Archive for 2016

Here is a translation video of "Saas Saas Simro Gobind" ... the music was done in collaboration with two local musicians from the bay area - Jeremy Marais on the Saxophone and Suellen Primost on the cello. Like my previous arrangements, the chordal structure is highly repetitive, which is important in spiritual music. With the repetiveness, the music is doing a meditation and disappears into the meaning of the words.

[Link to Saas Saas Simro Gobind]

Saas Saas Simro Gobind - An Alternative Translation

Listening to the complete Guru

I come in the vicinity of oneness

Remembering oneness in every breath

I erase all the pain inside

Asking for the dust of Saints' feet

I abandon fleeting waves of desire

Renouncing my ego, praying with Saints

I cross life's ocean of fire

Bowing down to the complete Guru

I fill my coffers with divine wealth

Shabad: Guru Arjan Dev

Music/Vocals: Shivpreet Singh

Guest Musicians:

Cello: Suellen Primost

Saxophone: Jeremy Marais

Translation: Shivpreet Singh

ਅਸਟਪਦੀ ॥

असटपदी ॥

Asatpaḏī.

Ashtapadee:

ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸੁਨਿ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ॥

पूरे गुर का सुनि उपदेसु ॥

Pūre gur kā sun upḏes.

Listen to the Teachings of the Perfect Guru;

ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਨਿਕਟਿ ਕਰਿ ਪੇਖੁ ॥

पारब्रहमु निकटि करि पेखु ॥

Pārbarahm nikat kar pekẖ.

see the Supreme Lord God near you.

ਸਾਸਿ ਸਾਸਿ ਸਿਮਰਹੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ॥

सासि सासि सिमरहु गोबिंद ॥

Sās sās simrahu gobinḏ.

With each and every breath, meditate in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe,

ਮਨ ਅੰਤਰ ਕੀ ਉਤਰੈ ਚਿੰਦ ॥

मन अंतर की उतरै चिंद ॥

Man anṯar kī uṯrai cẖinḏ. and the anxiety within your mind shall depart.

ਆਸ ਅਨਿਤ ਤਿਆਗਹੁ ਤਰੰਗ ॥

आस अनित तिआगहु तरंग ॥

Ās aniṯ ṯi▫āgahu ṯarang.

Abandon the waves of fleeting desire,

ਸੰਤ ਜਨਾ ਕੀ ਧੂਰਿ ਮਨ ਮੰਗ ॥

संत जना की धूरि मन मंग ॥

Sanṯ janā kī ḏẖūr man mang.

and pray for the dust of the feet of the Saints.

ਆਪੁ ਛੋਡਿ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਕਰਹੁ ॥

आपु छोडि बेनती करहु ॥

Āp cẖẖod benṯī karahu.

Renounce your selfishness and conceit and offer your prayers.

ਸਾਧਸੰਗਿ ਅਗਨਿ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰਹੁ ॥

साधसंगि अगनि सागरु तरहु ॥

Sāḏẖsang agan sāgar ṯarahu.

In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, cross over the ocean of fire.

ਹਰਿ ਧਨ ਕੇ ਭਰਿ ਲੇਹੁ ਭੰਡਾਰ ॥

हरि धन के भरि लेहु भंडार ॥

Har ḏẖan ke bẖar leho bẖandār.

Fill your stores with the wealth of the Lord.

ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰ ਪੂਰੇ ਨਮਸਕਾਰ ॥੧॥

नानक गुर पूरे नमसकार ॥१॥

Nānak gur pūre namaskār. ||1||

Nanak bows in humility and reverence to the Perfect Guru. ||1||

Alternative Translation

Listening to the complete Guru

I come in the vicinity of oneness

Remembering oneness in every breath

I erase all the pain inside

Asking for the dust of Saints' feet

I abandon fleeting waves of desire

Renouncing my ego, praying with Saints

I cross life's ocean of fire

Bowing down to the complete Guru

I fill my coffers with divine wealth

I am very excited to share with an interview with Bhai Harlove Singh from Sacramento who is nearing culmination of a beautiful "62 Raag Gurbani Kirtan" CD set, the first of its kind finished in the US. Bhai Harlove Singh, along with fellow young musicians from Sacramento California, have recorded new compositions in all the 62 raags in the Guru Granth Sahib. Compared to the 31 raag compositions, like Dr. Gurnam Singh's compilation, this compilation also includes the 31 mishrat raags in addition to the 31 main raags. While the volume of the project is by itself impressive, from the demo it is clear that the quality of the music and recordings is equally impressive.

