International Jazz Festival…

Date of Issue : 15 June 2012

Gibraltar Post issue a beautiful stamp on 15 June 2012 to commemorate International Jazz festival by Gibraltar. The stamp is very nice featuring Musical instruments. A lovely presentation pack and FDC issued to allure the music lovers !! This is all for Today…Till Next Post…Have a Nice Time !!

FDC

International Jazz Festival stamp by Gibraltar

The Gibraltar International Jazz Festival is the first to be organised on the Rock and has been produced by Gibraltar's Ministry of Culture in conjunction with the Gibraltar Jazz Society. The Jazz Festival is held at the centrally located Casemates Square, Gibraltar on the 28th, 29th and 30th June 2012. The headline performer is Avishai Cohen.

Other major artists at the Gibraltar International Jazz Festival include saxophonist Dan Moretti, recording artist and Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA; the University of London Big Band; Elie Massias; Kirsty Almeida and her band, the Juan Gallardo Quintet; Arturo Serra and Gibraltar-based George Posso trio plus guests. Street music will be performed by the New Orleans Jump Band.

Presentation Pack

Philatelic Tributes to Hemant Kumar

 

16th June is the Birth Anniversary of Hemant Kumar. He a great singer and Music director of Indian Cinema. His songs have always charmed people of every  age group and regarded as some of the best numbers ever sung by an artiste…This post is a tribute to one of the the greatest singers…of all time whose songs will  be loved, sung, listened and played by the generations to come….Here I share some of his best numbers that have magical effect on the listener…

Golden Voices of Yesteryears

India Post issued  a set of four stamps and a Miniature sheet on May 15, 2003 to commemorate four great singers of Indian Cinema – Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Mohd Rafi and Hemant Kumar.

 

 

Hemant Kumar ( Hemanta Mukherjee) was a singer, composer, and producer in the Hindi and Bengali film industry.  He is most known for his Bollywood songs from the 1950's and 1960's.  In his career, he recorded approximately 2000 songs.

(Happy version)

(Sad version)

Hemant Kumar was born Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee on June 16, 1920 in Benares (Varanasi).  Although he was born in Benares, his family originally hailed from Baharu in West Bengal.  When he was young, his family shifted to Calcutta.  There he grew up and attended Mitra Institution school of Bhawanipore.  After he graduated from Intermediate, he attended Jadavpur University and began studying engineering. Hemant Kumar's interest in music began early.  He sang his first song in All India Radio in 1933.  He was only 13 at the time.

It was in 1937 that he recorded his first disk.  The names of the songs were Janite Jadi Go Tumi and Balo Go Balo More.  The lyrics to these songs were written by Naresh Bhattacharya and the tune and arrangement was by Sailesh Dattagupta. 

His career as a film playback singer began with the Bengali film "Nemai Sanyas"; this was released in 1941.  After that he did playback for a number of other Bengali films.

It was SD Burman who gave him his break for the film "Jaal" (1952). The song from this film Yeh Raat, Yeh Chaandni Phir Kahan, became a big hit, and cemented his position as a major playback singer.

Hemant began to work as a music director.  He composed the music for several films, but  "Nagin" (1954) that catapulted him into national recognition as a music director.  Even today the "hook" from the song, Man Doley Mera Tan Doley has become an icon that is permanently associated with snake charmers in the Indian mind.  After the success of "Nagin" he went on to be the music director for numerous films including "Jagriti" (1954), "Bees Saal Baad" (1962), and "Khamoshi" (1969).

 

In 1955 he won the "Filmfare Award for the Best Music Director".  This was for his film "Nagin" (1954).  He won the "Presidents Gold Medal" for his film "Neel Aksher Neechay" (1959).

His last concert was in September of 1989.  He went to Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudhan Award.  There he gave a performance in Dhaka.  Upon his return he had a severe heart attack and died on September 26, 1989.

