Ready reckoner to your maestros

Amaan and Ayaan Ali's 50 Maestros, 50 Recordings is a guide to the masters of Indian music, and comes with a superb CD compilation of their music

Twins Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan's smartly packaged book about Indian musicians showers adulation on their famous father Amjad Ali Khan while remaining respectful about his most formidable peer Ali Akbar Khan.

50 Maestros 50 Recordings looks so good that music lovers will find it difficult not to pick it up. But don't worry, at Rs 350, it's a worthy buy, if only for the music CD that comes glued to the last page. The book isn't bad either. It gives you a quick overview of the deities in the Indian classical music pantheon, and is sprinkled with some refreshingly candid personal observations.

Insiders and music lovers curious about artistic rivalries are likely to quickly flip to the pages about Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, two of the most celebrated sarod maestros of our times, to see how the authors (also sarod players) have managed the comparison.

"What can you say about an icon whose very name means music to you? What do you write about a man for whom the world is music and music is the world?" they say of Amjad Ali Khan, while they mostly list out the occasions when they met Ali Akbar Khan, and finally balance it all out with "He (Ali Akbar Khan) left behind a legacy that is priceless. His teachings, his musical genius and his calibre are unparalleled."

But then, if they don't gush about Ali Akbar as they do about dad, they aren't always afraid to express their opinions either. They refer to Sharan Rani's claim that the sarod existed since 500 BC as "baseless" and having no historical or musical evidence. The sarod, they say, evolved from the Afghani rabab, and was modified in India by one of their forefathers. They praise the role of the guru, and say only a guru, and no formal institution, can produce a great performer.

Happily, Carnatic music is well represented in the book. No one will dispute the inclusion of Semmangudi, D K Pattammal, M S Subbulakshmi and Balamurali, but the exclusion of such giants as G N Balasubramanyam and K V Narayanaswamy will be noticed. Also, among violinists, the choice of L Subramaniam over Lalgudi Jayaraman is likely to evoke scepticism. But then, to be fair, it is never easy for musicians to write about musicians and make lists, and Amaan and Ayaan have pulled off a small miracle by compiling music of such sweep. Their writing is clearly aimed at the non-specialist, and can sometimes look sketchy. The introduction to Indian classical music shows journalistic ease. The choice of pieces is well thought-out (for example, Bhimsen Joshi's 1968 recording is intensely beautiful).

The book dedicates two to four pages to each musician, giving biographical details, and placing them in the context of the authors' own musical discovery. This is a representative way of introducing young people to the wonderful world of Indian classical music, and publishers Harper Collins combine marketing pizazz with a genuine desire to spread the art. An additional attraction is the photographs the book brings together. Getting copyright permissions from multiple record labels couldn't have been easy. Amaan and Ayaan write a brief note on each of the tracks in the albums they have culled their gems from, helpfully pointing in the direction of further listening and exploration.

With its colourful, classy cover, 50 Maestros 50 Recordings will definitely adorn your bookshelf. You'll enjoy the music, and hopefully, so will your kids.