Jagjit Singh lives...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagjit Singh

Saanwara- Krishna Bhajans & Kirtan

1. Baat Nihare Ghanshyam
2. Hey Krishna Gopal Hari
3. Tum Dhundho Mujhe Gopal
4. Krishna Maurariji Aankh Base
5. Banek Bihari
6. Krishna Pranat Pal Prabhu
  
.ღ•:*´♥`*:•ღ.

  

there is nothing left to say that friend Ajnabi did not say 100 times better:

 

The Voice That Gave Us Courage Is No More: Jagjit Singh

 

Jagjit Singh’s biography

 

Jagjit Singh (born February 8, 1941) is an Indian ghazal singer. He sings in the Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi languages, and Gujarati language.  Jagjit Singh was born in Ganganagar, then in Rajputana in British India. His father Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman, employed by the Government of India, was a native of the village of Dalla in what is now Ropar district in Punjab and his mother Bachchan Kaur came from a deeply religious Sikh family from Ottallan village near Samrala. His siblings include four sisters and two brothers and he Singh is known as Jeet by his family. Although his late father wanted him to join the Indian Administrative Service, he was later reported to be happy with his son's achievements in the world of music. Singh went to Khalsa High School in Ganganagar. He then studied science after matriculation at Government College,Ganganagar and went onto DAV College, Jalandhar in to graduate in arts. He also achieved a post-graduate degree in history from Kurukshetra University, Haryana.


Jagjit Singh's association with music goes back to his childhood. He learnt music under Pandit Chaganlal Sharma for two years in Ganganagar, and later devoted six years to learning Khayal, Thumri and Dhrupad forms of Indian Classical Music from Ustad Jamaal Khan of the Sainia Gharana school. The Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University and Kurukshetra University, Late Professor Suraj Bhan encouraged his interest in music. He arrived in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1965 in search of better opportunities as a career musician and singer. His early struggle in the music industry, though not too harsh by his own account, still had its share of trials and tribulations. He lived as a paying guest and his earlier assignments were singing advertisement jingles or performing at weddings and parties.

During 1970s, in India, the art of ghazal singing was dominated by well-established names like Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar,Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan. However, Jagjit was still able to make his mark and carve out a niche for himself. In 1976, his album The Unforgettables (On HMV LP Records) hit the music stores. Essentially a ghazal album, it's emphasis on melody and Jagjit's fresh voice was a departure from the prevalent style of ghazal rendition, which was heavily based on classical and semi-classical Indian music. Skeptics had their own reservations, purists scorned it but it was widely successful among listeners and the album set new sales records.

In 1967 he met Chitra, also a singer, while doing jingles. After a two year long courtship they got married in 1969. They epitomise the first successful husband-wife singing team. Jagjit Singh, with Chitra, has contributed immensely towards changing the course of this genre of music known as 'Ghazal' making it more ear friendly, melodic and enojoyable by a wider audience.

Later successful releases of the duo include Ecstasies, A Sound Affair and Passions. While these albums were breezy, Beyond Time released in the opening years of 1990s was an experimentation with sounds and conveyed a feeling that was beyond space and time. Around this time the duo was struck by grief as their only son, Vivek, who was twenty-one, met an untimely death in a road accident. Not only Jagjit and Chitra, it was a big shock to his numerous fans also. The album is a tour to the soul, ethereal, conscientious and introspective. The ghazals have a moving quality to them since they express the personal loss of Jagjit and Chitra. 'Someone Somewhere' was the last album containing ghazals sung by both. After that, Chitra quit singing.

Jagjit Singh continued singing his later albums, including Hope, In Search, Insight, Mirage, Visions, Kahkashan (meaning "Galaxy"), Love Is Blind, Chirag (meaning "Lamp"/"Flame") also achieved success. Sajda (an Urdu word meaning "offering"), which has ghazals sung by Jagjit and Lata Mangeshkar was another brilliant release and made its mark as a classic Ghazal album. The combined successes of his many albums made him arguably the number one ghazal singer in India. The audience wanted more and Jagjit Singh obliged with his Punjabi albums. Ebullient, effervescent and bubbly, his Punjabi songs are pleasant as well as joyous. Their enchanting ghazals use the choicest poetry by renowned poets including Mirza Ghalib, Ameer Meenai, Kafeel Aazer, Sudarshan Faakir and Nida Fazli…. and contemporary writers like Zaka Siddiqi, Nazir Bakri, Faiz Ratlami and Rajesh Reddy.

