I met Ustad Daud Khan at his home in Indore, Madhya Pradesh in March 1997. He was an interesting sarangi player with a strong knowledge of vocal music, heavily influenced by the style of the great Amir Khan, also of Indore. He performed for me with his brother Yusaf Khan, a tabla player who came, considerably intoxicated, to meet me at my hotel. In the early afternoon, we went back to their home, only to find Daud Khan also a bit worse for wear. Nevertheless we had a very stimulating and fruitful session. On my first visit, his brother Yusaf sang. He had considerable knowledge of Amir Khan's bandishes, having as a child and young man, accompanied the Ustad's practise on tabla frequently. He told me that he had never practised vocal music.
Daud Khan was the son of a tabla player, Ustad Dhulji Khan. He learned sarangi from Abdullah Khan, Munir Khan and Bashir Khan. Daud Khan had been a staff artist at All India Radio Baroda. He had accompanied many great artists in his day. His playing shows deep knowledge, but like many older demoralised sarangi players, he had let his technique and the tuning of his instrument wither. Daud Khan had a son who played sarangi, but at this time his son was away in Bombay for work.
We begin with my visit on 5 March, 1997. The first video is of preparations—tuning and talk:
The first piece was rag Bhimpalasi. Towards the end Yusaf Khan began to sing, sometimes dipping inadvertantly into rag Shahana.
Next we have rags Ramdasi Malhar, a favourite of Amir Khan's, and also rag Charaukaisi:
Then Bhairavi, Suha Sughrai, Marva and Bhupali:
On my next visit, the following day, Yusaf Khan accompanied Daud Khan on tabla. First he played rag Bhairavi, which was followed by discussion:
Then rag Bageshri in a serious measured style. At a certain point, his young son (or nephew) took over the tabla playing.
