Back in the 1970s a Sikh friend introduced me to Jagjit Singh and how he had reinvented and rejuvenated ghazals. Through the 1980s I listened often to Jagjit and Chitra Singh. But for some reason I have hardly listened to any of their music for the last 20 years.
Jagjit Singh (born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman; 8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them.
I accidently came across some of his BBC recordings about 2 years ago. With much delight I have been rediscovering and remembering much of his work – or at least that part which is available on the internet. Chitra – who is Bengali – had a remarkable clarity of voice even when singing in Hindi or Punjabi. She stopped singing in 1990 when their son was killed in an accident. Jagjit Singh died in 2011 but he reinvented the ghazals tradition.
This particular recording from 1979 by the BBC in Birmingham is of the form of a Punjabi tappe which is to be heard at every Punjabi wedding. (Punjabi tappe in folk tradition generally have 1 or 3 lines in rhyme and all have the same melody. Commonly used during Punjabi weddings).
The k2p blog 