I had the opportunity to watch the legendary ghazal singer Jagjeet Singh live last weekend. He performed back to back in Oakland , California followed by Vancouver , BC. The guy is getting older and I had low expectation on his vocal quality as I headed to the theater. Upon entering the theater, I heard his all so familiar voice introducing his other team members..could not catch their names. What followed really seemed like an out of world experience. He just immersed himself into the music and seemed like he was thoroughly enjoying himself as he explained the nuances of the urdu lyrics …(Kaha Maikhane Ka Darwaaza Gaalib, Aur Kaha Waaiz…written by Mirza Ghalib, I would never have known what waaiz means..a tea-totaller ).

The soulful rendition coming straight from his heart, created such a surreal atmosphere…I felt I could have sat there the whole night ( ..darn the manic Mondays!). His team was equally good, the jugalbandhi between the violinist and the flute player was simply mind blowing. There is something about live music, no matter if you had a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound stereo (or now a 7.1) , it just isn’t the same. May be it is the emotion that the singer is able to weave or the connection he is able to make with his audience( more so when it happens to be a legend like Jagjeet Singh), or just the cheering crowd, there is something about it that the home stereo player can never match.

I have watched Ghulam Ali perform also when he came to San Francisco couple of years ago, and I am a big fan of him too…but seemed like Jagjeet was better able to convey the underlying emotions of the ghajals ( and I realize in big scheme of things Mehdi Hasan and Ghulam Ali are probably a notch higher than Jagjeet). I understand Jagjeet had a personal setback ( his teenage son died in a road accident) and probably that is where all that “dard” is coming from. I was pleasantly surprised when it became apparent his age ( at 68) has had not even an iota of impact on his voice. A testimony to what practice (riyaaz) can do . I went there as much to celebrate his success, as to hear him, and I am glad , I learnt a thing or two about passion, persistence, perseverance, hard work and how this all results into enduring success!

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I had the opportunity to watch the legendary ghazal singer Jagjeet Singh live last weekend. He performed back to back in Oakland , California followed by Vancouver , BC. The guy is getting older and I had low expectation on his vocal quality as I headed to the theater. Upon entering the theater, I heard his all so familiar voice introducing his other team members..could not catch their names. What followed really seemed like an out of world experience. He just immersed himself into the music and seemed like he was thoroughly enjoying himself as he explained the nuances of the urdu lyrics …(Kaha Maikhane Ka Darwaaza Gaalib, Aur Kaha Waaiz…written by Mirza Ghalib, I would never have known what waaiz means..a tea-totaller ).

The soulful rendition coming straight from his heart, created such a surreal atmosphere…I felt I could have sat there the whole night ( ..darn the manic Mondays!). His team was equally good, the jugalbandhi between the violinist and the flute player was simply mind blowing. There is something about live music, no matter if you had a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound stereo (or now a 7.1) , it just isn’t the same. May be it is the emotion that the singer is able to weave or the connection he is able to make with his audience( more so when it happens to be a legend like Jagjeet Singh), or just the cheering crowd, there is something about it that the home stereo player can never match.

I have watched Ghulam Ali perform also when he came to San Francisco couple of years ago, and I am a big fan of him too…but seemed like Jagjeet was better able to convey the underlying emotions of the ghajals ( and I realize in big scheme of things Mehdi Hasan and Ghulam Ali are probably a notch higher than Jagjeet). I understand Jagjeet had a personal setback ( his teenage son died in a road accident) and probably that is where all that “dard” is coming from. I was pleasantly surprised when it became apparent his age ( at 68) has had not even an iota of impact on his voice. A testimony to what practice (riyaaz) can do . I went there as much to celebrate his success, as to hear him, and I am glad , I learnt a thing or two about passion, persistence, perseverance, hard work and how this all results into enduring success!