Ustad Ashish Khan was the son of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

85-year-old Ustad Ashish Khan, who passed away last week, was not only the grandson of Baba Alauddin Khan, founder of the Senia Maihar instrumental gharana, but he was also the last musician to receive training from the maestro. Born in Maihar, Ustad Ashish Khan received his initial training from his grandfather and then his aunt Annapurna Devi, before learning from his father Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He lived in Maihar until the age of 17 and later joined his father in Calcutta in the mid-1950s. His close interaction with Pt. Ravi Shankar also left its mark on his music. Since 1968 he made America his home.

Apart from being a link in this iconic series, Ashish Khan was a brilliant musician in his own right. He stepped out of the shadow of his great gurus and carved his own style on the sarod – he was adventurous as well as traditional. The way he held the sarod with the correct position of his hands revealed his mastery.

Ashish Khan’s interactions with many Western musicians, including George Harrison, Alice Coltrane, pianist John Barham and Eric Clapton, brought a new perspective to his playing.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan with his sons Alam and Ashish. Photo Credit: Courtesy: Alam Khan

Ashish Khan was a very confident musician, secure in his music and open to ‘jugalbandi’ with his peers and seniors. Some of his popular collaborations have been with sitarist Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Shujaat Khan and Pt. Indranil Bhattacharya, flute players Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Pt. Ronu Mazumdar and Sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan. The maestro was also renowned as a composer – he composed music for some Bengali and Hindi films, and also assisted both his father and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Popular films in which she worked include Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar and Porosh Pathor, Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, Tapan Sinha’s Aadmi Aur Aurat and Tapan Majumdar’s Balika Badhu.

During an interview with this writer last year, the maestro had talked about working for films. “In those days, directors were extremely influenced by classical music. He was very intelligent. So, film music was mostly raga-based and I didn’t really face any problems in composing music for films. “Undoubtedly, my biggest success was Tapan Sinha’s ‘Jaatu Griha (1964). I was in my late twenties. So that was really a big break for me.

The experience of working for Indian films helped Ustad form a pioneering East-West band Shanti when he moved to America, sadly when it disbanded, Ustad Zakir Hussain formed Shakti on the same lines. Launched.

Ravi Shankar with Pt. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A rare musician, Ustad Ashish had collaborated with both his father, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and his uncle Pt. Ravi Shankar. He told how Pt. Ravi Shankar and his father had a different approach towards composing music. “Panditji gave a Western touch to the pieces while my father stuck to simple harmonies.”

Ustad Ashish Khan carried with him the traditions of the last century. He had a wealth of rare ragas including Sharad Pancham, Shubhavati and Kaushik Bhairav. Like the great musicians in his family, he was a wonderful ‘laykar’, playing unusual rhythms with half and quarter beats.

Sarodist Debanjan Bhattacharjee remembers learning the rare 13-beat rhythm ‘Jayatala’ and 11-beat ‘Ashtamangal’.

The simple and friendly maestro also had a very good sense of humor. Once, when he was at an intimate event in Delhi, the hostess’s dog sitting under the sofa was barking at him. The maestro jokingly said, “His tone does not match mine.” An amazing cook, he could cook Bengali, Mexican, Chinese and Thai cuisine.

Ustad Ashish Khan was always ready to share his musical insights with the younger generation. Some of his famous disciples include his nephew Shiraz Ali Khan, Atish Mukhopadhyay, Debanjan Bhattacharjee, Dishari Chakraborty and Dwipatnil Bhattacharjee.