and music are part of a Punjabi’s bloodstream. In the
countryside you can hear a rustic warble, a soulful ballad, or
listen to him crooning a naughty number while attending to his
chores. In towns one often comes across youngsters humming a
Gurdas/Harbhajan Mann or Jazzy B song. How deeply entrenched is
the love-music combo in our collective psyche becomes manifest
when one listens to music albums flooding the market. Quality
compositions, though a treat, are rare, however. Some really
enchanting albums have been recently released by Saregama
(formerly The Gramophone Co.). These take us on a musical
journey fragrant with scents of the earth, the fields and the
hearths of Punjabi villages even as it vibrates with the
throbbing city sounds and lights.
Gulzar Singh is a trained
classical singer who has chosen pop music as his profession.
After the success of his debut album Rab to Mangiya Karo
in 2006, he sang a number for the Hindi flick Hat-Trick.
Now Saregama has come up with his latest, Rab Diyan Likhiyan.
It is a combination of Punjabi folk, including bhangra beats,
salsa and various disco rhythms. The theme of love with Heer
motif predominates, although there is a macho number too.
Teenagers are going to enjoy this album, particularly the
crossover rendition of Heer.
One won’t be off the
mark if one says that majority of us may not understand music
but we do enjoy the noise it makes. It is this combination of
love for music and ignorance of its rudiments that gives
a
boost to the pop music market. No Sir, we may not know that a
melody consists of a succession of notes in a specific m`E9tier
or that harmony is achieved by the simultaneous play of musical
notes.
Most of us really don’t care for the mechanics of
beats and rhythms but invariably break into a spontaneous twirl
on hearing a melodic yodel or a dhol’s beats. If it is
a video-graphed composition and youngsters are around, then it
does not take long for a Punjabi drawing room to turn into a
dance-floor.
After listening to Gulzar’s robust renderings,
the sedate notes of Ishq Jinha Diyan Haddin Rachia and Dard
Kain Darvesh give you the experience of a gentle breeze
wafting through your soul. The theme is, you guessed it, love—both
spiritual (ruhani) and temporal (haqeequi). Ishq
Jinha`85 transports you to the passionate world of Kaamdev
wherein the lovelorn articulate their yearnings even as the
star-crossed lovers Sohni-Mahiwal, Mirza Sahiban and Heer Ranjha
play out the tragedies through soulful renderings by such great
singers of yore like Jagmohan Kaur, Swarn Lata, Fakir Mohammad,
Prakash Chand Chaman and others.
On the other hand `85Darvesh
is suffused with the sublimated sentiments of love that give
Sufi poetry and music an irresistible charm. Surinder Kaur, Asa
Singh Mastana, the Wadali brothers, Hans Raj Hans and other
singer-icons give us an elevated experience of love.
