Mehdi Hassan-Undisputed Ghazal King!

Mehdi Hassan, born in 1927 in a village called Luna in Rajasthan, India to a family of traditional musicians belongs to the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians. He had his initial musical grooming from his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were traditional Dhrupad singers. Mehdi Hassan's gayaki incorporates the subtle elements of both Dhrupad and Khayal. He carefully embellishes ghazals by using behlawas, murkhis, taans and zamzamas. Further grace is given by touches of Rajasthani folk singing. The importance of correct pronunciation, delivery of words are of utmost importance in his singing. The mutual bond between melody and the lyrical content is responsible for making Mehdi Hassan so appealing. He has raised the profile of ghazal gayaki which was previously considered a taboo amongst classical exponents and reformed it into a major melodic genre which sits on an equal footing with thumri, dadra, kajri and tappa. His influence was such that some leading classical vocalists of that era took to ghazal singing!
Despite advancing age, Mehdi Hassan still reigns as the undisputed master of the ghazal. He has left such an indelible mark in the field of ghazal gayaki that almost all the ghazal singers of today are influenced by him. Mehdi Hassan has also been instrumental in training the next generation of ghazal singers. His sons Asif and Kamran are following in their father's footsteps and trying to carve a career as ghazal singers, other prominent disciples are Parvez Mehdi, Ghulam Abbas, Salamat Ali, Asif Javed and Talat Aziz.

I present a very old number of him "Sata Sata Ke Hame". This was a long pending request from Sreeja Balaraj who is an avid Mehdi Hassan fan. I also thank Swati Kanitkar who helped me with the lyrics. I have tried to do justice to the song to the best of my abilities.

Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehdi_Hassan

Song: Sata Sata Ke Hamein

Music: Nazar Husain

Lyrics: Wafa Roomani

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