Sarod virtuoso Amjad Ali Khan tonight condoled the passing away of legendary musician Lalgudi Jayaraman saying in his death the country has lost its "greatest violinist".
Recalling his long association with Jayaraman, Khan told PTI, "Vidwan Lalgudi G Jayaraman was like an elder brother to me. He was the greatest violin player the country has seen."
The duo performed together across the country and abroad on numerous occasions. Their concert began the first festival of India in London held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the 1980s.
Jayaraman died in Chennai today at the age of 82 after brief illness.
Khan, 68, and Jayaraman recorded the LP "South Meets North" in 1983, which was a confluence of southern and northern traditions.
According to Khan, legendary Carnatic vocalist Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer had hailed their effort saying the "South Meets North" record "brought the two regions together".
"Four generations of Jayaraman's family played the family," Khan said.
Born into the lineage of a disciple of saint-composer Thyagaraja, he inherited the essence of Carnatic music from his father V R Gopala Iyer, who played veena, violin and flute.