Jagjit also sang (as playback singer) for various songs in Bollywood films including Arth, Saath Saath and Premgeet (all from 1980s). The scores remain popular even today. In fact, all the songs of film Premgeet were composed by Jagjit. His compositions for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib (based on the life of the poet Mirza Ghalib), remain extremely popular among ghazal aficionados. The elusive element of Ghalib's poetry was sensitively and wonderfully brought out in the soulful compositions of Ghalib's ghazals by Jagjit Singh. The album could veritably be called a magnum opus.

Compared to his earlier ghazals (sung during 70s and 80s) his later ghazals have acquired a more soulful and poignant demeanour, as in albums such as Marasim, Face To Face, Aaeena, Cry For Cry. But all through this, romance never took a backseat! The journey to the soul is punctuated by romantic pauses like Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin. A testimony to his popularity is his ghazals in recent Bollywood flicks like Dushman, Sarfarosh, Tum Bin and Tarkeeb.

Most of the earlier albums of Jagjit Singh had English titles. Later, these had Urdu names like Sahar (meaning "Dawn"/"Morning"), Muntazir (meaning "In waiting"), Marasim (meaning "Relation"/"Relationship"/"Affinity" ) "Soz" (Pathos) etc.. The switchover may not be deliberate but marks a milestone in his singing. These new albums show a far better selection of lyrics and yes, even the singing has scaled new peaks.

Besides ghazals, Jagjit Singh has also sung Bhajans and Gurbani(Hindu and Sikh devotional hymns respectively) . Albums such as Maa, Hare Krishna, Hey Ram...Hey Ram, Ichhabal and also Man Jeetai Jagjeet in Punjabi, put him in the league of Bhajan singers such as Mukesh, Hari Om Sharan, Yesudas, Anup Jalota and Purushottam Das Jalota. The soothing effect that Jagjit's voice has on frayed nerves has prompted psychiatrists in metros (as large cities in India are called) to prescribe them as stress relievers.

Jagjit Singh is accredited with bringing the ghazal genre, which was previously restricted to the elite classes, to the masses. His music direction can be seen to be pioneering in changing the sound layout by adding more Western instruments while mostly retaining the traditional orchestra (which includes a tablaa, and harmonium, and a couple of string instruments]. Jagjit Singh is also nicknamed Gazaljit Singh.

Jagjit Singh is accredited with finding one of the foremost playback singers in Bollywood in modern times, Kumar Sanu. As he played a big part in Sanu's initial career, in an interview Sanu said that Singh took him to meet the legendary music composers Kalyanji Anandji after hearing his voice, from there on Sanu has become a legend in Bollywood for his range and singing as he went to win five male playback Filmfare Awards in a row. A record that still stands.

Jagjit Singh voiced his opinion against artists from Pakistan being allowed to sing in India, when Pakistan refuses to reciprocate the gesture.

In addition to cultivating his own successful career, Jagjit Singh has been involved in guiding many new, talented singers such as Abhijeet Bhattacharya,Talat Aziz, Ghanshyam Vaswani, Ashok Khosla, Siza Roy and Vinod Sehgal. He also lends active support to several philanthropic endeavors such as the Library at St. Mary's (Mumbai), Bombay Hospital, CRY, and ALMA (an organization that adopts under-privileged students for further education and development).

Jagjit Singh lives...

j

wiki

Mahishasura mardini stotram

Ayi sumana sumana,

Sumana sumanohara kanthiyuthe,

Sritha rajani rajani rajani,

Rajaneekaravakthra vruthe,

Sunayana vibhramarabhrama,

Bhramarabrahmaradhipadhe,

Jaya Jaya Mahishasura mardini ,

Ramya kapardini, shaila Suthe.

Victory and victory to you,

Oh darling daughter of the mountain,

Oh Goddess of the people with good mind,

Who is greatly gracious to such people,

Oh Goddess who appears very pretty to the good minded,

Oh Goddess with moon like face,

Who is as cool as the moon ,to those in the dark,

Oh Goddess whose face shines in the moon light,

Oh Goddess whose very pretty flower like eyes attracts the bees ,

Oh Goddess who attracts devotees ,like a flower which attracts bees,

Oh Goddess who attracts her lord like a bee,

Oh Goddess who has captivating braided hair,

Who is the daughter of a mountain.

And who is the slayer of Mahishasura

source

other full version

A slightly different version of Mahishasura mardini stotram (regge flavour)

from Kultiration - Kultiration album

And a clasic
Sudha Raghunathan - Mahishasura Mardhini Stotram

Initiation songs of the Bauls of Bengal

another obsession of this blog is of course Bauls......

