Nazar Hussain Khan (1937-c2000) learned sarangi from his father Ustad Chuttu Khan and also from Ustad Gami Khan and Ustad Badal Khan of the Sonipat gharana. He was also the grandson (naati) and student of Ustad Murad Khan. Nazar Hussain Khan was a staff artist at All India Radio Bhopal. When I knew him he was teaching sarangi to his sons Qadir and Shamir. He seemed old and tired to an extent that puts his birth year, given above, in some doubt. I wonder if this could possibly have to do with the fact that his home was very near Bhopal's infamous Union Carbide factory.
The highpoint of my first visit was a vocal performance by his three-year-old grandson , Amir Khan, which can be seen below. The next year Amir Khan was starting to learn sarangi, also presented below.
We begin with a series of films from a visit to Nazar Hussain Khan's house in Bhopal on 20 October, 1996. He played my sarangi and was amazed by its efficiency and tone. The first piece is rag Asavari, accompanied by one of his sons on tabla:
Followed by rags Bilaskani Todi and Bhairavi:
Then some discussion about history, sarangi players and my sarangi:
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Then rag Nat Bhairav played by Nazar Hussain Khan's youngest son, included here because the video shows Nazar Hussain teaching with considerable enthusiasm:
Our next video, from a year earlier, is of a lesson to Nazar Hussain's three-year-old grandson Amir Khan given by Nazar Hussain's son Zamir: the Marva song, "piya more anata des gailava" famously sung by the boy's namesake Ustad Amir Khan. Amir Khan's visceral enthusiasm for the sam in the mukhra is a joy to watch:
We jump back to my visit in 1996 to see the four-year-old Amir Khan giving a demonstration of his sarangi skills, much to the entire family's amusement:
