3 min readNew DelhiNov 28, 2011 03:05 AM IST
First published on: Nov 28, 2011 at 03:05 AM IST
It was sarangis mournful cry that announced funerals of politicians,prime ministers,presidents on radio and Doordarshan. Sarangi maestro,singer and torchbearer of the Indore gharana Ustad Sultan Khan,the man who played many of those legendary compositions on an instrument that defined melancholy,passed away in Mumbai on Sunday due to kidney failure.
He was 71 and is survived by his wife,son Sabir Khan and daughters Reshma and Sehra. Khan will be buried near his ancestral home in Jodhpur on Monday.
He was complaining of breathlessness. The doctor told us to admit him to hospital.He died on his way to the hospital, said Wasim Feroze,Khans nephew.
Khan is credited to have brought the humble sarangi from old world kothas and put it on the main stage as a solo instrument. His international collaborations with George Harrison,Pandit Ravi Shankar,Carlos Santana and Bill Laswell put him on the global music scene.
After classical musicians started using harmonium as an accompanying instrument,sarangi players suffered a huge setback. A number of them had played with artistes such as Rasoolan Bai and Siddeshwari Devi. But it was my friend Sultan Khan,who,along with Ram Narayan,lifted the instrument to a different level. I was looking forward to his upcoming collaboration with Madonna. It is a great loss to the entire music fraternity, said Grammy award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
Even Bollywood wasnt untouched by Khans voice and the weeping notes of his sarangi. His voice in Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in albela saajan aayo ri,Piya basanti with Chithra K and Le ja,le ja with Shreya Ghoshal were much appreciated. Shankar Mahadevan,who sang albela saajan with him,said,Sultan sahib was like family. He played sarangi for my first recording. The moment he touched his sarangi,the notes would reach ones heart. With his death an era is over.
Khan also collaborated with tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and was one of the members of his band,Tabla Beat Science,along with Laswell. I am unwell these days. But I am all geared up for my US tour. I am looking forward to meeting my friend Santana soon, Khan had told The Indian Express some months back. He will never meet his friend now, said Feroze.
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