Ghazal Corner

[persiflage]

I was quite happy to see the Begum Akhtar Ghalib compilation finally revived on compact disc. Snapped it up in a jiffy, since my LP copy is on the verge of giving up by now.

'Zikr Us Parivash Ka' is sheer magic!

Great though the compilation is, it does miss out 'Ibn-e-mariyam hua kare koi', one of Begum Sahiba's best Ghalib renditions IMHO.

Hai Akhtari.

 

[borg]

i bought this
JAGJIT SINGH - CHITRA GHAZAL - 10 Audio CD At a Steal | eBay
and this
Millenium - Best Ghazal Collection 8CD's of decade | eBay

plan to start a collection,any pointers toward good cd's are appreciated

 

[sam9s]

Jagjit Singh all the way ..... True hard Core fan of Jagjit .... Been listening Jagjit right from my childhood ........ when I was like 8 or 9 years old, you would ask how..... well indecently jagjit and my dad were best friends and room mates in DAV College Jallandhar doing B.Sc and my dad had been a great fan of him right from those days, so obviously I grew up listening loads n load of jagjit singh ghazals when he became main stream. My DAD also have few LPs gifted to him by Jagjit himself. With time as I grew up Jagjit Gazal's also grew on me and eventually I became an ulti true fan of him.... He is legend .... phenomenal and exceptional romantic in his ghazals ... I can go on and on for him .......

My best Albums and top 5 Ghazals .....PPPLLLLEEAASEEE any one who even slightly likes Jagjits ghazals and is a true romantic persom ... give these Ghazala a try ..... I have loads of my best Ghazals but these would remain my specials .......

1. Passions ("Jaawani Ke heele haya ke bahane") ...UUUULTIMATE Ghazal

YouTube - ‪Jawani ke heele‬‏

2. Desires ("Gulshan Ki faqat") ....FANDUUUU


YouTube - ‪Gulshan ki faqat phoolon se nahi (Jagjit Singh)‬‏

3. LIVE AT ALBART HALL-LONDON (Haans ke bola karo bulaya karo) .... EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD .... AAAWWWEEESSSOOOMMEEEE Ghazal .....I can die on this One. I gave this to my girlfriend ......

YouTube - ‪Jagjit Singh - Haske Bola Karo‬‏

4. The Gold Disc ("Kiya Hai paya Jise humne zindgi ki tarah") ....... I used to make my GF cry with this one, and I still drop a tear or two with this one ......

YouTube - ‪Kiya hai pyar jisse humne zindagi ki tarha (Chitra, Jagjit)‬‏

5. Kahkashan ("Ab aksaar chup chup se rahe ") ......... and this is what I gave when we got separated ......

YouTube - ‪Ab aksar chup chup se rahe hain (Jagjit Singh)‬‏

If anyone is a true romantic can not miss these Ghazals....... Jagjit YOU ARE THE BOSS ..... I LOVE YOU ....... HE IS THE MAN ......

 

[borg]

i am also an ardent fan of jagjitsinghji,have almost all his ghazals in mp3 format which i used to listen in my laptop,since now have decent audio system started to buy cd's

 

[sam9s]

I will add the only Ghazal I love as dear as any of Jajit Ghazal is one from Mehdi Hassan called " Mujhe Tum Nazar Se" ....

YouTube - ‪mujhe tum nazar se giraa to rahe ho‬‏

 

[baijuxavior]

Me too a fan of jagjit singh. I have around 400 songs in mp3 format. Some of my favourites are

Socha Nahin Achha Bura
Hothon Se Choolon Tum
Hum To Hain Pardes Main
Main Nashe Mein Hoon
Gham Ka Khazana
Dono Ke Dil Hai
Main Kaise Kahoon Jaaneman

 

[sam9s]

^^ yep ....have all those .... of the above ... "Gham ka khazaana" the best ...

 

[paritosh]

well Sam,

its really nice to meet you! you are really fortunate to know Jagjitsaab this closely. I too grew up on music with Jagjitji's Ghazals. I used to sit besides my papa and listen to his hand picked favourites from albums like Live At Royal Albert Hall, Golden Disc, etc. on National Panasonic's sterio (which by the way I still have). The eightiees was a time where music in bollywood was at its abbe.. and the ghazals of Jagjit were the automatic choice of serene music fans. Jagjit's voice and compositions have a calming effect on me.

