Gulam Ali & Anup Jalota Concert

Music from Across the Border

By Shailendra Prasad

Mississauga - Two of the great names among contemporary ghazal singers - the king of supple and husky voice, Ghulam Ali and the master of soothing and  mellifluous voice Anup Jalota -  met in Mississauga for a memorable evening of great Ghazal singing on September 3.

Ghazal, which has an awesome fan-following all over the world, is a specialty of Indian sub-continental folklore, henceforth it was no wonder when  music connoisseurs packed up  the Payal Banquet Halls in Mississauga.

The Ghazal maestros of Pakistan and India, Ghulam Ali and Anup Jalota are known for their variation skills in the dhun (melodic outline) and are called the cultural ambassadors. Their choice of numbers and style of singing have been instrumental in creating an ambience of love and fraternity between arch rivals India and Pakistan.

“They build bridges of understanding and complement each other with their varying styles.” That was a common observation of the music lovers who see in them a package of artistry and ability to make most of their shows charming, attractive and unimaginably romantic.

It was true for Asian Video Movies Wholesalers Inc, when they chose to be the organizers of the event. The other organizers were Brass-N-Lite and Singh Accounting Service.

Aptly titled Sham-e-Ghazal (an evening of Ghazals), the dinner-music show was a great success for the Asian Videos. Though it was a sold-out show, music lovers kept thronging in for  tickets.

The event started at 6.30 with a delicious Indian dinner. The concert started with Anup Jalota  easing down the audience with a Bhajan Aisi laagi lagan Meera ho gayee magan... Accompanied by Pradeep Acharya on Tabla, Prameshwar Gosai on Guitar and Satendra Singh on Dafli, Jalota played Harmonium while rendering  many Ghazals and Bhajans.

Known for his versatility, the smiling and ever-obliging musician from Lucknow renders Bhajans, Ghazals and Geets with equal grace and finesse. Its no wonder that wherever he goes, be it east, west, north or south, his charm holds his audience spellbound in admiration.

Jalota picked his personal and choicest numbers such as Mein nazar se pee raha hun..., Chahe Krishna kaho chahe Ram..., Mein awara hua.., Ramaiya basta bhaiya..., Lajte gham barhaa dejeeye...,Chand angarayee le raha hai..., rang de chunaria..., Zindagi jee le..., and Punjabi folk Woh barsi patan gaya see... Unleashing a great sense of humour with drinking jost, Jalota kept the audience mesmerised until 10 when Ghulam Ali descended with his package of romantic ghazals.

Accompanied with singer and player shaebjade (son), Ghulam Ali had a magical spell over avid listeners for over a couple of hours.

Known for experimenting with raags, dhuns, poetry and rhythms, he rendered his Urdu  compositions written by Naqi Ali khan, Ustad Barkat Ali, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmad Nadeem Qaasmi, Ahmad Faraaz and Faiz Ahmad Faiz,  using different melodies and tunes. He also sang thumris at the concert.

Ali who possesses a heavy and baritone voice, is skilful in voice modulation, which some critics termed as brilliant effulgence of heat and light of his music. Being equally attentive towards the rhythm and technical virtuosity of the ghazals, he uses the taals like dadra, Kaharva and Roopak etc. to enhance the effect of his music. To make it touchier he uses the musical ornaments like meend, murki, khatkaa, gamak and touch notes. Often his vocali-sations resemble with the particular Harkat (embellishments) of Arabian and Persian vocal music in which the voice is trembled in a typical manner.

For his recitals Ali played a harmonium, while his son accompanied him with a synthesizer keyboard and another musician played on tabla to boost a special effect.

 
Ghulam Ali started with few shers and opened up with Mohsin Naqvi’s Lagta hai ki rati ka jaga musabir... His other Ghazals were Apni Dhun Me Rehta Hoon, Jaane Dil Jaane Tamanna Kaun Hai, Unse Nain Mila kar Dekho, Itni Muddat Baad Mile Ho, Hungama Hai Kyun Barpa Thodi Si Jo Pee Li Hai, Chupke Chupke Raat Din Aansoo Bahana Yaad, Dil Me Ik Lehar Si Uthi Hai Abhi, Pattaa Pattaa Butaa Butaa Haal Hamara Jaane Hai, Ye Dil Ye Paagal Dil Mera Kyun Bujh Gaya Aawaargi, Kal Chaudhvin Ki Raat Thee Shab Bhar Rahaa Charchaa Tera.

Born in 1940, at village Kaleke, district Sialkot, of Pakistan, Ghulam Ali got his basic training from his father, who was a vocalist as well as a sarangi player. Though he was getting training from Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan but it was interrupted because of the hectic concert tours of the maestro. Then he was referred to Ustad Bade Mubarak Ali Khan and to the ablest guidance of his brother Barkat Ali Khan. All these teachers trained him to be a master of Ragas, Taans, and complicated Sargams. He started singing from his residence city Lahore radio during 1960.

His Ghazal recitals reflect the erotic sentiment, melancholy, frustration, joy of union, feeling of hatred, mood of order and request. He is a successful stylist to convey such feelings with the help of the common raags like Darbari, Bhairavi, Pahaadi, Raageshwari, Kirwani and Bhupali etc.

Until now, Music India, Polydor, EMI, T-Series, Penn audio, Venus, Tarana Music, Ultra series, Orient, Tips and many others from all over world have released his albums of ghazals.

While Anup Jalota, son of the celebrated Bhajan exponent, Purshottam Das Jalota, was trained by his father from the age of seven. Given his versatility and full command over bhajans, ghazals, geets and film songs, he has become one of the most sought after performing artistes in India.

In fact, with a series of recordings and Concerts, featuring Bhajans in the early eighties, he created tremendous popular interest in this type of music in India and has become strongly identified with this genre of music where perhaps he has no peers in his generation.

Navras Records have made this significant departure from its norm of presenting only live music to create a new approach to rendering of Bhajans combining the classical style with the devotional theme, albeit many classical vocalists frequently use devotional lyrics as part of their khyal repertoire, but where the emphasis on lyrics is not generally strong nor is it the main feature of the rendering. (Source: India Journal)