Talat Aziz

Talat Aziz (born 11 November 1956) is a popular ghazal singer from Hyderabad, India.
Early life;
Born in Hyderabad, India to Abdul Azeem Khan and Sajida Abid, a famous Urdu writer and poet. He went to Hyderabad Public School when he finished his ISC and then joined The Indian Institute of Management and Commerce for his B.Com (Hons) Course.
His family loved fine arts and used to organise Mehfils in their house, inviting artists and poets like Jagjit Singh, Jan Nisaar Akhtar (the father of the famous writer Javed Akhtar) to name a few. This greatly influenced him and he started learning music from an early age. He is Sania Mirza's uncle.
Career;
Talat Aziz took his initial training in music from Kirana Gharana. He was trained primarily by Ustad Samad Khan and later by Ustad Fayaz Ahmed who were famous classical music singers.
After the initial training, Talat decided to learn music from music maestro Mehdi Hassan. On many occasions, like on a concert tour of the US and Canada in 1986, he shared the stage with him on concerts in India and abroad.
His first major performance was in Hyderabad at King Kothi. He sang before a crowd of over 5,000. He sang Kaise Sukoon Paoon and some ghazals by noted shaayars of Hyderabad. Though he was nervous at his first performance in front of audience, he performed well.
After his graduation he moved to Bombay in 1976 on a suggestion from Jagjit Singh. He also trained under classical music Ustad Samaad Khan and Faiyaz Ahmed Khan, and for his ghazal training he became a disciple of Mehdi Hassan in 1978. With the help of Jagjit he released his first album in 1979, Jagjit Singh Presents Talat Aziz. But for several years he was to struggle for a living. Talat also sang some ghazals in films like Umrao Jaan and Bazaar, which were super-hit.
Talat has also composed music for TV serials and has also acted in several of them. He composed music for teleserials like Deewar, Baaz, Adhikaar, Ghutan, Sailaab, Aashirwaad and the magnum opus, Noorjehan. His acting was appreciated in serials like Sahil, Manzil, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayee and Noorjehan a TV serial written by Nida Fazli. Talat released many albums like Talat Aziz live, Images A team Come True, Lehren, Ehsaas, Suroor, Saughaat, Tasavvur, Manzil, Storms, Dhadkan, Shahkaar, Mehboob, Khubsoorat, Irshaad, Khushnuma, to name a few, with his latest offering in 2009 Caravan e Ghazal in which Sonu Niigaam also participated in a duet 'Qurbaton mein bhi' a ghazal written by Ahmed Faraaz.His latest solo album was A Tribute to his Master which was recorded in Los Angeles a tribute to his guru Mehdi Hasan and the tabla accomoaniment for this unique album was none other than the great maestro Ustad Tari Khan. This album got a nomination in the best ghazal album category in the prestigious GIMA Global Indian Music Awards. Recently he Pankaj Udhas Anup Jalota with a young upcoming artist Sumeet Tappoo collaborated in the ghazal album Destiny which was released by Shri Amitabh Bachchan.