Today I learned that my friend and fellow 78 rpm collector Dr. Suresh Chandvankar passed away. Suresh was a founding member of the Society of Indian Record Collectors and a tireless proponent, archiver, and preserver of Indian music of the 78 rpm era.
I first ran across Suresh on Discogs when I stumbled across some 78s he had for sale. I wrote him and we began talking about Indian music. He steered me toward the treasure trove of back issues of The Record News, available online, which contain a wealth of information on Indian music, record labels, and artists of the 78 rpm era.
I really was astounded by the amount of dedication and effort Suresh put into the preservation of the important records he collected. He had started uploading them to Discogs and archive.org to help more people have access to them. He had started selling his collection and told me he was glad that other collectors were interested in them – as he much preferred them to have an active life of being listened to and enjoyed rather than sitting in an archive. The last sentence from his last email to me simply read: “Enjoy the music.”
Rest in peace, my friend.
This record of solo Harmonium Tarz by Master Amarutlal Dave was in the last shipment of records I received from Suresh last year. I hope you, too, dear listeners, will enjoy the music.
Suresh estimated release date as 1928 – could be earlier.
Released as Zonophone N.1451
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