The Jagjit Singh Chat
MrsGupta (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:13 IST)
Hello, Jagjit ji
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:13 IST)
Mrs Gupta: Hello
Raagini (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:18 IST)
Tell me, is it possible someday to sing the ghazal in English? You see I've been away so long from the Hindi/Urdu speaking areas...so cannot understand the words too well.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:20 IST)
Raagini: It can't be sung in English. You can only translate the thought of the poetry in Hindi, English or any other language. Ghazal form is a typical Urdu poetry form, it has got certain disciplines which are very difficult to maintain in other languages.
Guruji (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:20 IST)
hi jagjit singh, so how's business. i haven't heard good ghazals for a long time now. you were my introduction to ghazals and you were kind of the one who put me off it. i heard one of your recent ghazals and thought you are getting stereotyped. either the ghazals are good but require so much knowledge of the urdu language (which i do not possess) or they are in simple hindi but then do not carry so much depth (as your voice). why can't you find good ghazal writers who can write in simpler language.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:22 IST)
Guruji: I suggest you should shift to bhangra music and pop music because every body needs a break and start listening to ghazals again, and you might change your opinion.
Preeti (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:19 IST)
jagjitji, You have been associated with CRY for a long time. How do you manage to devote your time to CRY.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:24 IST)
Preeti: I only devote my time for music and that music which I have composed for CRY album was my regular feature as a composer and singer, only the selection of the poetry was done which is close to life.
Raagini (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:23 IST)
I'm relieved to know that you are one of the very few maestros who do not guzzle. What I meant was, doesn't working in the cramped filmi world affect a composer's true style? Art can really happen only with a free mind and will.. Or so I thought.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:25 IST)
Raagini: You can keep your individuality if you want; it depends why you are working what is the aim behind and what kind of priorities you have in life.
ashokp (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:24 IST)
Jagjitji What do you feel is your contribution to the nation apart from ghazal singing
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:26 IST)
Ashokp: Peace and Love.
MrsGupta (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:18 IST)
Jagjitji I wanted to know when will we be able to Chitraji's voice again. We are really keen to hear you sing together again
Guruji (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:26 IST)
Mrs gupta, are you kidding (about wanting to hear chitraji's voice again). I am not trying to comment on her voice being good or bad (in my personal opinion, it's not so great). but one thing is for sure that jagjit's and chitra's voice just don't mix well together. and jagjit is the real famous one and she just piggy back rides him anyway. i never really liked the overdose of her when I wanted to listen to jagjit.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:27 IST)
MrsGupta: Tell Guruji to take a break from Jagjit Chitra's music.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:27 IST)
Mr Singh, I agree that there has to be progress. Art too needs to develop and not stagnate. But then when Bob Dylan took the folk music of the West and infused the sensibility of the troubled sixties into them, they ceased to be folk songs. The were like folk songs sung by the common people but they were not FOLK songs. By this argument, your may be setting ghazals (as in written poetry)to modern tunes but then they do not remain ghazals (as in the vocal-musical tradition). You must stop calling your music ghazals or you will run the risk of being blamed for the bastardising of a golden tradition.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:29 IST)
Queen: There is no tradition in ghazal singing . It was rendered in old times by poets only after that it was sung in kotha's (the place of singing girls). So we cannot call this call this form of singing traditional singing, it varies from singer to singer.
Raagini (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:26 IST)
Have you done a special for the golden Jubilee celebrations... ? What's the name, if you have.?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:34 IST)
Raagini: No I haven't done any album for the golden jubilee celebrations and since we Indians have misused our freedom so I don't intend to celebrate.
MrsGupta (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:27 IST)
Jagjit ji , you and Chitraji used to form the best duet in the Ghazal world. When do u thing will we hear the two of you sing together again.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:32 IST)
MrsGupta: I have already answered your question.
Preeti: If you are a good musician, a good composer and a good singer the life is kingly. If you are mediocre or a bathroom singer then you are nowhere, so assess your capability before you choose any profession.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:28 IST)
Jagjitji.. why don't you come out with a pop album? everybody is doing it...
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:33 IST)
CRY: I don't need it. My style of music is quite popular and accepted everywhere. I'm the busiest artist in the country.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:35 IST)
Mr Singh.. Correct me if I am wrong: the kothas of nothern India were not just homes to wine, wealth and women. The royalty and the elite considered them to be the temples of sophistication and culture. Indeed, a noble father would encourage his own son to visit a kotha and learn the finer things of life. Kothas gave birth to not just the tradition of modern kathak but also improvised art forms like the thumri and the ghazals.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:36 IST)
Queen: No you are wrong, you must study the history of music. Kathak and thumris were never born in kotha's, but in the darbars of maharaja's.
