Pandit Jasraj

Early life

Jasraj was born in Hissar, Haryana in an orthodox brahmin family to Pandit Motiramji, a classical exponent. His family is well known for singing in the Mewati Gharana style. Motiramji died when Jasrajji was only four, on the day he was to be appointed as the state musician in the court of the Last Nizam.
Jasraj was initiated into vocal music by his father. He also received training from his elder brother, Pandit Maniramji, and later from Maharaja Jaywant Singhji Waghela. He was also greatly influenced by the voice of the famous ghazal singer, Begum Akhtar, whom he used to listen to, skipping school, at a small hotel that played her songs all day. This inspired him to learn vocal music.
In 1960, when Jasraj went to visit Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in hospital, Khan asked him to become his disciple, but Jasraj declined saying that he could not accept Khan's tutelage since he was already Motiram's disciple.
As a means of livelihood, Maniramji took Jasraj as an accompanying tabla player. However, at the time, just like sarangi players, tabla players were looked down upon as minor artists. At the age of 14, unhappy with his treatment as an accompanying artist, Jasraj left and vowed not to cut his hair until he learned to sing.



Performing career


Jasraj at the Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh, Hyderabad, in 2007
Jasraj's vocal range extends across three-and-a-half octaves. His vocalizing is in perfect diction and clarity, a trademark of the Mewati Gharana's style of Khayal. He has also done extensive research in Haveli Sangeet under Baba Shyam Manohar Goswami Maharaj to create numerous innovative bandish (composition).
His greatest contribution to Indian classical music is his conception of a unique and novel jugalbandi, styled on the ancient system of Moorchana, between a male and a female vocalist, each singing in their respective scales and different ragas at the same time. In his honor, this legendary jugalbandi is known as The Jasrangi[3].
Jasraj has many students, and is ensuring the longevity of his genre. Amongst his flag-bearing disciples, Rattan Mohan Sharma, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Suman Ghosh, Tripti Mukherjee, Radharaman Kirtane, Pritam Bhattacharjee, Gargi Siddhant and Kala Ramnath are well-known exponents of the Mewati Gharana. Sadhana Sargam, a well-known Bollywood singer, is one of his disciples.
In memory of his late father, he organises a musical festival every year called the Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh in Hyderabad, India. It completed 36 years in 2008. He has graced the Savai Gandharva Music Festival's stage innumerable times over the last forty years, and continues to do so even today; his legendary 1992 presentation of Raag Ahir Bhairav, in the unmistakable Mewati Style, is a favorite among listeners even today. He is also recognized as a master of the Bhairav family of Raags, along with the legendary Raags Darbari Kanada, Miya ki Malhar, and Jog.

Personal life

In 1962 he married Madhura, the daughter of the legendary film director V. Shantaram, who he had first met in 1955 during the filming of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, as Jasraj then employed with AIR as a freelance artist wanted to join V. Shantaram’s production company as a musician. After marriage the couple lived in Kolkata for some time. They have a son, Sarang Dev, and a daughter, Durga Jasraj, a television anchor and presenter. Madhura Jasraj has directed documentaries, children’s plays, apart from directing and producing acclaimed ballets, Geet Govind, Kaan Kahaani and Surdas and the TV series, Faster Phene. She made a film, Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj on Pandit Jasraj, in 2009 and in 2010, directed her first Marathi film, Aai Tuzha Aashirwad, in which Lata Mangeshkar and her husband have sung in Marathi

Music composers Jatin-Lalit are his nephews


Awards

Padma Vibhushan, (art-classical music-vocal) in 2000
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987
Sangeet Kala Ratna
Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Award
Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar
Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar
Surer Guru
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship


Discography

Raga Symphony (2009)
Baiju Bawra (2008)
Upasana (2007)
Tapasya Vol. 1 (2005)
Darbar (2003)
Maheshwara Mantra (2002)
Soul Food (2005)
Jasraj, Pandit Vol. 2 - Haveli Sangeet
Inspiration (2000)
Ragas Triveni and Multani Live
Ragas Bihada and Gaud Giri Malhar
Worship By Music/Live Stuggart '88
Ornamental Voice
Filmography
Ladki Sahyadri Ki (1966, music by Vasant Desai)
Birbal My Brother (1973, music by Shyam Prabhakar)
1920 (2008, music by Adnan Sami)