Musical Range

Brothers and musicians Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan have always been vocal about their admiration for their father,the legendary sarod player,Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. After all,their first book collaboration was called Abba- God’s Greatest Gift to Us. In between trying to live up to their formidable legacy by establishing themselves as serious classical artists,the brothers have co-authored a second book,50 Maestros 50 Performances: The Best of Indian Classical Music (Harper Collins,Rs 350). The book,a tribute to 50 masters of Indian classical music from both — north and south Indian styles is interspersed with rare photographs from their private collection and was released at The Ashok,by Union Minister of State for External Affairs,Shashi Tharoor.

The book has been put together in alphabetical order and touches upon the traditional gharanas of Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan,Baba Allauddin Khan,M S Subbulakshmi and Begum Akhtar to other popular greats of the last 50 years like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi,Pandit Ravi Shankar,Ustad Bismillah Khan,Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

“We grew up listening to LP’s of these monumental jewels of music apart from meeting some of them when travelling and attending concerts with our father. We picked the best ones to write about,” says Ayaan Ali Khan.