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Review

Personally few CDs have been as significant as this one for me. That is because this CD introduced me to the wonderful world of Mehdi Hassan's ghazals. Just like the film Sandhyaaraaga introduced me to Bhimsen Joshi. Even today when I listen to the cd for the umpteenth time in two years, some of the ghazals still have the ability to make an impact. Also unlike many other collections this one has no ghazals I don't like.

All the ghazals are old recordings and are sonically uniformly bad. But still that does not take away the pleasure of listening to well tuned, well enunciated and well sung ghazals. What really makes Mehdi Hassan a great singer is his perfect diction and that he gives each word and each phrase full attention while singing. Minimal intereference from accompanists is a great plus ... for I'm one of those who beleive that orchastration is injurious to ghazals. Most of the ghazals are also based on a well known hindustani raaga and Mehdi Hassan usually sings within the boundaries of that raaga.

The first two ghazals are short pieces, pre-composed possibly for the films. If you know for which films (and years) please let me know. The first one by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

is one of Mehdi Hassan's most popular and one of my favourites too. There is not much elaboration in these three ghazals since there are such short pieces.

jo chaahate ho so kahate ho chup rahane kii lazzat kyaa jaano which is the next ghazal is a more elaborate piece, though seemingly precomposed. The next ghazal raushan jamaal-e-husn se hai a.njuman tamaam appears to be a live recording with quite a bit of audience participation. This is the longest track of the cd with quite a bit of elaboration.

Rest of the ghazals are some where between 3 to 6 minutes. Tracks 5, 7, 9 and 10 are precomposed, but still use minimalist instruments. That too only ghazal friendly accoustic instruments. My personal favourite of these is the fifth track Gham Ki Aandhi Chalee. The 9th track Muggham Baat is a personal favourite of Mehdi Hassan and is based on raaga Yaman Kalyan.

I hope Oriental Star will remaster and release the same CD with better sonics. On this CD sometimes the sonics threaten to come in the way of enjoyment. Afterall there are great sounding remastered jazz CDs recorded in 50s.

Overall 4.5 stars for the music and 2 stars for the recording. Highly recommended.

CD Information

Tracks

Nu.	Ghazal	Poet	Time	Music	Recording
1	Gulon Main Rang	Faiz Ahmed Faiz	05:07
2	Taza Hawa Bahar Ki	Aziz Hamid Madni	04:55
3	Jo Chahte Ho So	Aal-E-Raza	07:20
4	Roshan Jamal-E-Yaar	Hasrat Mohani	09:38
5	Gham Ki Aandhi	Aijaz Kashmiri	03:34
6	Arze Niaz Ishq Ke	Mirza Ghalib	04:47
7	Daikh To Dil Ke Jan	Meer Taqi Meer	04:21
8	Yaro Kisi Qatil Se	Qateel Shifai	05:40
9	Mubham Baat	Arzoo Lakhnavi	06:20
10	Kis Ko Bhad Bataon	Aijaz Kashmiri	04:27
11	Dil Tarpe Hain Jan	Meer Taqi Meer	04:11

Liner Notes

As is typical with most CDs from the sub-continent the liner notes are minimal. Just the tracks. Not a single word about the singer or the music. Shame on all these companies for presenting such fabulous music so shabbily.