Jagjit Singh is a master musician, but what came through in the sold out concert hosted by Mark Premji and Klub Klassic, was how much of a sport he is. It was heart breaking to see him cough and sneeze incessantly and yet with the aid of some hot water, and hotter musicians, that set his classic songs to some refreshing new music, Jagjit Singh soared above the sniffles to enchant music lovers at a concert on 29th April in Atlanta’s Sydney Marcus auditorium.
Jagjit ji’s choice of songs was impeccable and the long interludes of music from jugalbandi between sitar and tabla and then between sitar, tabla, Spanish guitar and dholak, had people tapping their feet and clapping with the snazzy sounds.
The evening began with the classic Hosh walon ko khabar kya, bekhudi kya cheez hai, and moved on to Hazaron Khwahishen aisi from Ghalib, to Baat niklegi, to the sensuous Kabhi yun bhi to ho, yeh daulat bhi le lo, koi fariyaad tere dil mein dabi ho jaise, huzoor apka ahetram karta jaoon were the highlights of the first half. In between Jagjit Singh’s brought little touches of his own-a musical touch, a new verse in an old classic, bringing a touch of jazz, the melody of a saxophone interlude, all added a refreshing new feel to the concert.
The second half of the concert was request based and Jagjit ji began with one of my favorites-main nashe mein hoon, going on to other popular numbers like sarakti jaye hai, with many variations on the phrase badi furkat ka jaga hoon farishton ab to sone do..it just shows his versatility in how many ways he can sing the same phrase, with musical interludes touching other notes and then coming back to sarakti jaye, and then my second favorite-hum to hain pardes main which had a beautiful flute segment, followed by Kal Chaudhvin ki raat thi, chitti na koi sandes, kurti malmal di, chule ag nag hade de wich pani and Punjabi tappe as the grand finale that had the audience rocking.
Throughout the concert, the music was a show stealer, with outstanding musicians, long musical dialogues between them and Jagjit Singh’s brave effort, all went on to make this a memorable evening.
Of course no concert is complete without a Jagjit Singh joke and this time the one that made every one laugh the most was the one about an alcoholic who was approached by a well wisher. The man said to the alcoholic-why do you waste money on booze-why don’t you donate it to a worthy cause? The alcoholic said I don’t have money to donate. The guy said okay why don’t you sell some old stuff in your house and donate the proceeds? The drunk says well that is how I get money to get booze. The guy says well alright why don’t you be an organ donor? The drunk says “Okay that sounds doable. I’ll donate my eyes.”
The form is presented-the drunk fills it out and then says as a parting shot-can you also put a postscript for the prospective recipient which says – enjoy my eyes, but remember they only open after the fourth peg!’
At the end of the concert the audience gave Jagjit Singh a standing ovation for gamely singing through sickness when he could have cancelled out. But then that makes him the one of a kind artist that he is.