“I obey no master; not any order; nor any customs.
 Human distinctions have no hold on me.
 I exult in the pleasure of loving, because in love there is no separation but union only.
 And so I celebrate each and everyone in song and in dance."


Bengal is a land of rivers. The Ganges, Bramhaputra and other rivers, with their
tributaries, flow down from the Himalayas through the flat plains into the Bay of Bengal. More
often than not, the rice fields are under water and the mud houses washed away The only
means of travelling is by boat .Epidemics strike the poor and the sick. "Life is transient" sings

the Baul. In the hot summer, the land is parched and only the main rivers contain any
significant amount of water The peasant knows the moodiness of the rivers only too well.
They are bom beside them, live by them and, in death, their ashes flow down them. "It’s impossible to ignore the waves which lift the water of the river, how can I row my boat alone ?"
sings the baul.
Bengal is also a land of music. One hears the muezzim from the minaret at sunset and the boatman singing the river songs as he ferries the harvests to the other side Peasants hum as they plough the fields and rickshaw boys whistle film tunes. Children sing as they play games and women sing to the rhythm of threshing.
The Bauls call themselves mad because they crave for divine intoxication, lost to the
ways of the world, turning, moving, whirling in the breath of life. They are ecstatic, weeping
for joy crying in bliss, rolling about in mirth, singing the songs of the heart "I have lost my
mind, I don’t know in what it is lost or why it’s in such bliss" sings the Baul. These madmen
are not self-obsessed lunatics, grovelling in self·pity and unreal fantasies, out of touch with
the world and alienated into self-destruction. They are ordinary people with a unique tradition, who seek to live in and enjoy the world, to love and cherish it, for it is within this world that heaven exists. They are sensualists who desire to taste the essence of being, shunning the garb, the husk, the outer sheath of personality respectability and order:
 “O heart of a Baul,where will you go living behind this worldly existence ?"

Mystic singers, wandering monks, the Bauls carry through their songs a knowledge which is essentially philosophical, synthesizing the buddhist, vaishnava and sufi traditions.
They can be compared to the "troubadores” of the medieval era or to the "asiks" of Anatolia
Garbed in multicoloured robes and carrying the simplest of instruments, they go from village to village singing about the way of love. They sing at sacred shrines and temples, at fairs and festivals, in the courtyards of palatial mansions, under the trees amongst the mud huts, and today in buses and trains.
To the poor, the Bauls carry the richness of the spirit, to the blind the inner vision of divine light .
To the sick and the old, they give the healing balm of faith. The rich and the arrogant receive their scorn.
The essence of the Baul movement is religious contestation. lt is a discipline called
"ULTASADHANA’, which goes against prevailing currents. The word "baul" means someone
who is possessed by the wind, hence their roving nature. Like the troubadores who do not
search for light but already possess it, the Bauls are "illuminated”, or “the madmen of God".
They are largely illiterate and mostly come from the lower strata of Hindu and Muslim society
 with whom they share the same rustic language, the same
physical, psychological and spiritual mileu. They communicate their social, aesthetic and
spiritual beliefs through their songs.

"You will not come back again and again.
 You will not be born as a human being again.
Be vigilant, o my spirit, the day ends and darkness descends.
Man is God come to this earth,
so don’t stain the lineage of humans.....



songs 

Post from India

“The message of Indian classical music is one of freedom and discipline. Musicians of the whole world are one big family with only one religion: humanity” 

Amjad Ali Khan

***
   

one love

   

♥

The Bauls Of Bengal

O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond,

have you forgotten the little child,

like the birds that have nested in your branches and left you?

Do you not remember how he sat at the window

and wondered at the tangle of your roots that plunged underground?

The women would come to fill their jars in the pond,

and your huge black shadow would wriggle

on the water like sleep struggling to wake up.

Sunlight danced on the ripple like

restless tiny shuttles weaving golden tapestry.

Two ducks swam by the woody margin above their shadows,

and the child would sit still and think.

He longed to be the wind and blow through your rustling branches,

to be your shadow and legthen with the day on the water,

to be a bird and perch on your topmost twig,

and to float like those ducks among the weeds and shadows.

Rabindranath Tagore

*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baul

&

the Mirror in the Sky

The Bauls Of Bengal

Pandit Ronu Majumdar - Dhyana

1. Dhayana
2. Samadhi
3. Moksh

Prepare the mind for Dhayana and thegoodone will let you pass.

