Allyn Miner | Amarjit Chandan | Bharat Gupt

The right-hand drum of the jori, called the puda, heard on this recording, resembles the modern tabla. The left-hand drum, the dhamma, is larger, much heavier and taller, and is fashioned more like an oversized tabla than like the modern bayan of the tabla pair.

Like the pakhawaj, it requires the application of wheat dough to the center of the skin. The deep resonant sound it produces is distinct from both the tabla and the pakhawaj

Bhai Baldeep Singh’s research has led him to believe that Sikh devotional music preserved the sounds and structures of early, pre-Mughal, dhrupad music. Dhrupad itself had devotional roots, but while later dhrupad music changed and developed stylistically to please its courtly patrons, Sikh kirtan remained centered on spiritual goals and retained the structures, embellishments, and aesthetics of the original style. Thus the Amritsari baj is a rare and invaluable repository of musical and spiritual history.

Bhai Baldeep Singh’s research has led him to believe that Sikh devotional music preserved the sounds and structures of early, pre-Mughal, dhrupad music. Dhrupad itself had devotional roots, but while later dhrupad music changed and developed stylistically to please its courtly patrons, Sikh kirtan remained centered on spiritual goals and retained the structures, embellishments, and aesthetics of the original style. Thus the Amritsari baj is a rare and invaluable repository of musical and spiritual history.

Accompanying the jori on this CD is the rabab. The fretless plucked rabab that spread eastward with Persian court culture in the 16th and 17th centuries, took on a distinctive shape and musical role in the Indo-Persian courts of North India. It became prominent between the 14th and 18th centuries in the hands of such luminaries as Tansen, the gem of the Mughal court of Akbar, and his descendants. It virtually died out by the early twentieth century, replaced by the modern sarod, which was descended from the rabab of Afghanistan. Rababs of different shapes and ancestries were played in North India throughout this period. A type of rabab is closely associated with Sikh practice through Mardana, a disciple of the first Sikh Guru Nanak. It is both the legacy of Mardana and the dhrupad origins of this music that are evoked by the use of the rabab in this recording.

The CD begins with the deep, sonorous sound of the rabab. Somjit Dasgupta, a disciple of beloved sarod traditionalist Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra, begins with phrases of alap in the noon-time rag Gaud Sarang. Dasgupta gives a soft-edged, rustic intonation to his playing, communicating a simplicity and sincerity suited to this project. The gut strings and skin-covered body give the rabab a slightly rough resonant quality unlike that of any contemporary Hindustani instrument. One can hear the scraping of the fingers over the fingerboard, giving an additional antique quality to the sound. We learn from the CD notes that this very rabab belonged to the legendary Basat Khan, one of the last great rababias. After the jori enters with its booming resonance, the rabab continues throughout to play lahara, a repeating line of composition expressing the tal cycle, here the 12-beat chautal.

The first track consists of sparsely and dramatically placed jori strokes, a sort of prelude to the sounds and rhythms of this music. Two brief vocalizations of drum syllables in Bhai Baldeep Singh’s expressive voice are a unique addition to the track. A very slightly off-set rhythmic quality, in which drum strokes occur slightly before or after the beats, gives this style an unusual, abstract quality. The patterns gradually increase in density but the piece remains restrained throughout.

The second track is introduced by several alap phrases of rag Barwa on the rabab before it settles into the lahara line. The flat third of the Barwa scale gives a sombre quality to the melody. The jori enters in double tempo patterns reminiscent of the rolling pace with which the pakhwaj often accompanies a dhrupad song. Soon we hear occasional doubling of internal patterns, and variations in stroke combinations, and the performance gradually increases in density as the patterns move in triple and quadruple pace. Overall the piece retains a dignified, soothing quality, inviting a calm involvement in this music.

The third track begins with rabab phrases in the sweet major-sounding melody of raag Bihag. The drumming here is more dense from the start, and we hear patterns of four, six, eight, and finally sixteen-speed work. Although North Indian drumming is justifiably famous for the broad scope of its improvisations, legendary drummers of various styles also created a substantial body of thoroughly composed material. These compositions, sometimes with specific names, themes, or poetic content, make up some of the most prized material in a drummer’s inherited tradition. This track seems to be a showcase for such material and for the fast, cascading but still soothing sound of the Jori.

The CD is beautifully recorded. The listener feels surrounded by the deep resonant sounds of the instruments. One comes away from this CD with a sense that the lost Amritsari baaj has a depth and beauty well worth reviving. The accompanying booklet’s text and photographs are very attractive and convey the dignified mood and spiritual aspects of the project.

Allyn Miner
Department of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104, USA
aminer@sas.upenn.edu