According to me, the feature of his major work is the music arrnagement and mostly simplistic yet sweet composition which is just perfect for the Sama a ghazal can create. The use of a non indian instrument like Guitar and Mendollin as well as Violine, sarangi and the sweetest of all strings... santoor all these along with the filling voice of jagjit give a great texture to the sound.
here are my all time favourites
1. Meri Tanhayeeon.... a great rendation composed in bhairavi, when ever i listen to it, have to do a Muquerur (once more). Always get goose bumps on 'yeh aadhi raat ko phir chudiyon si kya khanakti hai...koi aata hai ya meri hi zanzirein chanakti hai' here the poet has chosen the words just too marvelously... one would usually associate the sound of Chankar to something sweet and serne (like the chudi of your beloved) and Khankar to a more robust sound (like Zanzir) but here its reversed which portraits the feelings perfectly and the word Kya instead of Kyun is a gem of a punch.... and to top it all, Jagjit's voice jsut nails you down to where you are and in which ever position you are! you become statuesque. its hard to get your self out of it and you get the Maqtaa:' Peene do mujhe, apne hi lahoo ka jham pine do. Na sine do kisiko bhi, mera daman na sine do. Meri Vehashat na badh jaye kahin, daman ke sine se....' Wah wah.......

2. Phir Usi Rah Guzar par Shayad... again a bhairavi composition from Royal Albert Hall collection. in this one the Punjabi lyrics are woven and sung so seamlessly by the maestro that is unbelieavable

3. third sada suhagan compositiom in the sada suhagan bhairavi : the duet- Babul Mora

4. Aah ko chahiye ek umr asar hone tak, Kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak... from Mirza Gjalib... the most romantic ghazal in my opinion. every word..... Zara gaur farmayiye: Hamne mana ki taghaful (reject or something along that line- i believe) na karoge, lekin, khak ho jayenge hum tumko khabar hone tak!' I think no one can beat Jagjit when it comes to romantic compositions

5. something along the same line....the duet Sunte Hai ki mil jati ahi har cheez dua se, ek roz tumhe mangke dekhenge khuda se' The Maqkta is : Aaeyine mein woh, apni ada dekh rahen hain. Mar jaye ki jee jaye koi, unki bala se'. The Aalap in the beginning would leave any music lover with goose bumps.

6. the great nostalgic song : Yeh daulat bhi lelo. there are many versions od this one, but the the one I like is with me on tape and begins with a beautiful prelogue on santoor and mendollin

7. teri khushboo mein mein base khat mein jalata kaise- a simple thought turned into timeless classic by the maestro

well well well.... just can't stop writting.... will cont with the list later....

JUST SO GLAD I CAME ACROSS THIS THREAD. NICE TO MEET LIKE MINDED FANS!

 

[Soundstage]

Jagjit & Mehdi Hassan!

A few of my Jagit favourites:

Kabhi khaamosh baithoge kabhi kuchch gungunaaoge
Pyaar ka pehla khat likhneko
Tere khushboo mein base khat
Ye jo zindagi ki kitaab hai
Raat ankhon mein dhali

Mehdi Hassan:

Zindagi mein to sabhi
Main hosh mein tha to phir
Rafta Rafta wo mere

I could go on and on...

Hats off to Daman Sood and his recording genius, the feeling of space that he manages to infuse between the instruments is so convincing that you feel Jagit and his team are playing in your room!

 

[entsurgeon]

If you apperciate the golden old ghazals try "Rare James" by jagjit I love the "Apna gham bhool gaye"

wo dil hi kya tere milne ki jo dua na kare, mai tujhko bhool ke zinda rahun khuda na kare. : from the same album. ah and if you ve seen the hindi dubbed version of men in black , will smith teases lee jones when he catches him snooping on his wifes pics saying same lines.

 

[entsurgeon]

@sushil
second that !!

Has someone heard Ghalib by Abida?
IMHO Abida has done a lot more justice to Ghalib as compared to Jagjitji, "Dil hi to hain" never sounded so touching.

also try ghalibs ghazals by rafisaab, lataji , kl saigal. believe me n pardon me, jagjit was never a contender in best ghalib renditions.

 

[sam9s]

jagjit was never a contender in best ghalib renditions.

and still his compositions were the most appreciated, loved and popular ones .... ever wondered why ..????

