"The greatest musician in the world": Steve Heilig interviews Ali Akbar Khan

Whole Earth, Fall, 2002 by Steve Heilig

SH: So we could say that you, as a modern master, are in a direct line of teaching from Shiva?

AAK: Yes. I guess that is true. But understand, you have to be careful how one says such things.

SH: Understood. And you have been very devoted to passing this music along to your own sons it seems. Do you yell at them when they make a mistake as your father did with you?

AAK: (Laughing) No, I do not yell. I ask for the listeners' blessings and try to please my teachers and through them, God. My sons and I, we wish to give all listeners that joy and beauty and hope so that they feel it in their souls. Again, it can help people like a medicine. The sound goes inside and the soul accepts it--some people feel happy, somebody cries, all of it is good.

SH: And it is healing you, too?

AAK: Yes, but when I play, I do not feel like I am playing. It is the instrument that is playing me.

SH: Do you ever listen to your own recordings?

AAK: I never hear them; I just play, somebody records, and I leave the studios and my students and family will listen and say if it's good.

SH: Do you like other kinds of music besides what you play?

AAK: Yes, I like Western classical music very much--Bach and Beethoven. And sometimes country music.

SH: Country? You mean like Hank Williams and Willie Nelson and all that?

AAK: Yes. I like the melodies. Like in our classical music, some is very good for certain times of day. But even then, if you spoil it, or hear it at the wrong time, you can have an allergic reaction, like a rash. Understand that traditions like these often develop for important reasons, and need to be maintained and preserved in ways that help people, wherever they may be. That is just what we try to do.

Steve Heilig interviewed Carlos Santana in Whole Earth, Summer 2000. Along with book and music criticism, he practices medical ethics, health policy advocacy, and environmentalism in San Francisco.

Ali Akbar Khan

ALI AKBAR COLLEGE OF MUSIC

215 West End Avenue San Rafael, CA 94901 415/454-6264 www.aacm.org

CDs

All, except Garden of Dreams, may be ordered from Revolver USA, 2745 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 415/241-2437, www.aamp.com. Add $3 postage for first CD, $1 for each additional.--SH

FROM FATHER TO SON

Ali Akbar Khan, Swapan Choudhuri, and Alam Khan 2002; CD. $8.95. AMMP Records

The master introduces his 19-year-old son and protege Alam Khan on sarode, accompanied by tabla maestro Swapan Chaudhuri, playing a traditional raga.

PASSING ON THE TRADITION

Ali Akbar Khan and Swapan Chauduri 1998; CD. $8.85. AMMP Records

Live in San Francisco, in a traditional recital. Nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998.

LEGACY 16th-48th Century Music from India

Ali Akbar Khan, Asha Bhosle, and Swapan Chaudhuri 1996; CD. $8.85. AMMP Records

A collaboration with renowned singer Asha Bhosle, featuring eleven sixteenth-century songs from the court of Emperor Akbar, Khan's ancestor. Nominated for a Grammy in 1997.

THEN AND NOW The Music of the Great Master Continues

Ali Akbar Khan, Chatur Lal, and Zakir Hussain 1995; Two CDs. $13.50.