Folk Bands and Artists
George Khan
London
http://www.emanemdisc.com/E5211.html
George Khan could be called a forgotten pioneer of the London free music scenes, except that anyone who has heard or seen or met him could surely never forget him. As well as being a superb musician, he is also one of the nicest people you would ever want to know. He is one of the most laid-back characters. A memory I share with Steve Beresford is seeing him calmly leaning on some scenery at the Unity Theatre (possibly at the trio gig in this collection) outputting an apparently endless stream of what is generally called Fire Music, usually associated with great spirituality and body movement and often anger.
George Khan was born Nisar Ahmad Khan in London in 1938 to a Punjabi father and a mother of English, Italian and Swiss ancestry. The family emigrated to Pakistan in 1951 where George “met at school some Anglo-Indian friends who were into jazz and the popular music of the time. It was where I learned to play the alto but without any knowledge of harmony, and when I heard Charlie Parker I thought that he just did it. {How wrong I was}. Still, it was the most exciting sound I had ever heard. At the same time there was a lot of Bollywood music at home, also Kuwali that Dad loved. We had a piano which Mum could play by ear; she also picked up Indian songs phonetically and at times Dad would play the piano. which he had no idea how to, nevertheless he would just play. (That was my first exposure to free playing).“
However, “I could not wait to leave, so I returned to London in 1956 and for a while attended visual art schools@quot; (like certain other would-be musicians) “ and after getting my diploma in art and design, I decided to concentrate on becoming a musician, a bit late in life. My wife and mother-in-law were a great help, enabling me to visit New York for four months where I took a few lessons with Booker Ervin. I don´t think he thought much of my potential so I had more with Sam Rivers, which suited me better.@quot; He says the greatest influence from those days was Ornette Coleman on tenor.
Khan made his first appearance on record on the 1966 Peter Lemer LOCAL COLOUR on ESP. He also worked and recorded with various groups led by Mike Westbrook – a relationship that continued for about ten years. Other appearances were with Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments and a fusion band called Mirage
