78 rpm Records of Indian Music: Professor Nazir Hossain of Benares

Here is another excellent pair of shehnai performances, this time by “Professor” Nazir Hossain of Benares. From what I can figure out, he is the uncle and ustad of Ali Ahmed Hussain, whose music you can listen to here.

Raga Adana Bahar

Thumri

78 rpm Records of Indian Music: Talim Hossain of Lucknow

Shuffling through stacks of discs in the hubbub of Chor Bazaar, how could I resist a pair of performances on “bagpipes”? Except that these are of course shehnai, oddly labeled. Talim Hossain of Lucknow plays two nice gats in Bhairavi. I love the little squeak at the beginning of each piece.

Here’s a tiny snippet of information:

Next to orchestra and band records, the gramophone company recorded ‘Shahanai’ which they called and labeled as ‘Bagpipe’. Most popular players that recorded shahanai were: Fazulal Pandit, Shaikh Munna, Hyderabad Pipers, Talim Hussain of Lucknow alias Ali Bux and Ustad Ali Bux (guru and maternal uncle of Late Ustad Bismillah Khan). Link