Guruji (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:34 IST)
oho, offended are we with a little hint of criticism?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:37 IST)
Guruji: No I'm not offended; I'm very happy. Even I am bored of my music, I have never listened to my records I always listen to others.
Akshay (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:36 IST)
Jagjit u in Bombay right now or somewhere else??
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:38 IST)
Akshay: Yes I'm sitting in Bombay and its raining, temperature is 24 degrees celsius, (that can be pleasant ).
MrsGupta (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:37 IST)
Jagjitji, new forms of music keep evolving everyday from the older ones. Is the ghazal also giving birth to new forms of music?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:40 IST)
Mrs Gupta: To understand that one has to be a musician. There is no fixed style to sing a ghazal but to write a ghazal, there is a discipline and a fixed style.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:36 IST)
Jagjitji..Would you cut an album with Asha Bhonsle like you did with Lata Mangeshkar?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:40 IST)
CRY : No.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:41 IST)
Everyone I have to leave in another 5 minutes, I will talk more some other day.
Jayesh Godambe (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:42 IST)
Hi Are u doing any songs/ghazals for any movies?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:43 IST)
Jayesh: Yes I've just sung a song for Mukesh Bhatt's new film directed by a new girl Tanuja Chandra. The film is called Dushman.
MrsGupta (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:43 IST)
Jagjitji, Where does the ghazal have its roots from? How did u get introduced to the ghazal, when did u realise your talent for it.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:48 IST)
Mrs Gupta: The word Ghazal is the title of certain kind of poetry in Urdu. It started from Iran and India. But the growth of ghazals continued in India. In time the language became Urdu, previously it was only in Farsi . Urdu is the language of a mixed culture, that is the language derives from Farsi, Hindi and other local languages. This language was born in India for the communication between the foreign traders (Middle East), foreign invaders and the local folk. In my childhood I used to listen to only film songs and luckily 90% of those were written in ghazal forms, so I developed a taste for this kind of poetry, and I'm still searching for this talent.
Jayesh Godambe (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:46 IST)
Are u and Chitra coming to chicago for a concert any time soon?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:49 IST)
Jayesh: No.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:45 IST)
Jagjitji.. don't mind me asking this, but why? i think she was good with Ghulam Ali..
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:50 IST)
CRY: Your information is incorrect. We have nothing to do with Ghulam Ali.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:43 IST)
Thank you Mr Singh. If you don't mind it, would you answer this personal question? I like your music and therefore am taking time off from my busy schedule in New York to participate in this chat. One thing about your music was it sounded so fresh and different from your contemporaries. How did you manage that? Do you first compose a tune and then fit a ghazal with a certain meter into it or do you take up the poem and then compose to match its mood? What is your muse? How do you go about doing a particular ghazal, for instance? I would be honoured to gain an insight into the music of your mind.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:53 IST)
Queen: I'm a trained musician, and know the language, I first choose the ghazal and then set the tune. After that I select the instruments , the sound, which is suitable for that particular poetry. And selection of a raga is also kept in mind, in the studio I sit for mixing the song also and I try to use new sounds , new technology in my ghazals. Why not? The thought in the poetry is the only muse.
Guruji (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:44 IST)
Queen, well said about this trend of setting ghazals in popular music tunes. doesn't really give you the same flavor. but then there is the other danger of becoming repetitive if you keep using the same limited composing style. how do you break from that vicious circle, jagjit. how would one maintain that same flavor of ghazals and have a variety in composition?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:56 IST)
Queen: Tell Guruji that I never experiment in ghazals I only experiment in musical treatment. Ghazal is not part of music, ghazal is part of poetry, its not necessary to sing a ghazal, you can also recite it or read it.
asad (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:56 IST)
Jagjitji.. how has been the reception to your new album.. we in USA have'nt had the opportunity to get that album.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:57 IST)
Asad: Fantastic. Its already out of stock, and in the top charts. You should avail it today and enjoy. That's all.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:56 IST)
Thanks Mr Singh. Just one more question: I remember your initiative to introduce new talent like Hari Haran and Talat Aziz. What happened? Have you given up?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:58 IST)
Queen: There are no serious students any more; everybody wants to become a star overnight. They don't want to learn, they want shortcuts. That's all.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 21:0 IST)
Eeveryone, thank you for sparing your time and being with me..... ab to jaate hain, maikade se mir phir milenge, gar khuda laya...Jaihind.
coomi (Thu Aug 7 1997 21:0 IST)
Jayesh: thanx. Jagjit ji : You didn't answer raagini's question about a 'message' for the youth of India?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 21:3 IST)
Coomi: Take care of your youth
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