14.7.10

The maestro of Saxophone-Manohari Singh.

Saxophonist Manohari Singh (March 8, 1931 – July 13, 2010) who was a close associate and music assistant of legendary music composer R.D.Burman, died on Tuesday following cardiac arrest. He was 79.

He got his first break in 1958 with Sachin Dev Burman as a saxophonist for the movie Sitaron Se Aage.In addition to playing the alto saxophone, Manohari Singh was also the music assistant and arranger for R. D. Burman. He has played the saxophone in many R. D. Burman compositions including the well-known hit "Gaata rahe mera dil" from the movie Guide. He has also played for songs in the recent movies Chalte Chalte (2003) and Veer Zaara (2004).

Born in Kolkata in a family of musicians, Manohari Singh watched his father - originally from Nepal - and uncle play in music studios for films and in night-clubs. After trying his hand at the English keyflute, the clarinet and the mandolin, Manohari Singh finally chose the saxophone as his forte. He has also released an album titled Sax appeal containing saxophone renditions of various Hindi movie music tracks

Manohari Singh is said to deeply cherish his gold-plated Selmer saxophone (bought in New York in 1969) and tries to avoid getting even his own finger-prints on it

He was also awarded with "Memorable Contribution to Music Award" at the Tata Indicom Radio Mirchi Music Awards function held on 27th March 2009.

He also played in a Telugu movie named "Raavoi Chandamama", music composed by Manisharma and Nagarjuna acted in this movie and Jayanth C. Paranjee directed it.



"A very good saxophone player, great arranger and a fabulous human being...Manohari da passed away...Our heartfelt condolences to his family and the music lovers”


-Harmonica Lovers of
Hyderabad

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Talent ho to aisa...
Regards, Avinesh

Ramana said...

Yes Avinesh bhai,
When I met Arijith da in his residence at Gurgaon, Arijit da advised me "playing harmonica by ear is not a crime,But try to follow the renditions of the artistes like Manohari Singh to get the correct notes" later I realized the potential of Manohari Da.

My deepest condolence to his family.

Keyur Shah said...

I am deeply saddened by the loss of such a great musician and sax player who dedicated himself to music and serviced the entire music community. I wish to express my deep condolences to everyone whom he was known. My sincere sympathy to the bereaved family.

Avinesh Kumar Singh said...

Keyur Ji and Ramana,
I was amazed by his saxophone play. What a great loss we have. I share sentinemts with Keyur Ji, Ramana and all others on his loss.
But we must try to learn from the musical assests which he has left behind for us.
Warm Regards, Avinesh Singh (HaLoL)