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Bhai Avtar Singh ji's parampra


tSingh

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Unfortunately not, as I only have reference to the same (Bhai Rangi Raam Udasi), who is responsible for his wide use of 'Partaals' and indeed famed for it...

...interestingly though, if one does investigate further, much of what Bhai Avtar Singh does use also has close links to the Naamdharis, have a listen to (Naamdhari Satguru) Partap Singh's recordings and compare...

Regards,

Niranjana

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gurfateh everyone,

I spoke with baldeep singh (grand nephew of bhai avtaar singh) he had mentioned how one of pratap singh's ustaads were also jwala singh's ustads. What ended up happening though was that in teaching, the naamdhaari's didn't do the alaaaps in their reyaaz

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  • 2 months later...

Little bit more about Bhai Sahib Ji

Bhai Avtar Singh Ragi

Born on 8th January 1926 in Distt, Kapurthala, Punjab. Bhai Avtar Singh Ragi is the 11th Generation Singer of an illustrious family of ragis, who have successully carried forward the orginal dhrupad ang of Gurbani singing. He started training under his father, the legendary Baba Jwala Singh ji of Thhatta Tibba, at the tender age of ten and is now recognized as a major representative of a great tradition going back to the very beginning of the Sikh way of life.

Apart from learning the correct enunication of some of the most difficult and anceint Gurbani compositions, Bhai Sahib is also a master of the rare string and bow instruments, Taus. His singing is marked by an emotionally intense pukar- the like of which is rarely ever heard these days. His contribution to the Gurbani has been acclaimed the world over and some of the highest honours in the field have been bestowed upon him. Along with his elder brother, Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ragi, he undertook awesome task of documenting and preserving some of the rarest reets (compositions). This effort resulted in the creation of two immensely valuable volumes, Gurbani Sangeet: Pracheen Reet Ratnavali, published by Punjabi University, Patiala in 1978. Notations of nearly 500 shabad reets from their family's over 330 years old treasure of spirtual music, have been included in these volumes.

In the noisy world of today, these primordial modes of our devotional singing are getting submerged. Bhai Avtar Singh is, perhaps, the only performing Ragi who has resisted the tempation of compromising the highest musical values that have traditionally been used in Gurbani Kirtan. He has maintained the purity of compositions that have been the cherished heritage of the Khalsa and have been preserved in the family. It requires great sadhna to be able to learn these compositions & present them in the Gur-darbar.

The present set of 4 Cassetts of Kirtan Parampara will enable to connect with the Guru-times because shabad reets sung herein by Bhai Sahib have been authenticated by his forefathers and masters in a continous, uninterrupted service of ten generation.

Bhai Avtar Singh is vocaly supported by his disciples, Kultar Singh(Son) & Baldeep Singh (grandson), who are beginning to dedicate themselves to the "Parampara"

Please note: I m in the process of recording Kirtan Parampara tapes of this 4 caseetes. It should be avaiable on dc++ along with reet ratanwali :D

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waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji ki fateh!

sorry niranjana, i haven't been to this thread in a long time. I left a question unanswered. I actually don't know bhai baldeep singh, but had the priveledge of engaging in conversation when he came to toronto during the sikh film festival. He sang in front of me, his voice was phenomenal. He had mentioned that one of my favorite shabads..."meray greh ayey, was an 18th century composition"... he also went on to mention that the rababi ustad of pratap singh (naamdhari guru's father and previous guru) was the same as one of bhai jawala singhs (the father of avtaar singh)... now, he had said that they lost out in the original renditions because of the difficulty required in extending the alaaps (or something to that degree...he sang "saaajan des vidaseeray" and showed the difference). He has even sang in front of other dhrupad gharanay and they have said that what he has been passed down has even been lost in their gharanay...(lets take everything with a pinch of salt, but overall he was fairly humble). They will be releasing a video about the sikh musical heritage at some point...excellent movie (I saw it here)...I don't know when it'll be released though.

bhai baldeep singh is also an excellent tablachee, he said he would do kirtan with someone of the likes of sukhwinder pinki as an accompaniest..but all that remains to be seen, if anyone has any kirtan he has done (especially with taanti-saaj) please do share.

take care

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That comment about the dhrupad gharanay is interesting.

So far I have only come across three recognised parampras of dhrupad still in existence; Dagar, Mallicks from Bihar and Tiwari. Dagars can trace theirs back to the time of Tansen (16th century). Interestingly Zia Mohinuddin Dagar, who plays dhrupad on rudra vina, claims that within 50 years if an Indian wants to learn this instrument, they will have to go overseas and learn from a non-Indian. It would be fascinating to do a comparative study.

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Tusi sunao forward-backward?

Good to hear from you as always.

I don't know if the Tiwari parampra is still going (I have one recording of an old Tiwari, who is so old he's slightly out..but his dam is still there - uyuyuyuyuyuyuy and all that). I've heard recent Mallick stuff by his sons. And the Dagars are very famous...

Ah, is this the bloke who says he's getting training in Naad Yog from the Dagars? I'm suprised they're claiming he's got stuff they've lost. The Naad yog aspect of dhrupad is the bit that makes or breaks the performer, as is the case with all meditative 'spiritual' music.

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