Page 54 - Seniors Today - January Issue
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thumri ‘Piya Bin Nahin Aavat Chain’ in raag
Jhinjhoti.
The young boy finally boarded a train, took
money from co-passengers and travelled
from nearby Dharwad to Pune to Gwalior and
even to Kolkata and Lucknow in search of the
right guru. His father eventually tracked him
to Jalandhar, Punjab, and brought him back.
This was when Kirana gharana veteran Sawai
Gandharva, who also taught the brilliant
Gangubai Hangal, decided to teach him. The
association lasted till Gandharva’s death, after
which Joshi held an annual music festival in A feast for the senses - Pt Bhimsen Joshi with eminent
Pune in his memory. composer Naushad
Joshi first performed live at the age of 19 changed his accompanists often, some
and recorded his first album of devotional accompanists included Sheikh Dawood, Nana
songs the following year. Since then, there Muley and in later years Bharat Kamat on
has been no looking back. Those days, the tabla, and Appa Jalgaonkar, Purushottam
north Karnataka boasted of luminaries like Walawalkar and Tulsidas Borkar on the
Hangal, Pt Mallikarjun Mansur, Pt Basavaraj harmonium.
Rajguru, Kumar Gandharva and Pt Puttaraj While his vocals left audiences engrossed,
Gawai. Simultaneously, the Kirana gharana one couldn’t but help notice his stage
had notable artistes like Pt Sureshbabu Mane, mannerisms. He often wore simple white or
Hirabai Badodekar, Saraswati Rane, Hangal, off-white kurtas, and his eye contact would
Rajguru, Pt Firoz Dastur and Roshanara be divided between the ceiling or sky and the
Begum. accompanists. If he looked at the audience,
Surrounded by genius, Joshi carved a niche it was only in passing, but his hands and
of his own. His rendition of Hindustani shoulders swung vigorously, matching his
classical raags like Todi, Multani, Puriya aggressive facial expressions. His entire
Dhanashree, Shudh Kalyan, Abhogi, Miyan demeanour was a picture of complete focus
Ki Malhar and Darbara Kanada attracted and concentration.
a huge number of admirers. Though he Besides classical raags, Joshi had a good
command over thumris, Kannada songs
and Marathi abhangs. On the film circuit, he
sang ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi’ with Manna Dey in
the 1956 movie Basant Bahar, with Shankar-
Jaikishen providing the music. The story has
it that Dey was afraid to sing, more so because
the character he was representing would win
the competition.
Joshi, who settled down in Pune, was at his
peak from the late 1940s to the early 2000s.
A confluence of two greats - Pt Bhimsen Joshi with Pt Ravi
Shankar at a music festival His son Shrinivas Joshi is carrying forward
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