|
Jagjit Singh enthralls a sell out crowd in Atlanta |
|
Sunday, May 09, 2004 |
 It was captioned “Klose to my Heart” and how close Jagjit Singh is to the hearts of music lovers in Atlanta was obvious by the enthusiasm of a sell out crowd.
Brought by Mark Premji Promotions, the concert which was held
at the Atlanta Symphony Hall on 30th April, was yet another in their
signature tune of class performances. For Jagjit Singh the road has been strewn
with thorns and roses. One of seven children in a lower middle class family Singh
struggled in Bombay for several years eking out a living singing jingles and at
film star parties where he was never paid, and realizing that his melodious and
deep voice was unsuited for film music. He then set out to create a niche for light
non filmi ghazals. His first album “The Unforgettables” with wife
Chitra came out in 1976 and Singh has been the King of ghazals since then ruling
the roost for more than 2 decades.
His impeccable choice of lyrics, his brilliance as a melodious
composer and the perfection with which he sets his voice to music has been
a hit, and is obvious in the booming sales of his albums. With wife Chitra
he ascended to great heights till the tragic death of their only son in 1990 sent
the heart broken Chitra into a self imposed exile. For Jagjit Singh, music became
a solace and a haven to retreat into. It gave him the strength to move on and he
feels his pain has enriched his music.
Jagjit Singh began the evening with a bang singing many of
his popular ghazals like Umra jalwon mein basar ho yeh zaroori to nahin,
Yeh daulat bhi le lo, Huzoor aapka bhi ehtram karta chaloon, Kal Chaudhvin
ki raat thi.
Singh is known for his wicked sense of humor. It seems during
the making of the famous album Sajda with Lata Mangeshkar, each recording
began with a joke session between the two artists to warm them up. He brought the
house down as he sang his popular ghazal Tera Chehra Kitna Suhaana Lagta hai
and then added mischieviously uske bad chasma bhi lagta hai, daant bhi lagtey hain.
He then cracked the audience with a joke about an elderly couple celebrating their
50th anniversary. The wife said you need to replicate our first wedding
night where you were so full of passion and covered me with love bites. The husband
got up and when she said where you are headed-he retorted-To get my dentures.” He
also “See now you have to celebrate old age! So what if its like trying to
seek the sweetness and juiciness of a grape from a shriveled up raisin!”
Singh joked that every love song is full of white lies and
went on to describe how unbelievable and exaggerated the lyrics of Tera
Chehra Kitna Suhana lagta hai, were by ripping every line poking fun
at how the poet says in your absence it seems honey tastes sour, in your presence
tamarind tastes sweet-how believable is that in real life?
He then regaled the audience with some canine jokes. When someone
from the audience yelled to get on with the show-he said hey it’s the turn of the
dogs now-yours will come soon.
A man who came and showered dollar bills on Singh was first
reprimanded by him and then he pointedly looked down at the cash and said tongue
in cheek-“All are one dollar bills only!”
After the intermission he began with his famous ghazal from
Mirza Ghalib Aah ko chahiye ik umra asar hone tak, and then
Teri khushboo see pyar mein duba hua khat, interspersing lilting film songs
like Jhuki Jhuki si nazar, Tum Itna Jo muskura rahe ho
from the film Aarth, Tum Ko dekha to yeh Khayal aya from Saath
Saath and songs from his latest album Close to My Heart, where
he has chosen some of his favourite songs by other singers and given his own rendition.
He sang Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai by Mukesh, and Seene main sulagte
Hain armaan, by Talat Mehmood.
Singh then sang several songs based on the same raga, starting
with Hoton se Chulo Tum and interspersing it with several others and
then returning to Hoton se Chulo tum. There was an exciting jugal
bandi(duet) between his outstanding violinist Deepak Pandit and his tabla player
Abhinav Upadhyaye.
The grand finale as always was a medley of his Punjabi
hits Chulle ag nag ghade de wich paani, dhai din na jaani nal chaldi kurti
malamal di and tappe.
There were some in
the audience who wished he had sung some bhajans and others who felt the quality
of his voice had not been at its best, but for most it was a fun evening, at the
end of which Jagjit Singh sat down for a fairly long session of autographing
his biography which was on sale and picked up rapidly by an enthusiastic crowd.
By Kavita Chhibber |
|
|