Read More…

Views and Opinions

 

 

COMMEMORATING LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC

- Naresh Agarwal

I recently read an appeal in Rainbow stamp club bulletin asking to start campaigning for issuance of postal stamps by India Post on occasion of London Olympics, the biggest sport event held every four years to see the best sport personalities of the world in action. The appeal reads as under :

“It is unfortunate that India Post has not yet announced stamps to commemorate London 2012 Olympics. The philatelic community is still in doubt whether any stamp will be issued by India Post to mark this biggest sports event. So all Indian philatelists are requested to join hands and make all possible efforts to pursue India Post for a beautiful set of stamps to mark OLYMPICS 2012. WE all must start a campaign for the issue of commemorative stamps on Olympics 2012 !!”

Participation by any nation in such a great sports event is a matter of pride and honor. Further winning any medal in this event is like a dream come true. For me even participation in Olympic gives you a title of Olympian which is a very big and rich achievement.

     

 

We have seen postal authorities of most of the countries are issuing postal stamps to celebrate on this occasion. Australia for example is issuing three commemorative stamps titling “The Road to London” to honor its Olympians and also will be issuing stamps instantly for their Gold medal winners in London Olympics.

Such is the enthusiasm. Israel has planned to issue a set of 6 stamps. This shows how seriously and strongly one is connected and concerned. This connectivity acts as a motivational stuff for the participants and also for the new upcoming athletes and sports persons.

India has also been issuing stamps on many such occasion. This act of India Post has been highly appreciated by the philatelic fraternity world over and the stamps and other postal stuffs issued / released have made an impact. Many big sports persons have been honored.

Though only a few days are left, India Post has not yet declared the stamps to be issued on this occasion by it but it is believed that very nice stamps have already been designed to honor the medal winners of India in the past Olympics games. But it is not understood why such games are being played by India Post before the official start of the Olympic games. This is a serious matter and demand of the people of this state who look forward for release of good postal material including postal stamps to mark, celebrate and commemorate this event.

One must not forget that India Post has been very kind and liberal in its stamp issue policy where even a very good number of people and events of regional stature have been honored and commemorated. Olympics has a global stature and one can think what India Post must have in its store for this event. Otherwise also when whole world is doing great work to mark the event… India post, one of the biggest postal organizations can never sit behind and is expected to come out with some wonderful postal material.

In case India Post has not yet thought of this, it must act immediately to keep its and our head high. It must think that this is the right time to honor our athletes and Olympians in front of the world as stamps are considered as ambassador of any country. More over, we will be honoring our sports personalities not the British or other nationals.

Let me remind the think tank of India post that it has a big wing to promote philately and also has a philatelic advisory committee too to think on the importance of any such occasion and to decide on issuance of stamps and postal material which could commemorate such event and also help promotion and development of this hobby for which such wing has been formed. I would like to inform that there is a big group / chapter of philatelists who collect and enjoy the Olympic related stamps and other material. In India, only there is a big team of such philatelists who are hard core Olympic Stamp collectors.

I hope and have firm belief that India Post will come out with a strange but beautiful set of stamps to mark this occasion along with other related philatelic materials.

Tributes to the Ghazal King – Mehndi Hassan

 

 

 

The Great Ghazal Singer Mehndi Hassan is no more… Sometimes back I wrote a Post on him…when he was seriouly ill…but he could not recover from his  prolonged illness….The news of his demise just made my eyes wet as I never knew that time to write a Post to pay Tributes to the Ghazal King would come so early and still I feel this time would have never come…and he might have recovered….and we could have listened some more  ghazals ….. His songs and ghazals are always close to my heart so I feel like losing something deep inside…….It is a loss for music lovers all over the world and those who listened to his songs and ghazals again and again ….. The pathos in his voice shared emotions of millions and touched their hearts…His voice will always be in the hearts of music lovers..This Post is a Trbute to the Greatest Ghazal singer of all time !!

 

Ghazal legend Mehdi Hasan who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital in Karachi has passed away. He had been ill for the last 12 years but this year his condition has deteriorated significantly this year. Hassan, 84, was born into a family of traditional musicians at Luna village, Rajasthan, in 1927 before his family migrated to Pakistan after 1947.Hassan, who had a huge following in the subcontinent, cut back on his performances in the late 80s due to illness.

