Arijit Mukherji plays Harmonica with Usha Uthup on Thats what friends are for..

Another day with Shri V.S. Shirali

Today, I want to share with you- my experience of a date with fabulous harmonica player Shri VS Shirali on my recent visit to Mumbai with few photos and videos I captured for the benefit of the harmonica lovers and visitors of this blog.

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of Shri Shirali and he treats me like his son. He is a very nice person with abundant knowledge of music. Apart from harmonica, he is a great keyboard and Guitar player. I adopted lot of things from him during our 8 non stop hours of discussion about music and harmonica. He says "In our generation we had the priority to be a musician first and a technician next... but these days the current generation people want to be a technician rather than being a musician. It is not a good sign".
He took me to his mentor- legendary sax player of India Late Shri Manohari Singh’s home where I conveyed my condolence to his family members as he passed away recently

I do hope you'll enjoy watching these videos. You can read more about Mr Shirali at the link given below.

http://harmonicahyderabad.blogspot.com/2010/07/vsshirali-fabulous-harmonica-player.html

Salaam Pune

I'm sure most of you must have heard about the recent harmonica concert “Melodies on Harmonica” in Pune on 22nd May 2010. I was lucky to attend that concert. Thanks to harmonica lover from Pune-Mr Amaresh Deshpande who arranged me the front row tickets on my requisition through a phone call.

I often heard there is no encouragement for harmonica in India, but I changed my opinion after seeing the crowd outside Yeshwantrao Chavan Natyagruha before the programme. I was surprised to see the crowd, that too for a "ticket" programme! Yes, the programme was not free-of-cost and the people had purchased the tickets for the show. I was one among those curious harmonica lovers waiting impatiently to listen to the harmonica live by the great harmonica players like Shri.Madan Kumar, Shri Nandu Belvalkar, Shri Upendra Laxmeshwar, Shri Shamkanth Suthar and Shri Vishwanath Shirali. The auditorium was almost full with more than 700 people and the most awaited programme started sharply at 9.30 pm as per the schedule.

Programme started with "Papa kehthe hai bada nam karega by master.Sarang Rajguru followed by

"Yehi woh jaga hai" by female harmonica player Miss Girija Shirurkar, "Maine tere liye hi sath rang ke", Titanic theme songs by students of the harmonica institute of Pune, "Aaa Chalke tujhe" by Shri Bhupendra Kumar, "Ye mere dil pyar ka diwana" by Shri Pratap Basale, "Gore gore" by Shri Hemanth Gadre. These are few numbers I can recollect.

Some songs were really good and got standing ovation from the people. They were,-"Inteha ho gayi intezaar ki" (Sharabhi), "Oh hansini", "Gulabi ankhen" by Shri VS Shirali, "O mere sonare sonare" by Shri Madan Kumar accompanied by Shri Nandu Belvalkar on the chord harmonica, "Kya yahi pyar hai" solo by Shri Nandu Belvalkar played with 10 holes Swan chromatic harmonica, "Chakke pe chakka"( Brahmachari) by Shri Upendra Laxmeshwar, "Disla ga bai disla" (A marathi song from film: Pinjara), "Mere yaar shabba khair" played by Shri Shamkanth Sutar and "Apsara ali" (Another Marathi song from film:Natarang) played by Shri Amaresh Deshpande.

Special attraction in the programme were saxophone accompaniment by Shri Anil Karmarkar and the Anchor Shri Sidharth Bendre.

My cousin Mr Ganesh, a software engineer in Pune and I enjoyed our weekend in the harmonica concert by the great players. As a break from all the writing stuff, I thought I'd share a few of my photos with you...

Rendezvous with Shri Michael Pokish, Shri Nandu Belvalkar and Shri VS Shirali :

The next morning, I met Shri Micheal Pokish at his DO-Say restaurant. (He does whatever he says :-)) I was amused when he asked me in Telugu -“challani majjiga thraguthara?" (would you like to have butter milk?). He had stayed in Hyderabad for about 10 years. We went to his home and he showed his grand collection of harmonicas and played few tunes for me on harmonica.

Then I went to "Belvalkar's Anand Dham" to see Mr Nandu Belvalkar in person. Here, I got an opportunity to meet another renouned harmonica player Shri VS Shirali. We had a great time discussing harmonica as well playing some tunes.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my visit to “melodies on harmonica” photos. If you've never been to Pune Harmonica concerts, I highly recommend it in future for a relaxing break from your work pressure. The climate is warm, the food excellent, the beauty stunning and the people are genuinely welcoming towards their guests.

