Todi

Todi, Ahir Lalit, Panchamkauns (Seattle 1981) is a live studio album of Dhrupad vocal music performed by Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. The recording captures a 1981 concert in Seattle, Washington, and the label Raga Records released it on compact disc in 1998.

The album opens with Todi, a 29-minute-12-second rendition of Raga Todi in the Dhrupad style. Dagar presents the raga in the alaap-jor-jhala format, emphasizing slow, meditative exploration of the raga’s shuddha dhaivat and komal re phrases. The performance adheres to the Dagarbani tradition, characterized by sustained notes, gamak ornamentations and rhythmic flexibility without percussion accompaniment. The recording context suggests a solo vocal presentation, though additional instrumental or tambura support remains undocumented in available sources.

The album title references three ragas performed in the concert, though only Todi appears as a confirmed track in the 1998 release. The liner notes or original concert program may contain further details on Ahir Lalit and Panchamkauns, but these remain unverified in the accessible release metadata. Raga Records specialized in North Indian classical music during the 1990s, and this CD forms part of their archive of live Dhrupad recordings from the late 20th century.

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929–1990) belonged to the 19th generation of the Dagar family, a lineage central to the preservation of Dhrupad. His performances often featured extended alaap sections and a deep engagement with the microtonal nuances of ragas. This Seattle recording occurred during his later international tours, where he introduced Western audiences to the Dagarbani style. The 1998 CD release postdates his death by eight years, compiled from archival concert tapes.