Considered one of the most successful ghazal singers of Pakistan, Mehdi Hasasn was trained in classical music by his father Ustad Azeem Khan and his uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were both well respected classical musicians.

Hassan tried different styles of music and there was a time in Pakistan's film industry known as Lollywood when a production was considered incomplete without his voice. Due to his remarkable commercial and artistic success he was titled Shahen Shah-e-Ghazal (The King of Ghazal singing).

Read my earlier Post on : Mehndi Hassan…

 

Talat Mahmood - singer unnoticed by India Post…

 

 

Hain Sab se Madhur Woh Geet Jinhen Hum Dard ke sur men Gate Hain…..

9th May is the death anniversary of  great Gahazal King Talat Mahmood whose soft velvety voice touched millions of hearts. His unforgettable songs “ Jalte Hain Jiske Liye”…Hain sab se Madhur woh Geet  Jinhen Hum Dard Ke sur men Gate Hain..are still remembered…

With Talat Mahmood at a Music Concert - Kanpur 1989

While writing this post about the great singer..I remember a music concert at Kanpur when I met him. Here is the photo of a concert at Kanpur held in 1989. From my school days I was a great fan of him and here I am pleased to share photo with his autograph given to me !!  His voice had always given me an extraordinary  cool and soft feeling ……That’s why I  love his songs…… As a person he was as gentle as his soft voice….I am proud to have a personal letter written by Talat Mahmood  to me…of course at that time I was too young and normally school and college students at that time  did not like to listen to old singers as it was the time of Jagjit Singh Pankaj Udhas and Talat Aziz… However Kishore Rafi Mukesh Lata Asha and Hemant were always popular with all and even today .…..My taste was quite different from my friends of my age group….With new songs I also loved to listen old songs…. I  wish to share here that How I developed a liking for old songs it is only because of my Uncle Dr Rakesh Pratap Singh who has the finest collection of  Hindi Film songs in India on 78 R.P.M. Gramophone Records cassettes and now on CDs ! Now he has prepared a complete digital data of the songs chronologically and artiste wise ! In his collection he has some very rare songs on 78 RPM records which are not available any where. I got a chance to listen old songs from the very young age…..But today the time has changed …… new songs come and go…but a good music  always leaves an impact on the listener’s ears…Those songs are never forgotten and remembered always…!!   

This Post is a tribute to the great singer Talat Mahmood and I have an earnest request to India Post  to issue a commemorative stamp on him !!

Talat Mahmood (February 24, 1924 – May 9, 1998) was a popular Indian playback singer and film actor. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1992, he had a unique style of singing. He was famous for singing ghazals. He was honored with the First 'BEGUM AKHTAR AWARD' in 1975 for ghazal singing .His voice was full of pathos and emotions and his flawless rendering of songs always touched the heart of people.

Like his other contemporary singers he was never tempted to sing the sub-standard lyrics only for the sake of money.

In August 1991, Dr. Rakesh Pratap Singh of Kanpur, published his compilation of all the film and non-film songs, geet, ghazals,etc.sung by Shri Talat Mahmood,named as"TALAT GEET KOSH".This book was releasdd by Talat Mahmood and Naushad at Talat Saheb's residence in Bandra,Mumbai.

Indian Postage Stamps have already released  stamps to commemorate the works of his contemporary singers: Hemant Kumar, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Mohd Rafi.Therefore we all music lovers of India strongly recommend for the release of a 'Postage Stamp' in memory of great singer Talat Mahmood.

 

Talat Mahnood

'King of Ghazals' Talat Mahmood was born in a highly cultured but conservative family in Lucknow, India, on Feb. 24, 1924. Talat showed his musical leanings from a very young age and would enjoy sitting through all-night music soiree's listening patiently to some of the biggest names in Indian classical music. Later, for a very short period of time Talat studied music at Marris Music College, before people began noticing his natural singing talent and offers to sing began to pour in.