Salam Pune!

Rustom Karwa rocks in Hyderabad

"Ramannaa? This is Rustom Karwa here. See, I am coming over to Hyderabad tomorrow, we can meet” I got this call in the evening on 8^th June ’10. I was overjoyed by his call. I was longing to meet him face-to-face for quite some time. Rustom ji is so kind that he gave me his complete itinerary for the 9^th of June.

Rustom ji is a well known personality in Bollywood and has been a favourite of many music directors for playing the harmonica in their films. He is also famous for his whistling which he does in movies. I also got the opportunity to listen to his whistling during my interaction with him.

I met the harmonica maestro Shri Rustom Karwa at a 7 star hotel in Hyderabad, where he was going to perform on the harmonica along with his huge 21 piece acoustic instrumental orchestra from Mumbai for a private gathering in Hyderabad. The moment I saw him I touched his feet to seek his blessings “Hey, please don’t do that….. I am still alive” said Rustom Ji by holding my shoulder.

I had little inhibition to enter the hotel and I wanted to leave the place without giving any trouble to Rustom ji but he (Rustom ji) took me into the hotel and offered me a seat. He introduced me to the event managers as a harmonica friend. For a moment, I forgot myself by seeing the arrangements of the stage.

I enjoyed myself throughout the concert. I got an opportunity to watch a 45 minutes non stop musical recital by world famous “Maske electrical strings trio-Australia” on the same stage, in between the musical concert by sitting next to Shri Rustom Karwa :-) I’m uploading the video of “Maske electrical strings trio” (Not recorded by me) It was a memorable moment for me.

Rustom ji was kind to share his experiences with me for almost an hour while sitting in the Hotel. He was delighted on learning that HaLoH possesses his original EP which was recorded in 1970 by Polydor Company. Thanks to Rustom Ji for presenting me the copy of the same EP in CD with his autograph.

Please enjoy the video of Rustom ji’s live performance which I had captured using my mobile phone. Please excuse me for the poor video quality.

Hello HaLoH!

It was a very warm day with hot current of air blowing on the roads of Hyderabad, the city of Nizams. Being a harmonica enthusiast from Jaipur and a virtual member of HaLoH, I was desperate to meet some harmonica lovers for the first time. I first met Ramana Illaiyaraja at Abids. It was my second meeting with him after we met at Jaipur. Then, Shri B. Vinayak, a senior harmonica lover was just in time. Very soon, I saw Shri Avinesh Singh driving at Abids. We all went to Nampally station to meet Shri Vijay Konda. I was impressed by the way these guys coordinated and gathered in a very short span of time. I relished my favourite Vijaya buttermilk during our casual meeting before saying good bye to Vijay Konda.

All of us travelled to Avinesh ji's residence and had a musical session. I was impressed by the harmonica skills of these people. Each one had their own speciality. Avinesh ji showed his collection of harmonicas and played the harmonica. A few of his styles reminded me of Big Bhandari Ashok ji. Vinayak ji's harmonica recital reminded me of Milon da. Ramana too impressed me with his latest recording and he played a song using a karaoke track on his favourite mobile handset. I took valuable tips on playing the harmonica from Vinayak ji. We never felt that we were meeting for the first time. In fact, we felt as if we knew each other very well. After savouring some snacks at Avinesh ji's place, it was time to say good bye to each other.

Before leaving Hyderabad, I enjoyed my supper at 'Kamat' with my friend Ramana. Though I could not meet other harmonica lovers, I made it a point to talk to Shri Kailashnath over phone. On my request, even though it was dark, Ramana showed me the gate of Indira Park where HaLoH meeting takes place every Sunday morning. I wished to see the "BODHI" tree under which HaLoH members achieved "Nirvana" after playing the harmonica under it ;-) I wish to visit Hyderabad again to meet other harmonica lovers under that tree in Indira Park.

-Raman Khandelwal, Jaipur.

"Mere naina sawan bhadon" by Big B(handari)

This is a very emotional song played by Shri Ashok Bhandari on the harmonica. This song was sung by Kishore da in 1976 for the film Mehbooba. It was picturised on the romantic hero of those times -Rajesh Khanna. "Big Bhandari" has done justice to this song. He has also played it in different octaves. The sound in lower octave really gives that emotional touch to this song. Here are both the clips attached for your listening pleasure. HaLoH thanks Shri Ashok Bhandari for recording this clip for this blog.

