Ustad Rais Khan
| Rais Khan (sitar player) | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | 25 November 1939 |
| Origin | Indore, Madhya Pradesh, British India |
| Genres | Hindustani classical music |
| Years active | 1948 – current year |
| Pride of Performance Recipient | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2005 |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Presented by | Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan |
Ustad Rais Khan (born 25 November 1939) is a Pakistani sitarist from Karachi, Pakistan.
Rais Khan is the torchbearer of the Mewat or Mewati Gharana (lineage), which is connected to Indore and the "beenkar baj gayaki ang" (singing style combined with rudra vina approaches) carried out by Rais Khan's father Mohammed Khan, a rudra vina (been) player and a sitarist. Despite his extensive meend work and the gandhar pancham sitar style he uses, Rais Khan's alapi, gatkari and gamaki work is different in approach, pacing, and even technique, from the Etawah style. Amongst the Khayal and dhrupad doyens, Rais Khan's gharana is a lineage containing the masters Haddu Khan, Hassu Khan, Bande Ali Khan, Nathan Khan, Babu Khan, Wazir Khan, Waheed Khan, Murad Khan, Latif Khan, Majid Khan, Nazeer Khan, Amanat Khan and Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India.
As Rais Khan's mother was a singer and his father was a beenkar, a unique combination of khayal (the most popular classical vocal style), dhrupad (the older and most orthodox classical form) and thumri (lyrical semi-classical form) – 'angs' (approaches) developed in his playing.
He gave his first public concert at Sunderbai Hall in the presence of the then Governor of Bombay Sir Maharaja Singh.
He is also a vocalist and is the first sitar player to record the super-hit geet 'Ghungroo toot gaye' for BBC London in 1978 as an instrumental song with the sitar. This song was originally written by Qateel Shifai, music by Nisar Bazmi for a Pakistani film Naz (1969). Like his uncle Ustad Vilayat Khan, he often sings and demonstrates compositions by his accompanying sitar playing. Ustad Rais Khan (sitar player) and the great Bismillah Khan (shehnai player) used to get together and do live concerts together as a duo, called 'Jugalbandi' as they did in a live concert in New Delhi on 23 November 2001.
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