Talat Mahmood began his music career at the young age of 16 when he began singing the ghazals of Ghalib, Dagh, Mir and Jigar on All India Radio, Lucknow. His voice had a quality distinct from all other singers. HMV was quick to notice this and offered Talat his first disc in 1941, "Sab din ek samaan nahin tha, ban jaoonga kya se kya main, iska to kuch dhyan nahin tha". Indeed how prophetic were these words. Little did Talat know that he was soon to rise to become the greatest name in ghazals on the Indian sub-continent !

In 1944 came the smash hit "Tasveer teri dil mera behela na sakegi". It took the country by storm. It's popularity was so phenomenal and unrivalled that even today it remains one of the biggest non-film hits! This disc brought Talat fame throughout India and soon he was beckoned by the Calcutta Film Industry, which was then the premiere hub of film production in the 40's. Apart from singing many hits, Talat also acted in the first 3 of his 13 films there - "RAJLAXMI", "TUM AUR MAIN" and "SAMAPTI".

But fate had even bigger things in store for Talat and in 1949 he came to the Hollywood of India - Mumbai. His name and fame had already preceded him and people in the Mumbai Film Industry were already aware of this handsome and talented young singer and soon he was offered the song "Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho" composed by the then reigning music director Anil Biswas and picturised  on the great Dilip Kumar. The combination was electrifying ! The record was an overnight success and set the trend for the filmi ghazal.

In Talat Mahmood, the music directors  found the perfect voice for ghazals. His diction and intonation were word perfect. His expressive style and emotional nuances were unparalleled. The mellowness, sweetness and pathos in his voice set him apart from all the other singers. Here was a voice that was fresh !  The style absolutely new !!  He was unanimously hailed as "The King Of Ghazals", a title  he consolidated over the period of years to become the greatest name in ghazals !!!  His film solo's and romantic duets numbered in hundreds as hit after hit followed. Talat soon grew into a living legend.

However, the handsome young  'King of Ghazals' did not go unnoticed by the film producers, who besieged him with offers to act in their films. Such was Talat's aura, that for his film 'Dil-e-Nadaan', producer-director A.R. Kardar, launched an 'All India Beauty Contest' to hunt for a beautiful girl who would play the heroine opposite the young and immensely talented superstar Talat Mahmood !!!  Talat was to finally accept 13 films with top heroines like Nutan, Mala Sinha, Suraiya, Shyama, Nadira and others before he decided that acting was not his forte.  And hence, Talat gave up acting to concentrate on singing.

Pyar Par Bas to Nahin one of my favourite songs of film Sone Ki Chidiya . This song is picturised on Talat Mahmood and Nutan.

Towards the late 60's the filmi ghazals and good romantic songs gave way to the electronic rhythms of the disco generation. Disliking the new trend towards loud meaningless music, Talat decided to cut down his film singing assignments but continued his non-film ghazal recordings.

As a singer, Talat has already secured a place in history. Over the years, the King of Ghazals has created a catalogue of songs for generations to come. His fan following straddles the globe. He strides like a colossus in the field of ghazals - a KING whose name is surpassed by none !!!

Talat Geet Kosh :

A Catalogue of all songs of Talat Mahmood

by Dr Rakesh Pratap Singh

This is a complete book on songs of Talat Mahmood. The book includes film and non film songs of Talat in Hindi and other regional languages. The book is available with the author.  Those interested in this book may contact Mr Rakesh Pratap Singh Email : rakeshpsingh@yahoo.com Ph 09450141410

Author with Talat Mahmood

 

 

Read more about of Talat Mahmood :  A Golden Voice Talat Mahmood

View : Ek Shaam Talat Ji Ke saath

: Dr R C MIshra – Kanpur  - Blog : Life And Music

New stamps on Music and Fine arts…

 

 

Date of Issue : 30 March 2012

On March 30, 2012 Serbia Post released a new set of 3  stamps today  dedicated to Music and Fine arts  and 150 Years of Gymnasium in Pozarevac. . The first stamp is dedicated to 75 Years of the Academy of Music in Belgrade; the second stamp commemorates 75 Years of the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade and the third one - 150 Years of the Gymnasium in Pozarevac.

