Appaji was more than a mother to me: Malini Jazz in India remains alive and kicking
On International Jazz Day, musicians from across India brought alive the jazz era on stage in an event in held in Mumbai Folk singer Malini Awasthi, one of the desciples of Padma awardee Girija Devi, speaks on her guru and her musical journey
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On the eve of Padma Vibhushan Girija Devi’s birth anniversary ( May 8th), her most popular representative musically, Malini Awasthi was in a reminiscent mood. “Appaji” as she was universally known, was indeed an extraordinary musician, and human being. Everyone who came into contact with her could not help but be effected by her warmth as well as her music. She gave “thumri” a respectability that its women exponents had not enjoyed before, and today has a host of disciples carrying forward her musical legacy.
It swings, it jives… these lyrics from singer Freddie Mercury's composition for Queen, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", may just as well have been a description for International Jazz Day, which was celebrated on April 30th, as a string of concerts over the past month established that the music genre is not only very much alive, but is kicking hard! Mumbai was extremely privileged to witness multiple sides of jazz but, not unexpectedly, all from musicians of a similar era. Kick starting the celebrations was the extraordinarily talented, Kolkatabased guitarist Amyt Datta, who garnered immediate attention during the ' 80s with popular rock band Shiva.
In cutting to the present, Amyt Datta led a quartet consisting of Arinjoy Sarkar on guitar, Aakash Ganguly on bass, and Dwaipayan Saha on percussion, as a contemporary improvisational quartet that explored the depths of instrumental rhythms through original A m y t selections that can be b r o a d l y described as eclectic jazz tunes for want of a better categorisation. After all, Amyt is well conversed with the music of Malini Awasthi is one of her senior disciples, having learnt from her for more than 20 years. In her words, “Appaji was more than a mother to me”. During our interaction, Malini tried to converse on a host of issues, but kept being pulled back, as though by an invisible string, into talking about her Guru. Some excerpts:
Tell us about your journey in music: Originally I learnt from Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan, grandson of Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan of Rampur, when he was in Gorakhpur. He was a very learned man, a real Ustad. I then moved as my father got posted away, to Lucknow. There, I started learning from my second Guru Ustad Rahat Ali Khan of Patiala gharana. Though his music was essentially in the Patiala style, having lived in Lucknow all his life, his aesthetic had that “Lucknowi” finesse. There were touches of “Purabi” ( Eastern, Banarasi influence) in his music. My third and last Guru was of course Appaji ( Girija Devi) from whom I started learning when I moved to Banaras with my husband.
I had a direct consecutive interaction with her for 20 years but even before that, in around 1972- 73 I heard her sing at the Vindhyachali Mandir, and was very drawn to her since then. She had offered to teach me in 1988 when she heard me sing at the Bhatkhande Jayanti in Lucknow, but then I was to get married and she endorsed that and said yes marriage is very important, don’t postpone it to start learning from me. Life took a different turn for me after marriage – I travelled all over with my husband and children. But I continued to sing and perform and was in touch with Appaji throughout my life. When my husband got posted to Banaras I realized life was giving me another chance to learn – even my husband told me you missed that bus in Lucknow, don’t miss this one now!! So I started learning formally and regularly from Appaji in Banaras. When I think of it, all my three Gurus really were Sufis in temperament. They were truly angelic personalities. “Sacha sur sache insaan mein se nikalta hai” was true in these three cases ( true pure notes came from true pure artists).
Surely it was difficult absorbing two different styles of singing thumri, Punjab and “Purab ang” ( Banarasi)?
I’ll tell you – when I started learning from Appaji, she asked me to sing a thumri. I sang what I had learnt in the Patiala gharana tradition. She said Banaras “thumri” has to have a lot of “chain” and “sukoon” ( calm and peacefulness); for you to pick this up now at this late stage, when you are already a trained singer, I jazz legends through the years, including — in no particular order - Miles Davis, Charlie “Bird” Parker, and John Coltrane.
Although a far cry from what he looked like in the p a s t , Amyt now has shortcropped hair and thinrimmed dark glasses but, fortunately, there is no change in his guitar playing talent as he indulged in songs from his solo albums during his recent Mumbai performance at The Quarter. Rolling Stone magazine called Amyt Datta the country's “true live guitar God”, and why not? Home- grown boy Gary Lawyer arrived at a concert in NCPA appropriately dubbed ' Sinatra & Swing'. The Mumbai- based singer, equally adept at whatever don’t know if it’s possible. I clutched her feet and said I will be a clean slate, try me, and that’s how it started. I find it fascinating that the “purab ang gayaki” went to the Punjab and “thumri” was adapted there, and yet the “tappa” ( a jerky, fast paced genre) from Punjab is today so much a part of every “purab ang thumri” singer. Genres influence each other. Look at Begum Akhtar; she literally made a distinct gharana or style of her own in Lucknow “thumri”, despite having learnt from an Ustad of the Punjab.
So, who are your idols the world of thumri? I have three idols in
in the genre that he chooses to sing - be it pop, rock, rock ‘ n’ roll, et al — decided to focus on a tribute of sorts to legendary singers like Dean Martin, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr and, of course, Frank Sinatra. The all- coat wearing line- up of musicians ran through such classics from “The Lady Is A Tramp” to cutting across Elvis Presley popularised songs, including “Can't Help Falling In Love” — where Gary had/ encouraged the audience to sing the chorus — reiterating that Gary is indeed a versatile singer and continues to have his priorities right. Songs that are synonymous with Frank Sinatra were prominently featured too, such as “Strangers In The Night” and French song “Comme d'habitude”, the latter more popularly known as “My Way” due to the English lyrics provided by Paul Anka. So, in conclusion, is Gary Lawyer's voice “golden”? Not so! For me, “platinum” would be more appropriate.
