I haven’t written much about my favorite singers yet (classical!). I try to keep up with the music scene here in mumbai and like everyone else I have my likes and dislikes. Ulhas Kashalkar is still at my no. 1 spot (gents). I hope he can maintain his incredible level. I wasn’t very fond of his jogkauns the last time I heard him, but is he ever bad? Consistently excellent; thank god he is here presenting his Gwalior gayaki with a huge repertoire of ragas and compositions. I think he has brought back the Gwalior style from the sidelines with his finesse and creativity. His usual accompanist Suresh Talwarkar is the perfect foil for him and is a consumate artist with a legendary tilwada theka. Like Rampur gharana, I think Gwalior had become less popular because the leading vocalists tended to either have poor voice production (Gajananbua Joshi, Sharad Chandra Arolkar) or were emotion-less (krishnarao shankar pandit, mustaq hussein khan, nisar hussein khan). D.V. Paluskar had it all- emotion, beautiful voice, creativity, but tragically died at a young age. Kumar Gandharva, i guess you can call it Gwalior, of course a unique great genius. But overall I think the post Faiyaz Khan generation was dominated by kirana- Amir Khan style singers, foremost of course Bhimsen Joshi. Amir Khan’s style was influential, but maybe it was so iconoclastic that it couldn’t successfully continue after him, although there were many imitators. Among current singers Rashid Khan carries on the kirana style successfully, as does Jayteerth Mevundi. Interesting that Ulhas Kashalkar’s two brothers Arun and Vikas are professional singers who also learned with Gajananbua. I am not much of a fan of their music though. Besides them Gajananbua had some fantastic women students, Shubada Paradkar, Jayshree Patnekar, and Padma Talwarkar among others. All three of them are in my top 10 of female singers. I don’t know why they don’t perform more often. Shubada Paradkar rarely performs in Mumbai. I haven’t heard her for years. Her music might be too laykari oriented which is less acceptable for female singers among the general public. I’ve always liked Padma Talwarkar’s music and it seems to me she always is working on it and maintaining a high level. Another singer I love who doesn’t sing often is Vijaya Jadhav Gatliwar. For me she is 2nd only to Kishori Amonkar among female singers. She isn’t always in top form- I think she gets nervous- but when she is- the power and creativity are to behold. I think she is the only Jaipur singer who can really sing thumris well too. She can put deep emotion in them. I don’t want to forget Parveen Sultana. She is still a big name in mumbai and for good reason. She is good!! Also charismatic with a commanding presence and of course the exquistite voice and vibrant creativity. For some years I believe she only would accept concerts as duets with her husband Dilshad Khan (brother of Buddhadev Dasgupta, the sarod player). His singing was eccentrically bad and it took a toll on her career. Thank goodness she sings solo again. Beautiful thumri singer too. There are many other singers I like- Vijay Sardeshmukh, Asha Khadilkar, Aarti Ankalikar, Vasundhara Komkali, Mukul Shivputra, Babanrao Haldankar, Sharad Sathe, and Raja Mian are a few names that come to mind. Also I have mentioned 2 other of my favorite singers in previous posts -Aslam Hussain Khan and Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil.
u wrote-
Like Rampur gharana, I think Gwalior had become less popular because the leading vocalists tended to either have poor voice production (Gajananbua Joshi, Sharad Chandra Arolkar) or were emotion-less (krishnarao shankar pandit, mustaq hussein khan, nisar hussein khan).
i think arolkarbuwa had a sensuous, sweet and pleasing voice.
i have discovered many other reasons too, why limelight is taken away from gwalior.
hi shri Das, Thanks for the comment. I find Arolkar’s voice pleasant. I have only heard recordings. If I were to list the voices that I could listen to most easily for hours on end or on a desert island, amongst modern classical, Hindustani male singers I would include Sharafat Hussain Khan, D.v. Paluskar, Amir Khan, Rashid Khan at the top. It is just personal, but my preferences tend to agree with the general public of classical music listeners. I didn’t mean to suggest that voice quality was the unique reason for Arolkar’s not achieving the popularity that was due. I would be interested in what your views are on this (or Gwalior in general). james
i am more on the deeper side of music. being a small time disciple of pt sharad ch arolkar, i feel he influenced me with some original thoughts and renditions. he practised what he preached, music-wise.
the singer u mentioned r all-right. i also like to listen to them and imitate them, being a vocalist. but i am not satisfied fully from their approach of music, though i like not to be conditioned; i try to keep my vision and vista open.
The vocalists listed are in no way whatsoever my favorite singers! I was commenting only on their voices. It is just my feeling that 4 or 5 hours of say Krishnarao Shankar Pandit can wear on the nerves in a way that the equivalent by say, Rashid Khan would not. I am not saying anything here about the musical content. It does seem to me that singers who do become popular in the classical music world generally have pleasant voices in the generally accepted norms. It is obviously just one factor along with excellent technique that seems common to the popular singers. Luck and promotion play a part too. Don’t we all have our favorite singers who are mysteriously ignored by the general public and some who we cannot bear getting programs?