Belgrade Music Academy, the nowadays Faculty of Music Art was founded 75 years ago, by the decree of the Ministry of Education of the prewar Yugoslavia. The guiding thought of the first professors and Faculty's founders was to form artists and pedagogues who will, through their concert and teaching activities, create a specific artistic consciousness and by it transform and ennoble the wider social community. This artistic process of development is being continued even today with great enthusiasm by new generations of students and professors.

The Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade was founded in 1937, and in 1973 was renamed the Faculty of Fine Arts. In seventy five years of its existence, 2.887 students graduated from the Faculty and 1.146 completed post-graduate studies. Since its founding until today, 138 prominent artists from Serbia and wider Balkan region have been teaching at the Faculty.

Pozarevac Grammar School was founded by a decree of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic on September 24th 1862 as Pozarevac Middle School. In the following years it has changed names several times. Since May 22nd 2001 it has been known as Pozarevac Grammar School.

 

Club News

Seminar on Promotion of Philately & Stamp Bazar at Ludhiana

The Philatelic Congress of Punjab and Ludhiana Philatelic Club with the collaboration of Dept of Posts are jointly organizing a Seminar on Promotion of Philately on April 21-22
at Lions Bhawan, Udham Singh Nagar, Ludhiana. On this occasion Ludhiana Philatelic Club is also holding a Stamp Bazaar.

Stamp Bazaar will enable the philatelists and the general public to buy stamps and other philatelic material. The tariff for dealer booth will be Rs. 2000/- and will include refreshment for both days.  The dealers will be provided with one table and two chairs.

In addition, a spot stamps auction will be held on April 22, 2012. No Buyer's Premium. 10% of realization shall be charged on the hammer price from the seller.

Those desirous of setting up their stalls are requested to contact Mr. Mukesh Malhotra PRO (M): 9023084608

Israel Memorial Day…

 

Hi !

Here is a beautiful stamp to be issued by Israel Post in April 2012 to mark Israel Memorial Day 2012. The stamp is beautifully designed to express the tributes to those heroes who lost their life in the War Independence. This is a very special way to remember the heroes of the war and console the bereaved families !! The design of the stamp features a child and  a red balloon in the sky with a special tab of Israel Post ! On the right side of Tab  is the Coat of Arms of the Israeli Defense Army on Israeli flag .

Israel Memorial Day 2012

The letter card, cover and stamp – all of which are special and unique to Memorial Day –constitute the basis of a sensitive, original and extraordinary tradition that came into being following the War of Independence. Since Memorial Day 1952, a long line of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers of Defense have signed personal letters to bereaved families of the fallen and Israel's premier artists take part in designing the covers and stamps for this commemorative day. Thus, from year to year, an unprecedented tradition has formed which, over time, has become one of the most recognized and extraordinary ambassadors of Israel's commemorative culture.

The graphic design of the Memorial Day stamps has been expressed over the years symbolically and through monuments. The design of this stamp reflects the words of the song "Mi Shechalam" (He Who Dreamt).

Lyrics: Didi Menusi, Music: Yochanan Zarai.

A thousand flowers shall yet flower in and between the fields And shall bear witness that they are  remembered always !.

Read More..

From our Readers…

Fancy number on Indian currency Note of Rs 1000

From OAE 000001 1 to  OAE 000010

: : Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Stamps from Bangladesh….

 

Birds of Sundarbans

Date of Issue : 17 July 2011

Rare animals of Bangladesh

Date of Issue : 17 July 2011

Coins of Independent Sultans of Bengal

Date of Issue : 21 July 2011

Philanippon 2011

Date of Issue : 21 July 2011

Traditional Musical Instruments

Date of Issue : 21 July 2011

Centenary of Dhaka Club

Date of Issue : 19 August 2011

E- Asia 2011

Date of Issue : 1 December 2011

: Pradip Jain – Patna - email : philapradip@gmail.com