Music from Iran - 1955 recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

Music from Iran - The Living Tradition

Recorded and Produced by Deben Bhattacharya

Argo - ZFB 51 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Shur on Santour - Hossein Saba 7'39

A2 Shur on Tar - Jabad Aliyani 13'15

Side B

B1 Shahnama - Recitation from book of Kings by Firdowsi 14'01

B2 Mahour on Setar - Eskandare Ebrahimi 8'17

A1, B1, Recorded 1955, Tehran

A2, B2, Recorded 1955, Meshed

Another of Deben Bhattacharya's early recordings from 1955. Magnificent music and certainly pioneering work of this budding fieldrecorder. I often find that the earliest recordings have a most delicate atmosphere and having now listened to many of his recordings in a row, I certainly prefer the recordings he did in the Indian subcontinent and Asia Minor to the ones in Eastern Europe. There are definitely some gems there as well but in my opinion less so. Maybe I am just biased because I like Indian, Persian and Arabic music so much. In some days you will be able to judge for yourself. Just one or two more LP's before we go to Europe.

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Religions of India - rec. Deben Bhattacharya

Religions of India - The Living Traditions

Recordings and sleevenotes by Deben Bhattacharya

Argo - ZFB 55 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Temple Bells and drums 1'43

A2 Vedic Chants - Pandit Durga Prasad 3'13

A3 Raga Asavari - Hori Dhamari-ke-pad - Dhruvadas Maharaj 5'38

A4 Kazhagam 2'53

A5 Mariyamman Padal 2'30

A6 Mira's Bhajan 3'35

Side B

B1 Namo tatsat - Pali prayer - Buddhist 3'42

B2 Tibetan prayer - Buddhist 5'35

B3 Pali prayer - Buddhist 4'35

B4 In praise of Guru Nanak - Sikh 6'36

A1, A6, Recorded 1954, Varanasi (Benares)

A2 Recorded 1968, Amer (Jaipur)

A3 Recorded 1968, Brindavan

A4, A5, Recorded 1962, Dehli

B1, B2 Recorded 1968, Sarnath

B3 Recorded 1954, Calcutta

B4 Recorded 1955, Amritsar

Some more of the earlier field recordings by Deben Bhattacharya that not only are valuable historical documents but also makes good listening. Again some of these recordings are very moving and makes for good time travels. I especially enjoy the Sikhs praising Guru Nanak.

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Songs of Krishna - Rec. by Deben Bhattacharya 1954,1968

Songs of Krishna - The Living Tradition

Recordings and sleevenotes by Deben Bhattacharya

Argo (Decca) - ZFB 52 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Raga Bhupali 11'28

A2 Kathak Krishnalila 4'10

A3 Mira, Bhajan 5'08

Side B

B1 Mathur 16'48

B2 Raga Vasant 6'03

A1, rec. in Jhodpur 1968

A2,A3,B2, rec. in Jaipur 1968

B1, rec in Assansol 1954

This is one of my real favourite of all the records that Deben Bhattacharya made. This LP is full of good music and atmosphere that feels close to me and carries many of the signs that I think are the best illustrations of Deben Bhattacharyas philosophy of recording.

It is also the very label that published all of his first recordings and there is a great site, both with lots of information about the label and excellent discographies, so you can whet your appetite guessing what else could be coming in my later posts from their catalogue.

More info on the label Argo check here!

Well, anyhow it belongs to the best ones I have heard sofar! If he made 130 albums like it says on the backsleeve comments then I have still to find a lot more than the thirty, forty I have been able to hear until now. So if anyone has a good copy of any of his recordings on LP I would be delighted if you could consider sharing those with me and if the quality of photos and the rip meets the standards that I like to keep here on Anthems I will be delighted to post it. Anyhow I will continue to collect them here in one way or another.

I still have a handful of the Indian and Middle Eastern and then a few from his East European

excursions but eventually I will go dry. Wonder if his Java Bali LP on Musidisc was any good?

Anyhow this one definitely is and I hope you like it as much as I do. Not only for the Music,

but for the closeness to the surroundings. A car horn honking in the distance right after a song

some outside noices all giving a wider context than the music room, the small tactile ambient sounds I like so much, in no way disturbing the music only making it more breathing and vivid.

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