Ranendranath Majumdar

India's Ace Flautist , needs no introduction to music lovers all over the globe. By virtue of his phenomenal talent, he and the Bansuri are literally synonymous. If the flute is likened to a temple, Pt. Ronu Majumdar would be its foremost worshipper. Ranendranath Majumdar, popularly known as Ronu Majumdar is a force to reckon with in the realm of Indian classical music both as a thinking musician and scintillating performer. Ronu Majumdar began playing the flute under the guidance of his father Dr. Bhanu Majumdar, late Pt. Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale and finally the revered Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao. He was also fortunate to receive training from his grand guru Pt. Ravi Shankar. A powerhouse performer, Ronu Majumdar is firmly rooted in the Maihar gharana which has also given shape to sturdy musical oaks like Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan....

Kabir By Abida

Abida Parveen

Gulzar presents:

Kabir By Abida

Tracks:
    
01. Mann Lago Yaar
02. Souun To Sapne Milun
03. Saahib Mera Ek Hai
04. Bhala Hua Meri Matki

Harmonium: Pradeep Pandit
Tabla 1: Nazir khan
Tabla 2: Ravindra Rajbhat
Tabla 3: Rajesh Rajbhat
Bass Guitar: Dominic Fernandes
Flute: Rakesh Chaurasia
Santoor: Ulhas Bapat
Mandola: Nasir Ahmad
Dholak: Karam Hussain
Keyboard: Sanjay Jaipurwale
Sarangi: Dilshad Khan
Percussions: Rajesh Rajbhat, Deepak Borkar         
    
*****        
    
" They say one should not have one ’nasha’(intoxicant) over another. Here, you have Kabir, the ultimate philosopher, poet whose timeless verses have been given voice by the reining queen of sufi music, Abida Parween.

One nasha over another.

Well this is the way Gulzar in his inimitable style , has introduced this gem of an album.
You will find millions who may be able to recite dohas of kabir, but very few who can understand the deep philosophy underneath them. No other poet has sung such simple verse with such deep meaning.

For instance the doha "Bura jo dekhana mei chala,bura na milaya koi; jo mann khoja apna to mujhse bura na koi" I have been searching for that "bad one" but I couldnot find him anywhere. Finally when I turned to myself I found there is nobody worse than me. Instead of finding fault with others, look within yourself and you will realise that the solution to all your problems lies within yourself.

Again, "Bada huoto kyua hua,jaise ped khajur panthi ko chaya nahin phal lage atidoor" what good is your so called eminence if you are neither compassionate nor helpful to others? Entire nature teaches you ’giving .’The river doesnt hold on to its water, the tree doesnt hold on to its fruits, the cloud doesn't hold on to the rain. The joy of sharing and giving is much more than that of gathering and collecting for yourself.

This is a collection of priceless gems of Kabir. There is nothing ordinary or mediocre here.

Abida is the most celebrated singer of the Sufi genre of music. She never fails to take her listeners to a musical trance. Her other albums like "Raqs-e-Bismil" have become popular with lovers of serious music.

I believe Abida is one of those rare singers who was personally chosen by the almighty to spread the message of universal love everywhere. When she sings she is in direct communion with god. This rendition of Kabir by Abida paints a musical picture of surreal beauty out of the timeless poetry of Kabir. The sound recording and technical quality of this album by Times music is excellent.

~  ashok606 "

one for the age old discussion, is it the muisc or is it the words, it should be both, I wish the music would have matched the poems, some more passion ... .)

Looking for Kabir ?

There's a moon in my body


There's a moon in my body, but I can't see it!
A moon and a sun.
A drum never touched by hands, beating, and I can't hear it!


As long as a human being worries about when he will die,
and what he has that is his,
all of his works are zero.
When affection for the I-creature and what it owns is dead,
then the work of the Teacher is over.


The purpose of labor is to learn;
when you know it, the labor is over.
The apple blossom exists to create fruit; when that
comes, the petal falls.


The musk is inside the deer, but the deer does not
look for it:
it wanders around looking for grass.



Within this Earthen Vessel


Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves,
     and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans
      and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
      and within this vessel the Eternal soundeth,
      and the spring wells up.
Kabîr says:
         "Listen to me, my Friend!
         My beloved Lord is within."


I said to this wanting creature inside me



I said to the wanting-creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or nesting?


There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is no tow rope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!


And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the
soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.


Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!


Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of
imaginary things,
and stand firm in that which you are.




Kabir




.