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Pandit Jasraj

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Pandit Jasraj was an Indian classical singer from the Mewati gharana, a musical lineage. He was born on 28 January 1930 in the village of Pili Mandori in Haryana, into a family of classical singers, and died on 17 August 2020. His father Motiram died in 1934 when he was four, and his eldest brother Maniram taught him. He grew up in Hyderabad and often travelled to Sanand in Gujarat to take lessons from musicians of the Mewati gharana. In 1946 he moved to Calcutta, where he began singing classical music on the radio.

Music and breakthrough

At first he learned to play the tabla and accompanied his brother. At fourteen he began to focus on singing, after he had given up the tabla because of the way accompanists were treated. He practised about fourteen hours a day. In 1952, aged twenty-two, he gave his first concert as a singer at the court of King Tribhuvan in Kathmandu. His career spanned seventy-five years. He sang classical, semi-classical and devotional music, recorded albums and film music, such as Baiju Bawra, and taught in India, Europe, Canada and the United States. He gave new life to the Mewati gharana and renewed genres such as the Haveli Sangeet.

Influence

He sang khayals with a certain freedom and added elements of lighter styles, such as the thumri. For this he was criticised at first. He also created a new form of jugalbandi, Jasrangi, in which a man and a woman simultaneously sing different ragas. He was also known for rare ragas such as Abiri Todi and Patdeepaki. In this way he showed how a centuries-old tradition stays alive.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a raga from Morning to Midnight Ragas and notice how his voice slowly opens and stretches and ornaments every note. Hear how the mood of the raga is built up step by step.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists