The Bombay Sisters, C. Saroja (b. 1936) and C. Lalitha (1938 - 2023), were a Carnatic music singing duo. from Trichur, Kerala. They had their musical training with H. A. S. Mani, Musiri Subramania Iyer and T. K. Govinda Rao. Since they were groomed in Carnatic Music in Mumbai, they were referred to as the "Bombay Sisters".

> with A. Kanyakumari on violin, Srimushnam Raja Rao on mridangam, Govindarajan on ghatam

Narayanrao Vyas (1902-1984) played the jalatarang (an array of ceramic bowls filled with water and played with sticks), but became a famous classical vocalist.

Shankarrao Vyas (1898-1956) played the mandolin here, and left music to become a film director.

The Vyas Brothers recorded this for 78 rpm disc in 1929. The music was digitized as part of a 2-CD accompaniment to the book "Indian Talking Machine" published by Sublime Frequencies in 2015.

Singing in the Sham Chaurasia gharana, Nazakat Ali Khan (1928-1984) and Salamat Ali Khan (1934-2001) had their debut performance on All India Radio, Delhi in 1942, when Salamat was only 8. Their father is vocalist Vilayat Ali Khan. They were from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, and migrated to Lahore after the partition of India. (The thumri is in Raga Kafi)

Sikkil Kunjumani, (1927 - 2010) and Sikkil Neela, (1938 - 2023). Kunjumani learnt flute from her maternal uncle Azhiyur Narayanaswami Iyer, and Neela learnt from her sister.

> with T. Rukmini (violin, Srimushnam Raja Rao (mridangam), T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam)

Raga: Suddha Bangala

Vocalists are Dhanakoti Ammal & her sister Kamakshi Ammal, from Conjeeveram, present day Kanchipuram.

We are fortunate that the recording industry in India was active very early on. This was recorded for 78 rpm disc in 1908. The music was digitized as part of a 2-CD accompaniment to the book "Indian Talking Machine" published by Sublime Frequencies in 2015.

The 'senior' Dagar brothers are Nasir Moinuddin (1921-1966) & Nasir Aminuddin (1923-2000). Together they revived the dhrupad tradition in Dagar Gharana that had fallen off after the death of their father Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Dagar. (This was originally issued on LP in 1965.)

> mridang accompaniment by S.V. Patwardhan.

The Malladi Brothers, Malladi Sreeramprasad (born 1971) and Malladi Ravikumar (born 1973), obtained their music education initially from their father Malladi Suri Babu and grandfather Malladi Sriramamurthy.. Subsequently, they studied under Sripada Pinakapani, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy and Voleti Venkatesvarulu.

> with Embar Kannan (violin), K.V. Prasad (mridangam), S. Karthick (ghatam)

Ranjani and Gayatri are sisters who were born into a musical family in 1973 and 1976 respectively. They started their training on violin, but have been singing together since 1997. They have been students of P.S. Narayanswamy.

Recorded live in Chennai in December 2013, with Charumathi Raghuram (violin), Delhi Sairam (mridangam), and K.V. Gopalakrishnan (kanjira).

"Abhang" (unbroken, uninterrupted) is a sung devotional poetry from Maharashtra.

Imrat Khan (1935-2018) was born in Kolkata, British India. The family moved to Mumbai in 1944 and received intensive training from their uncle Wahid Khan. Imrat Khan played sitar as well, but specialized in the surbahar (sort of a cello version of the sitar, ideal for dhrupad style.)

The brothers stopped playing together around the time of this recording (1961).

> with Shanta Prasad (tabla)

"The Violin Trio" was a short-lived trio comprised of brothers L. Vaidyanathan (1942-2007), L. Subramaniam (b. 1947), L. Shankar (b. 1950). Active during the early years of their recording careers, they released two records in the mid 1970s. They are sons of V. Lakshminarayana (1911-1990), and nephews of Ramnad Krishnan and Ramnad Raghavan. Vaidynathan went on to make film music. Subramaniam and Shankar went on to have prolific and varied solo careers.

> with Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer on mridangam.

Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya are from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. They were disciples of famous singing duo Radha Jayalakshmi.

> with Usha Rajagopalan (violin), Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam), T.H. Subashchandran (ghatam).

The brothers are from Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh.

Uppalapu Rajesh was born in 1977. He was taught by his father and brother, and started performing with Srinivas at age 10.

Her sister was born Saraswati Kamala Shastri in 1928. She was also part of the Uday Shankar troupe. She was married to film director Amiya Chakravarty from 1945 until his death in 1957.

Amanat Ali Khan (1922-1974) along with younger brother Bade Fateh Ali Khan (1935-2017) were a highly regarded singing duo from Hoshiarpur, Punjab. They represented the Patiala gharana.

Brothers Ganesh and Kumaresh are duo violin players, born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh in 1964 and 1967 respectively. They were trained by their father T. S. Rajagopalan.

> with Thiruvarur Bakthavatsalam (mridangam), E. M. Subramaniam (ghatam)

> tabla by Mohammad Ahmed.

Children and disciples of renowned violinist Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Lalgudi GJR Krishnan was born in 1960, and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi was born in 1966.

> with A.S. Shankar (ghatam) and M.V. Chander Shekar (mridangam)

The Hyderabad Brothers are D. Raghavachari and D. Seshachari. They got their initial formal training from their father Daroor Ratnamacharyulu. Their mother Daroor Sulochana Devi was also a Carnatic classical musician.

> with TKV Ramanuja Charyulu (violin), Vellore Ramabhadran (mridangam), V. Nagarajan (kanjira)

Rajan Mishra (1951-2021) and Sajan Mishra (1956 - ) were born and raised in Varanasi. They received their initial musical training from their grandfather's brother, Bade Ram Das Ji Mishra, and also their father, Hanuman Prasad Mishra, and from their uncle, sarangi player Gopal Prasad Mishra.

> with Inder Lal (sarangi), Mehmood Dhaulpuri (harmonium), Ramzaan Khan (tabla).