Laddan Khan was the elder brother of my teacher Zakan Khan of Banaras. They had grown up largely in Calcutta, and Laddan Khan had stayed there much of his life and had been one of the most sought-after accompanists there. Zakan Khan always spoke of him and his playing with immense respect and self-deprecation. And so whenever Laddan Khan came to Banaras, there was a complete upheaval, everyone's sleeping places rearranged to give extra space and privacy to Laddan Khan, and he would lord over everyone with a generally unfriendly disposition. He had a degenerative nervous disease, and his hands shook, sometimes uncontrollably, when he played. So I understand the recordings here, made on 9 September,1994, to be a mere shadow of his former playing. He is playing my sarangi here.
The first piece is rag Asavari:
Next we have some beautiful thumri-style movements in Bhairavi.