 

[entsurgeon]

and still his compositions were the most appreciated, loved and popular ones .... ever wondered why ..????

no. i never wondered why.
its simple, we had phantom and mandrake in my childhood. then came nagraj and super commando dhruv. came and gone. there now is a generation who hasn t lived the era and who might get bemused at sight of indian comics.
well few youngsters someday will raid the attics and discover the magic of indrajal/raj/diamond comics someday and will then say to their peers- ninja hattori and shinchen is crap.
the renditions we are talking about were big during their era. much was talked /discussed/published about those songs and artists. radio played them many times over and made newer audience aware of them. crowd flooded when such artists visited their town or in some cases, even surrounded radios wen theybroadcasted some perticular stuff. in few years however, there was nothing new left to discuss about or publish about and the hiatus that followed made the people from this hiatus era become unaware of what gems exist.
15-20-30 years later there came a serial on ghalib wchich had jagjitji crooning to his tunes. his cassestes and cds were on shelf, were bought and were discussed.everyone thought that jagjit is the only man who has ever sung ghalib.
they loved him.
they loved him coz that was the only option ghazal lovers had. he was king in his time. he single handedly made ghazals popular when audience choices were shying away from ghazals and nazms. a very remarkable feat-turning back time, that puts him above most other artists. but that doesnt mean it was the singing alone that matterd. many other factores contributed.
dont get me wrong, the compositions in ghalib were good and jagjit fans were happy to listen to him singing to classic timeless ghazals.
no comparison there with crappy lyrics of most bollywood numbers.
but tell me when was the last time his face appeared on a renowned magazine cover or in a mainstream tv interview?? when last did times of india write an article on him? does that mean he isnt the best now??
he is still as good as he was and has made his mark on indian music scene. but audience changed. he is still as good as he was but the limelights have shifted. shifted due to factors not in control of said artist.
one question :
jagjit isnt in vogue now. todays college crowd is into sufi and all, jagjit sales charts arent afire. he isn t releasing new albums in long time.he isnt selling as much as newer artists are selling.
so does that mean todays hit music- atifs kks kailasas kunals and sunidhis are better than jagjit??
i m sure someone in his/her 20s may ridicule you in near future for claiming jagjit as best ghazal artist saying who listens to jagjit anyway.
imagine your answer. type it and post it here on my behalf. in defense of many better artists of yore.
i still maintain he never was a conender in best ghalib renditions. heck, no single artist can claim it. every ghazal has a best version sung by some different artist.

 

[paritosh]

man, i do not agree that Jagjit was the only ghazal singer in his time and thats why was very popular. you cannot discount Ghulam Ali who is still as popular and appreciated! people loved Jagjit because he landed a completely new texture to music with his unique treatment to ghazal singing. again, like i have written in my earlier post in this thread, he introduced a texture to ghazals by using instruments like guittare, mendollin and santoor-the kind that one would not have associated earlier with ghazal singing. he actually attracted a great mass towards ghazals and still put it on a high pedestal (not bringing it down to Chandi Jaisa.... level) (excuse me Pankaj fans, but thats just me!).

and if one discusses the lack of similar popularity, I would strongly say that there has been a marked shift in Jagjitji's compositions and that is a far cry from his true signature style that one witnessed in his earlier times.this change , i believe, has happened since Chitraji stopped singing and he went solo.

 

[entsurgeon]

^^
We are talking ghalib.
Which other noted artist sang ghalib between 1975-2005??
Even at his peak jagjitji was never compared with ghulam bhai. both had different styles and different audience profile.
I am yet to come across a hardcore ghazal listner who listens to both equally. Its usually one artist preferred over other.
Pankaj bhai began with some wonderful ghazals pre 1980. What he is better known for were simply the more hit numbers that were unfortunately the his b grade stuffs.
Do u realize, chandi jaisa rang hai tera is not even a ghazal. Its a geet.
Try his earliest recordings and you d wonder what gems he sang that didn t make it to mass memory.
Ps: get anoop jalotas ghazals from pre bhajan sandhya days especially yun hi tanhai me hum dil ko saza dete hain,

 

[Soundstage]

Last night I was rummaging through my CD collection and happened to pick up an old Ghulam Ali album that I had not listened to in a while. Slipped it into the tray and was entranced by Hungama hai Kyon, Awaargi and the delectable Chupke Chupke. Pure Bliss!

Anoop Jalota has sung some nice ghazals, one I keep remembering for the lyrics is Toote hue khwabon ki chubhan. Sadly, I do not care much for his voice...sounds raucous as compared to Jagjit.

