Shujaat Khan

For the Bangladeshi engineer and activist, see Shujaat Khan (engineer). For the Pakistani politician, see Shujaat Ahmed Khan.

Shujaat Husain Khan
Shujaat Khan performing in 2011
Shujaat Khan performing in 2011
Background information
Born (1960-05-19) 19 May 1960 (age 64)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
GenresHindustani classical music
Occupation(s)composer, musician, Sitar player
Instrumentsitar
Years active1966 – present
Websiteshujaatkhan.com

Shujaat Husain Khan (born 19 May 1960) is one of the most acclaimed North Indian musicians and sitar players of his generation.

He belongs to the Imdadkhani gharana, also called Etawah gharana school of music.[1][2][3]

He has recorded over 100 albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for his work with the band Ghazal with Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor. He also sings frequently. His style of sitar playing, known as 'gayaki ang', is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice.[1][3]

Early life

Born in Kolkata in 1960, Shujaat Khan is the son of legendary sitar player Ustad Vilayat Khan and Monisha Hazra.[1] Shujaat Khan's musical career began at the age of three when he began practicing on a specially made small sitar. By the age of six, he was recognized as a child prodigy and began formal performances.[1] He had privilege of being influenced by great artists like Ustaad Amir Khan (singer), Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Vidushi Kishori Amonkar and many more.[4]

He has musical pedigree that extends back to seven generations: his grandfather, Ustad Enayat Khan; his great-grandfather, Ustad Imdad Khan; and his great-great-grandfather, Ustad Sahebdad Khan - all leading artists and torchbearers of the Imdadkhani gharana with its roots from Naugaon from Uttar Pradesh, India. His forefathers lived in Saharanpur, Agra, Etawah, Varanasi, Indore, Kolkata, Gouripur (now in Bangladesh), Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Shimla and Dehradun. He has a brother, sitarist Hidayat Khan and two sisters Sufi singer, Zila Khan and Yaman Khan. Shujaat Khan is married to Parveen Khan and their son Azaan also is a music composer.[4]

Performing career

Shujaat Husain Khan gave his first concert at the age of 6 at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.[1] Shujaat Hussain Khan has performed at numerous music festivals in India and has traveled around the world performing in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.[1][5] This includes Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki Sangeet Samaroha, Maitra Mahotsav. Shujaat Khan appeared in a program called Classical Studio under the Saregama label.[5]

His approach to rhythm is largely intuitive, fresh and spontaneous, always astonishing his audiences like his father, Vilayat Khan. He is also known for his exceptional voice, which he uses for singing folk songs, including the album Lajo Lajo (1995), as well as poetry, as in Hazaron Khwahishen.[6][4]

Shujaat Khan was featured in the concerts celebrating India's 60th anniversary of independence in 2007, and performed at the Carnegie Hall, New York City with the Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor[7] Paramount Theater, Seattle, and Meyers Symphony Theater, Dallas. In a special performance, he also played at the United Nations in the Assembly Hall, Geneva.[5]

His memorable appearances include performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Royce Hall in Los Angeles and Congress Hall in Berlin. In the summer of 1999, he was the featured soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Canada. His collaboration with different genres of music has been a very strong point as is evidenced by the enormously successful Indo-Persian venture, Ghazal. Their album, The Rain, was nominated for a Grammy award in 2004.[8][2]

In January 2000, the Boston Herald listed Shujaat Khan, along with luminaries like Seiji Ozawa and Luciano Pavarotti among the top 25 upcoming cultural events for the year.

He has been invited as visiting faculty at the Dartington School of Music in England, the University of Washington in Seattle, and at UCLA, Los Angeles.[2]

He is also known as a fearless collaborator, lately having done wide-ranging concerts with artists as diverse as Karsh Kale to a successful 'Jugalbandi' with pioneer Hindustani vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan. One of the best remembered collaborations of the year 2009-2010 happens to be Melange. Featuring Tim Ries on the saxophone, Kevin Hays on the piano, Karsh Kale on percussion, Katayoun Goudarzi on vocals, Ustaad Shujaat Khan on sitar, Karl Peters on bass and Yogesh Samsi on tabla, Melange (band) has toured extensively across India.[6]

Ustad Shujaat Khan has recently tied up with Inroom Records, a Mumbai-based experimental / fusion label and artist management company, to handle his collaborative work.

He collaborated in 2014 on Persian traditional music album Beyond Any Form.

Discography

Shujaat Khan has over 100 musical releases on a variety of international labels; and a video called Khandan.

  • Lajo lajo (Folk and Sufi music album, 1995)[4]
  • Waiting for Love (Shujaat Khan album) (1999)
  • Shams (2008)[6] Shujaat Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal) collaboration
  • Delbar (2009)[6] Shujaat Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal) collaboration
  • Ruby (2015)[6] Shujaat Husain Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal), Ajay Prasanna (Flute), Abhiman Kaushal (Tabla), Ahsan Ali (Sarangi), Prabhat Mukherjee (Santoor), Amjad Khan (Percussion)
  • Spring (2013)[6] Shujaat Husain Khan (Sitar & vocal), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal), Ajay Prasanna (Flute), Abhiman Kaushal (Tabla)
  • Dawning (2013)[6] Katayoun Goudarzi (vocal), Kevin Hays (piano), Shujaat Husain Khan (sitar, vocal), Abhiman Kaushal (tabla) & Tim Ries (tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, Hungarian folk flute)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Shujaat Khan - Artist of the month". ITC Sangeet Research Academy website. February 2003. Archived from the original on 24 March 2003. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c An Evening with Shujaat Khan University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Ethnomusicology website, Published 26 January 2024, Retrieved 11 September 2024
  3. ^ a b Suanshu Khurana (18 February 2017). ""Exchanging Notes: Shujaat Khan's live concert with tabla player Zakir Hussain"". The Indian Express newspaper. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Jyoti Nair (29 March 2018). "Shujaat Khan's ode to his legacy - The sitar exponent on Imdadkhani gharana and its stylistic features". The Hindu newspaper. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c S. M. Aamir (18 February 2016). "Bollywood just copying Hollywood: Ustad Shujaat Khan". The Hindu newspaper. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Angel Romero (8 April 2022). "Touching Message of Love from Indian and Persian Masters (Shujaat Husain Khan and Katayoun Goudarzi)". World Music Central website. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  7. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (27 August 2008). "A Master Iranian Musician Plays Cultural Ambassador". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2017., Kayhan Kalhor also comments about his music concert with Shujaat Hussain
  8. ^ "Shujaat Husain Khan - Grammy Award nomination 2004". Grammy Awards website. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
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