Nurturing the rich tradition of sarangi
Suhail Yusuf Khan
Suhail Yusuf Khan has been hailed as a child prodigy in the world of sarangi. He comes from a rich musical background and descends from the Moradabad-Rampur and Senia Gharana of Miyaan Tansen.
Recently, he performed at Namche Bazaar (Kitchen and Bar) in New Delhi and mesmerised the audience with his music.
“I performed at the Namche Bazaar by luck. One of my friends knew the owner...He requested me to do a special show over the weekend. So I accepted the offer and performed,” says Suhail.
Being the grandson of renowned sarangi legend Padmabhushan and Padmashree awardee Ustad Sabri Khan and the nephew of the young Sarangi genius Kamal Sabri, Suhail started learning sarangi at the age of four and became the youngest sarangi player to have ever performed on stage.
He has performed in concerts like World Music Day, the Jaipur Heritage International Festival, the Kathak Mahotsav (New Delhi), the Chaturlal Festival (New Delhi), the Sarangi Festival (Bhopal), etc. Suhail is the eighth generation sarangi player to carry on with this rich family tradition. “I belong to a family of classical musicians. I started learning the sarangi as a child, and my uncle and grandfather are my gurus. In 2004, I joined Advaita and started playing with them. Since then, music just came along and it became a part of my life,” says Suhail.
He adds, “Classical music is everywhere. In Bollywood too, musicians have a strong classical background. We have our roots from the classical art. One can easily forget some Bollywood song, but it’s very difficult to forget our base, which is classical. It’s funny to hear people say we need to protect classical music. My question is how can you protect something that is indestructible.”
Apart from pure Indian classical music, Suhail is also involved in composing many jingles and background scores for documentaries. He has composed the background score for the famous children’s programme on DD Bharti called The Small World. He has just released an electronic lounge album with Tatva Kundalini (produced by Nupur Audio). Now he is planning to come up with a solo album.
“I am planning a classical solo since a long time. Now it’s time to fulfill that dream. I am about to record a classical solo by mid-2013 and release the album by September-October 2012. Hopefully, people will like it,” says Suhail.
He has been extensively touring India and beyond for various festivals and concerts. He has visited places like France, England, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Nepal, Pakistan etc for performances.
He was also the youngest musician to represent India at the world famous Milap Festival held at Manchester, UK, in 2003.
Speaking about the musicians he admires, Suhail says, “I admire Zakir Hussain, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, and the genius A.R. Rahman…They have given us a new sound.”
Post new comment