Harmonica lover aims for new Guiness record

As per the English daily newpaper DNA, a Harmonica lover Shaileshkumar S. Sethiya, who recently shifted to Bangalore, had aimed for a new Guiness record on May 1st 2010 by playing the harmonica continously for 30 Hrs. This was published in DNA's May 26th edition. Interested in this article? Just go to the link mentioned or try reading page no.5 of the electronic paper issued on that date.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnaahmedabad/epapermain.aspx?queryed=16&username=&useremailid=&parenteditioncode=16&eddate=5/26/2010

Harmonica lover of the week-Inderjit Singh Soni

Shri Inderjit Singh Soni invited all HaLoH members to his residence. Hence, this week, instead of meeting at our regular venue-Indira park, Harmonica Lovers of Hyderabad Mahendra gala, Kailashnath, Shivraj, A Rajkumar, Avinesh Singh, Dharmendra Jain, Ravibabu and Ramana assembled at Shri Soni’s residence. We had a great musical session for 2 hours blended with all kinds of tunes on harmonica followed with tasty Punjabi snacks :-P

HaLoH thanks Mr Soni for his warm reception and hospitality

In the following video I have used a western harmonica tune played by anonymous player :-)

Harmonica lover of the week-Ramana

Today I'm delighted to publish my first recording on harmonica “Pyar hua iqraar hua from Shri 420” and I am dedicating this song to My friend,guide,philosopher and harmonica lover of Hyderabad Shri Vinayak on his birthday.

Vinayak Sir,

Many many happy returns of the day.

With Love

Ramana

Tribute to Shri Milon Gupta

Harmonica Lovers of Hyderabad pays tribute to the Indian harmonica legend (Late) Shri Milon Gupta who breathed his last on Feb 18th in the year 1995.

may his soul rest in peace.

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Love from the land of melody

I believe, every human being on this earth has an attachment to a place which could be his birth place, the place where he grew up or studied, the place where he fell in love with someone or may be a place related to his religious beliefs. Shri B. Vinayak, the backbone of HaLoH (Harmonica Lovers of Hyderabad) has a similar attachment to the city of joy-Kolkata. I believe the reason behind this attachment can be best described by Shri B. Vinayak himself. I request him to describe his bonding with Kolkata and his experiences at this city in his recent trip. Vinayak ji, are you reading this?

On learning about Shri Vinayak’s trip to Kolkata, I had given him a piece of paper with a name and a mobile number jotted on it and requested him to meet that person to convey regards on behalf of HaLoH and me. Wonder whose name I wrote on that paper? It was the name of one among those persons whose exuberant harmonica playing on esnips influenced me to take my Chromatic harmonica seriously. He’s none other than Mr Sumanta Basu from Kolkata.

Sumanta Basu-A brief introduction:

Sumanta Basu, aged 35 years from Kolkata is a very popular harmonica artist on eSnips. No wonder, most of us must have come across his profile at some point of time. He is a self-taught Creative Designer working for the web media since last 13 years, and working for a large range of clients who are really big players...He has been playing the harmonica for the last 19 years.

He says : “I love my friends, who are pretty serious about their careers, shouting lovingly at a crazy boy they are talking to. What to do, I like to spell my own words... and there is no cause behind it. I love to see... I love to read... I love to listen... I love to write songs... to take photographs... I love to do what ever I feel like... I love to find as many ways I can, to tell you my tale, to explore various languages to communicate with... I love to play the Harmonica... Like other composers, I have a special attraction for Rabindranath and his compositions. The more I play him, the more I realize, that he was the first composer of our country, who have composed modern, and such smart tunes for all times to come. I’m jealous of the precision with which he has made application of all the major and minor notes…”

His favourite musicians are Kabir Suman, Salil Chowdhury, RD Burman, SD Burman, Naushad, OP Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan, Jim Rives, Pat Boon and BoB Dylan

Please listen to this number played by Mr Sumanta Basu

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SONG window

After 6 days long trip to Kolkata, Shri Vinayak returned back to Hyderabad and met me this Sunday at Indira park. Affectionately he gave me a CD “Those were the days ” which was sent from Mr Sumanta Basu with his autograph on it. The moment I saw the autograph, I kissed the CD because I felt it like an honour for me from my favorite artist. Unlike other Sundays,I left Indira park a little early as I was very much desperate to listen to Mr Sumanta’s latest western numbers. After listening to the album, the hangover still continues in me. Given below are the songs which he played in this album.

