Every November finds me in Goa , one of the reasons being the Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Sangeet Samaaroh. The venue for this year was Ponda's Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir instead of the beautiful Kala Academy of Panjim. This gave me a chance to explore South Goa beaches , Madgaon ( Margaon ) and Ponda region.
The Highlights of my Goa trip of November 2019 were
1) 39th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaaroh , Ponda Goa 2019
2) Curtain raiser event of symposium on Jaipur Gharana
3) Beautiful beaches of South Goa
4) Exploration of wonderful Madgaon and Ponda area
5) Hospitality of some of the best hotels and restaurants of South Goa
6) Wonderful traditional veg food
Here is a link to the FB album of 2019 Goa Trip
I decided to attend only certain chosen events and concerts during the festival. The important one being the Curtain Raiser event on the gayaki of Jaipur Gharana. Among the concerts I chose the morning concerts on Saturday and Sunday giving a pass to rest.
My favorite performances during the festival were that of upcoming local artist Subhash Parwar , whose style and tonal quality seemed like that of Abhisheki bua. Pt Narendra Nath Dhar 's Todi and Charukeshi on Sarod , Vid Shubhada Paradkar ( who has training from Gwalior, Kirana, Agra and Jaipur gharana ) presenting in Agra Style , Shuddha Sarang and Pancham were notable performances that concluded the morning session.
The morning session on Sunday was special due to performance by Shri Mahendra Toke ( Indore Gharana ) who was trained directly under Ut Amir Khan, presenting Shuddha Sarang and Bhimpalas in the classical Jhumara taal in madhya lay ! The evening session was marked by upcoming young talented artist from ITC Sangeet Research Academy ,Omkar Dadarkar who seemed to have a mix influence of Gwalior , Jaipur and Agra presenting wonderful Bhimpalas and Marwa.
Many clips of these performances could be enjoyed in this FB album here.
The symposium on Jaipur Gharana and gayaki was one of the most interesting , enlightening and worth attending. It gave an understanding of the intricacies and depth of true Jaipur gayaki and gharana.
For me, the key takeaways from the Symposium on Jaipur Gharana were following :
1) The roots of Jaipur Gharana are in the three "baanis" of Dhrupad gayaki. Earlier singers of Jaipur were Dhrupadiyas and many of the bandishes are derived from Dhrupad bandishes. Even many of the later years Khyaal bandishes have roots in their respective Dhrupad bandishes.
2) It is highly disciplined gayaki and gharana. There are strict rules of even training (Talim) by gurus. The gurus are highly disciplined and strict. No variations are tolerated easily.
3) Alaap , Boltaan , taans is the sequence of progression of Raag, Balance of Sur and taal is critical in the progression.
4) Typically a Raag is not extended beyond 30 mins
5) The taan patterns are "vakra" (twisty) and not "sapaat" ( flat ) , meaning , they are not really in order of arohi or avarohi swar sequences.
6) They have special Jod Raags , Anvat Raags, Mishra Raags that are distinct from the raags that they are made from e.g Shuddha Kalyan ( Bhup and Yaman ) , Maru-Bihag , Basanti - Kedar etc
Here are the recordings / Clips from the first part of symposium on Youtube ( 7 short videos ) and the second part of symposium in many short clips on FB album
My views based on symposium :
a) Jaipur gayaki is the "Classical" of the Hindustani Classical Music. It is not easy to grasp , understand or even appreciate unless one is truly immersed in music. Hence many of the classical connoisseurs tend to be fans of Jaipur gayaki in later stage after listening to other gharanas. ( This is definitely the case with myself ! )
b) Jaipur gayaki is an expression in Khyaal but has characteristics of Dhrupad ( may be because of the roots in the three "baanis" of Dhrupad )
c) The traditional bandishes of Jaipur gharana are amalgamation of Dhrupad bandishes with lyrics of Khyaal. They have deep philosophy behind them and are precise in expressing certain philosophical ideas through precise words. The lyrics of bandishes of Jaipur gharana have high philosophical value and are very meaningful but stress the expression of "Bhaav" of the the Raag through musical patterns of aalaap and taans, often short phrases.
d) Jaipur gayaki is truly intellectual musical expression and is NOT for everyone !
Final note :
The "true" Jaipur gharana gayaki has become rare now. For excelling in this gayaki, intense disciplined efforts and intense training (talim) is needed from right kind of guru for years. Very few singers who label themselves belonging to Jaipur - Atrauli gharana truly follow the traditional Jaipur gayaki. A general view in vouge is that , the current Jaipur gayaki is diluted and made light by many of the singers in recent past. Some have introduced their own bandishes that dont match the philosophy and dhrupad tradition of Jaipur gayaki. Hence true Jaipur gayaki is preserved in only few currently living performers. Vid Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar is one such true Jaipur ( and Haveli) performer and Teacher ( Guru ) who has preserved the tradition and continues to guide students.