Jazz also arrived from the Big Apple, as the once Chicago native, but New York based since 1979 “thumri” world – Appaji, Rasoolan Bai for her “pukaar” and Sidheshwari Devi as she was really an all rounder, “unhone kuch chora hee nahin”!! ( She left no genre of music, and mastered them all). Two artists who never copied another and who really were individualistic singers - Begum Akhtar and Nirmala Devi. Bhimsen ji ( Bharat Ratna Pt Bhimsen Joshi) I feel was another “kamaal ka” ( wonderful) “thumri” singer. Of course it was Appaji who truly changed the perception of people about “thumri” singers due to her unique personality.
Thumri forte, yet
is clearly your you are equally singer Ann Hampton Callaway made her India debut - which she had dreamt about since age 12 — in Mumbai's suburban St. Andrew's Auditorium courtesy of Jazz Addicts, represented by Pradip Bhatia and Apurva Agarwal, in conjunction with VH1. Being conversant with traditional pop as well as standards, Ann's approximately two hour set - with an intermission - covered mainly standards this time around, especially from the Great American Songbook of singers that had influenced Ann through her growing years: Billie Holiday, Sara Vaughn, and E l l a Fitzgerald. But the common thread throughout Ann's selections was her incredible voice: almost sounding like a low alto instrument - which she effectively utilised while mimicking various wind instruments - underlined by her rich, wide- ranging tonality.
In between songs, Ann's repartee had the audience in splits, especially while taking pot shots on known for your folk songs. How is this?
I have often been asked why I stick to my tag of folk; it is considered a lower genre of music. But the more people sneered the more I was determined to carry on and despite being a trained singer in the classical mode I never tried to hide behind the classical singer tag and have been proud to be known as a folk singer. All music has evolved from the folk tradition, and I am not ashamed of the fact that I am sing folk music. For me music is music – I sing “thumri”, a folk song, “Ram janam katha” – whatever you sing should be authentic that’s all.
The folk songs of regions topics that had caused her mental anguish in India, including the press, traffic, and her ex- husband, who was apparently seated in the front row. More humour arrived on a song on which Ann played piano while she had the audience suggest names of female/ male characters, decide on a setting for their meeting, and their relationship thereafter, which only further extended Ann's wit. Jamming on the concluding encore, "Summertime", were the likes of "guest" singers Suneeta Rao and Vivienne Pocha, both of them holding up to the occasion with their respective vocal talents. Nevertheless, nothing should take the focus away from the outstanding quality of the backing band consisting of Ted Rosenthal [ piano], Gianluca Liberatore [ upright acoustic bass], and Aron Nyiro [ drums]. So while jazz may not receive quite the recognition that it deserves as it had in the recent past - alas, with the unfortunate demise of the Jazz Yatras - it is indeed welcome that standalone jazz concerts are reappearing across the country, as this music genre deservedly commences to blow its trumpet again!
The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He continues to pursue his hobby and earns an income out of it. like Punjab and Himachal should be promoted too; I personally find there are so many dialects within even just UP that are neglected which I would like to focus on. There are 5 dialects in Uttar Pradesh- Awadhi, Kashika, Bundeli, Braj and Bhojpuri. To present their compositions is in itself a big task!
I remember how Appaji, even at her age would lovingly ferret out compositions for me from whoever she met, who had unknown songs. She wanted to constantly learn; she would note down the composition and give it to me to sing! “Suraj sab ke liye chamakta hai, alag jagah alag leeya jaata hai” ( the sun shines equally all over; certain places are able to receive more sunlight than others) A Guru is like that – she gives her all to everyone; it depends on you as a disciple how much you can take. Appaji was such a strong lady, a real fighter. I can go on and on about her, she had and has such an influence on me!!
When did you speak to her last?
I remember talking to her about 5- 6 days before her death – as usual she asked about every member of my family before chatting. She was like that; she connected with one at every level, not just at the level of music. It was the same with everyone she interacted with. She survived in the music world, at a time when women singers were looked down upon; she must have endured a lot but she never spoke of it. She never criticized anyone ever; in all the years I knew her. She was a person without artifice – she was what she was, whether on stage or at home. Appa was a very open pure person with nothing to hide. Her honesty as person transmitted into her art, permeated into her stature as a teacher and Guru. My mother died of cancer 11 years ago, and really Appaji has been more than my mother since then. After Appa’s death, I still feel her presence – I have felt her praising me with her typical “bah bah” when I sang a “thumri” in Raga Jogiya that she had taught me, at a recent concert in Ludhiana, and again at the Sankat Mochan festival in Banaras last month. This time at Saptak, ( in Ahmedabad) where she unfailingly sang every year, all the seniors said I reminded them of her so I feel the responsibility on me after her going is even greater. I truly feel I owe it to her memory to give my very best. I got my Padma Shri the same year as she got her Padma Vibhushan; she truly gave me a second life. I was like a toddler in music terms when I started learning from her, even though I had for years been a concert musician. Truly, what one witnessed here, was a connection between Guru and shishya that transcended death!
The musicians ran through classics from The Lady Is A Tramp to Elvis Presley pop songs