Rag Bilaskhani Todi

Rag Bilaskhani Todi is a 24-minute khayal performance recorded by sitarist Ustad Imrat Khan and surbahar player Ustad Shafaatullah Khan. The track appears as the second composition on the album Rag Miya Ki Todi & Rag Bilaskhani Todi, released in 1989 by Nimbus Records on compact disc. The recording captures a traditional rendition of the raga in the todi thaat, characterized by its intricate melodic development and slow, meditative alap-jor-jhala sections.

The album pairs two distinct interpretations of the todi raga family. Rag Bilaskhani Todi follows Rag Miya Ki Todi as the second track, with both performances emphasizing the improvisational and expressive qualities of North Indian classical music. The artists employ the vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) tempos typical of the genre, with Imrat Khan on sitar and Shafaatullah Khan on surbahar providing layered textures. The recording session details, including accompanying instrumentalists or vocalists, remain undocumented in available sources.

Nimbus Records produced the album as part of its series on Indian classical music, targeting international audiences in the late 1980s. The label’s catalog often featured extended single-raga explorations, and this release adheres to that format. The 1989 CD issue marked one of several collaborations between the two artists, though specific tour or studio context for this recording is not publicly confirmed. The track duration of 24:06 reflects the unhurried, expansive approach to raga presentation in classical Hindustani tradition.

Notable aspects of the performance include the use of meend (glissando) and gamak (ornamentation) techniques, central to the todi raga’s emotional depth. The interaction between sitar and surbahar highlights the contrast between the instruments’ tonal ranges, with the surbahar’s lower register providing a resonant foundation. No lyricists, composers, or additional credits are attributed to the track beyond the two primary artists. The album’s liner notes, if originally included, are not widely archived in digital repositories.