Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan
Sitar
PLAYS
Sitar
GHARANA
Indore
DISCIPLES
Prasad Jogalekar
Deepsankar Bhattacharjee
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (1927-2017) was a sitarist of the Beenkar gharana of Indore and the youngest of India's 'Sitar Trinity', alongside Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan. Born in Jawra, Madhya Pradesh, to Jaffer Khan, a vocalist, sitarist and beenkar, he was an All India Radio (AIR) artiste from the early 1940s. In 1958, a few years before the Beatles met Ravi Shankar, Khan collaborated with jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, then in Bombay through the Jazz Ambassadors Program, who said accompanying Khan led him to play differently: "We understood each other." In 1963 he performed with English classical guitarist Julian Bream. He was the first Hindustani musician to collaborate with Carnatic music, performing with veena player Emani Sankara Sastry, and is credited with bringing Carnatic ragas such as Kanakangi, Latangi, Kirwani, Karaharapriya, Manavati and Ganamurti into the sitar repertoire, rendered with a Hindustani sensibility. His sitar quintet was an early experiment in polytonality. Khan is perhaps best known for the Jafferkhani baaj, his own style, which he described as "a synthesis of precision in technique, systematic thought" with a vigorous playing style. He composed and played for films including Mughal-e-Azam, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Goonj Uthi Shehnai and Kohinoor, with music directors such as Vasant Desai, C. Ramachandra, Madan Mohan and Naushad, who said, "he not only enriched film music, but his participation lent prestige to my songs." In 1976 he founded the Halim Academy of Sitar in Mumbai; his son, sitarist Zunain Khan, carries on his legacy.