MUMBAI: Ace musician Pandit Jasraj, who celebrated his 89^th birth anniversary recently, swayed everyone with his enchanting voice at Golden Voice Golden Years: Pandit Jasraj. Conceptualised by his daughter Durga Jasraj, the musical evening was attended by noteworthy names like Javed Akhtar, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shabana Azmi, Jatin-Lalit, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Anand-Milind, Ratna Pathak Shah, Anuradha Paudwal, Jaspinder Narula, and others.

During the event, which was divided into four segments, Pandit Jasraj took everyone present on his musical memoir called, Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj.

Talking about his journey, Pandit Jasraj, who turned 89 exclaimed, “It has been great journey. If it wouldn’t have been such a beautiful journey, I would not have been relevant today. I have been extremely blessed; god has given me the most beautiful gift - the gift to be able to understand music, to sing and compose it.”

In his mega career, the musician has excelled in his genre and has given a legacy to cherish. On being asked, if there is that one thing in music, he is yet to do, Pandit Jasraj said, “I haven’t done anything as of now I am still learning every moment every second. Future, I leave it on god.”

He and his music mates put forth a fabulous musical extravaganza on the occasion of his 89th birth anniversary. Spilling beans on the same, Pandit Jasraj spoke to Radioandmusic in a mailer interview, prior to his performance. He revealed, “The concert begins with an audio-visual film, The First lesson of Music from my father Pandit Motiram, followed by a live music performance by my lovely students.”

The second segment was of Begum Akhtar’s influence. “As a young boy I was mesmerized by Begum akhtar’s voice, I only reason behind me skipping school and study. This is a very interesting segment followed by live performance of Anup Jalota,” he further told.

Speaking about the third segment, Tabla Prodigy, jasraj said, “To keep me occupied, my mother encouraged me to play tabla after which I emerged as a prodigy at the age of seven. My elder brother, Pt. Pratap Narayan taught me tabla. This was followed by a unique tabla symphony, Raagas on Tabla by composer Kedar Pandit.”

The maestro presented some of his bandishes in the fourth and last segment. “In the last segment, with the blessings of the Almighty, I will perform a few Bandishes,” he told. 

Besides, Pandit Jasraj is not a riyaaz person. “I don’t do riyaaz, but pray to god for three hours and that is riyaaz for me,” he revealed.

On his biography, Jasraj said, “Jai ho! At this stage in life, I realize that I know nothing and I will never know anything. I have surrendered everything and whatever I am today is because of the Almighty God.”

Lastly, he thanked his fans, “Thank you for loving me so much and thank you for making his 89 years so special. All this wouldn’t have been possible without your love and support.”

Meanwhile, Pandit Jasraj has a reputation of being one of the celebrated maestros in the world of music. We at Radioandmusic celebrate his journey and wish he gives more music for everyone to cherish.