaaron mein Naam likh do mera khushboo ke khareedharon mein	Abbas Dana	05:40

Liner Notes

unfortunately as is the norm with most Indian albums, there are no liner notes. The cover has the list of tracks and the corresponding poets. There isn't even a single sentence about the artists or the music. Sad.