Pankaj Udhas the ones that sound best to my ears are Taj Mahal, Sunli jo Khuda ne, Kaise raat kati......

 

[borg]

I agree, my fascination with ghazals started with pankaj udhas with his earlier songs. then moved on to jagjit singh and Ghulam aali .I Like both of them though partial to jagjit singh.

YouTube - ‪Ghungroo Toot Gaye By Pankaj Udas‬‏

YouTube - ‪Ye Daulat Bhi Le Lo - Jagjit Singh‬‏

YouTube - ‪Chupke chupke raat din aansu bahana yaad hai (Ghulam ali)‬‏

 

[Yogesh]

Wow, A thread made for me. Yahoo....

My picks

1. Ghalib by Jagjit. Also Lata has done a great album of Ghalib.

2. Sangam by Javed + Nusrat.

3. OST of Bazaar

4. Ghazals to remember by Magnasound, a compilation of great ghazals.

5. So many of gulzar creatios.

In singers, the usual suspects, jaggu, mehendi hasan, Bhupinder, Abida, and In gujju, Manhar Udhas, brother of Pankaj. He is as good as any, but has limited himself to Gujju. I don,t rate pankaj highly, His albums have more to do with songs than ghazals, and shallow ones at that. But this one fro him " waqt se waqr ki kya shiqayat karen....." great lyrics.


Sent from my GT-I5801 using Tapatalk

 

[paritosh]

Hey guys.... got the scare of my life when heard rumoured about Jagjit Singh. He's okay though, but in danger. Was listening to his gazals tonight on radio. Was wonderful....

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[thatguy]

Guys, 39 posts and no mention of Faiz. Seriously, you need to up the game He was the reigning king of the 20th century. If you like Urdu Poetry that has a modern sensibility (and has class,) Faiz is your man. He is different from Ghalib in that his hero is more modern, less angry, and more resigned to his fate. God has a lesser place in his world than in Ghalib's. He was a member of the PWA and most of his work is left leaning.

Someone did mention "GuloN me RaNg bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale". That is Faiz's work. There are a few others that you should listen to if you want to explore his work:

1. Muje Se Pehlee See Mohabbat Mere Mahboob Na MaaNg (By Noor Jehan)
This one is a communist's apology, where he finds the concerns of the world and its suffering overtake his need for love. (Laut jaatee hai udhar ko bhee nazar kya keeje, ab bhee dilkash hai teraa husn magar kya keeje)

2. Hum Ki Thahre Ajnabee (By Nayaara Noor)
Faiz wrote it after the 1971 partition when he visited Bangladesh. While the poetry itself is top quality, Nayaara Noor's singing has elevated it a completely new level.

3. Aaj Baazaar me pa-ba-jaulaa chalo
Another communist/protest nazm. It was used in the Movie in-custody (Ismail/Merchent, Shashi Kapoor). I love humming these lines:

"In ka dum-saaz apne siwaa kaun hai
Shahr-e-jaanaN me ab baa-safaa kaun hai
Dast-e-qaatil ke shaayaaN raha kaun hai
Rakht-e-dil baandh lo, dil figaaroN chalo
Fir humee qatl ho aayeN yaaroN chalo ..."

Here is Faiz reciting some of it. I get goose bumps every time I hear it. Nayaara Noor has done an outstanding job of singing it.

Aaj Bazar Mein -- Faiz Ahmed Faiz - YouTube

There are others like "Na gawaaoN naawk-e-neem-kash" (Mehdi Hasan), "Raqeeb Se" (Noor Jehan), "Chalo Fir Se MuskuraayeN" (Nayaara Noor), "Hum se sab Sher me sawaaNre the" (Abida), "Shaam-e-Firaaq" (Ghulam Ali) ... In fact, I am yet to run into something Faiz has written that is second class.

He was probably the best poet the subcontinent produced in the last century. His work is in a different league from most of the material that Jagjeet Singh or Pankaj Udhas worked with.

Ok, I admit I am Faiz obsessed. But once you start exploring his work, you would be too

[I am with entsurgeon on Jagjeet Singh's rendition of Ghalib. It was aweful. He sings them as if he was singing a dirge. Ghalib was a fighter, a man who fought with the Gods (and his representatives on earth); that style doesn't do justice to him. I would take Suraiya and Rafi 's singing in the movie Mirza Ghalib any day over Jagjeet's.]