Those were the days

1.Guantanamera

2.Besame Mucho

3.The Banana boat song

4.Que Sera Sera

5.Tequila

6.Never on Sunday

7.500 miles

8.Summer Holiday

9.Sounds of Silence

10.Lara’s theme-Dr.Zhivago

11.Those were the days

12.Speak Softly Love-Godfather

13.Rivers of Babylon

14.Que viva Espana

The CD was recorded by Mr Sumanta Basu himself at his home. Quality of recording is at par with many international albums. I strongly believe his skills will be recognized by global harmonica lovers very shortly

Write up on the CD by Mr.Sumanta Basu

My land is a land of music and melody. Since time immemorial, our songs and their modern forms have mesmerized me and urged me to reach out beyond the bounds of place and time, musically from within. Years later, at this age, I have been able to muster the courage to bring this out to all.

None of the 14 numbers, chosen for this album are from my own country. In fact they do not belong to any particular country. These times, different in character, created at different times in different societies and I have been recorded by various artists long before I was even born. Hence the onus of judging the authenticity of these numbers played by me rests solely onto the listeners.

The responsibility that I have taken on myself besides playing the tunes on the harmonica are that of recording, mixing, CD mastering along with creating this inlay.

I am deeply indebted to the medium called Internet for the music arrangements. I however, regret being unaware of the names of my accompanying musicians.

Well, I guess, this is globalization..

To listen to more Indian songs played by him, visit his eSnips profile at

http://www.esnips.com/user/sumanta-harmonica

Sumanta, we love you... Looking forward to listen to your future works.

Rendezvous at Delhi

A few weeks ago, on a cold day, I visited Shri Ashok Bhandari ji’s office at Delhi. It was a planned trip from Jaipur. This was our first meeting; nevertheless we felt that we knew each other quite well. I asked Ashok ji to give some tips on playing the Harmonica. He asked me to play and I played the popular Hindi aarti “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” on my harmonica. Bhandari ji took his 16 hole Hering and played this aarti with ease. This was the first time he was playing this tune. He picked it up pretty fast. He mimicked my style at first and later played this very same aarti in his style with “feelings”.

He has developed his “Bellow blowing technique” wherein he ensures that his lungs are filled with a lot of air. He then controls the air pressure while playing the notes. He also demonstrated how to control breathing while blowing and drawing notes. A balance is maintained between how much air is drawn through the holes and through the nose in case of breathing in. Extra air is blown out through a passage created by slightly opening the lips while blowing only the required quantity of air through the holes for the reeds .I also got an opportunity to witness his favourite “stunts” on the harmonica. Well, I’m talking about those strange peculiar sounds he creates on the harmonica. This was followed by demonstration of harmonization, octave playing, different kinds of vibrato etc. There was a drastic improvement in my playing within half an hour of his demonstration.

We were waiting for one more harmonica lover: Harish Nayyar from Amritsar (Punjab) who arrived there directly from New Delhi railway station. When Harish entered the room, he was amazed to see lots of harmonicas scattered on the table. He played the popular Sindhi number “Dama dam mast kalandar” sung by Runa Laila on his Swan 1248 professional. After some harmonica session, we had lunch. We were impressed by his hospitality. Being a learner with no extraordinary harmonica skills, I still felt at ease in his company. It was time to bid adieu after spending 5 hours at Ashok ji’s place. Harish and I really enjoyed ourselves. It was a memorable day.

Harmonica Our Passion!

Avinesh Singh

Mr Avinesh Singh, A guitarist turned harmonica player (Lover) actively participated in today’s meeting with his Hohner Super 64x. Mr Avinesh joined HaLoH after seeing this blog. He speaks softly and plays all new songs on harmonica so softly without imitating anybody. Finally we understand that he is a software engineer :-)

Shri P C Rao's Sanwale salone aye

Over a year we had heard a lot about Shri Purnachandra Rao, A senior Harmonica player, Music teacher running a very popular music school SSS Music academy in Hyderabad, on top of that he is a music director of Telugu film industry and composed for 15 films.

The atmosphere was really graced with his presence. He played few numbers on harmonica for us, what a performance! Watch this video...

All of us requested him to visit HaLoH regularly to guide us with his knowledge.