The promo videos and an interview can be found below. My solemn request for the entire Sikh Sangat is to generously buy the CD sets with enthusiasm and provide encouragement for the musicians with your comments. This will encourage current and future generations of kirtaniyas.

Can you tell us about your training in Gurmat Sangeet?

I have been learning for 5 years. I formally began learning in 2011 under the supervision of my father Surinderpal Singh ji. He has done Kirtan at Sri Darbar Sahib and Takht Kesgarh Sahib. He also has a Masters in music with an emphasis on Indian Classical. He started an non-profit organization known as Guru Teg Bahadur Mission Sahara and under that organization started an Academy known as Vismaad Academy. I learned Gurmat Sangeet from Vismaad Academy where my Father was the teacher. In 2014, I also started to learn Tanti saaz including dilruba and taus.

What motivated you to learn gurmat sangeet?

At home I was always exposed to a kirtan environment as my father has a strong background in kirtan. I was always fond of singing and hearing kirtan at home would only make my connection to music stronger. It wasn’t until the first time I heard classical Shabads from my father that I was really interested. It caught my attention as it was different compared to the light kirtan and I wanted to know what that was! That grabbed my attention to such an extent that I started rigorously learning classical kirtan.

How long did the 62 raags CDs take to compile? How did you select the shabads?

I started working on this project in spring of 2014. The entire process took two years to complete. I selected shabads from each raags that would be unique in some way or another. My goal was to show different styles of kirtan from dhrupad to light classical style to classical style to partaals. I would thoroughly look at each raag and selected shabads that would be either very easy in making the message clear or would be uncommonly heard shabads. With that goal in mind, I selected the shabads and began composing.

What considerations did you keep in mind in making the compositions?

When making the composition I had several things in mind; I wanted to emphasize the message, show the saroop of the raags, and show different styles that kirtan has evolved through over time. Many of the light compositions were based off of the style that is commonly heard today in light kirtan, however they still maintain the saroop of the raags. The taals I selected varied from common taals such as Dadra (6 beats), Deepchandi (14 beats), Teentaal (16 beats), to the more complex and aprachalit taals in nature such as Rupam (8.5 beats), Frodast (14 beats), Chartaal ki swari (11 beats).

These combinations of prachalit and aprachalit taals played a very big role in making each composition distinct. Another thing I kept in mind was that many raags have partaals written in them, so to preserve the style of partaals we recorded many partaals in this project. While we did not cover every partaal we did do partaals in raags such as Kanra, Sarang, Prabhati Bhibas, Malhar, etc.

How did you compile the 62 RAAGS?

The 62 raags are divided into 9 VOLUMES. Each recording is on average 10 minutes which would mean the 62 raags are easily over 8 hours. That would be impossible to compile in a single CD. Volumes 1-7 and volume 9 all have 7 tracks each and volume 8 has 6 tracks. The raags in each volume are listed in the same order as they appear in SGGS ji.

What are your dreams and goals?

I am a pre-med Student at UC Riverside and while devoting time to education I still take out time to practice kirtan. My goal is to inspire our future generations to partake their role in preserving our rich culture. With this CD I want to motivate the youth to get more in touch with gurmat sangeet . I want to inspire the youth by having an established educational background while still devoting time to gurmat sangeet to allow them to feel that it is possible to still be able to take out time for gurbani while being consumed with daily obligations.

Can you tell us who all has helped in the project? And where can we obtain the 62 RAAGS CDs?

A lot of effort was put into this project by not only myself but our very talented Tabla vadaks including Tarnpreet Singh, Amrit Singh, and my brother Sukhwinder Singh. Sukhwinder Singh, who is a disciple of the well renowned Tabla maestro Pt. Swapan Chaudhury, recorded Tabla on majority of the shabads and demonstrated excellent musicianship. His ability to perform complex chakardars, relas, and tukras in very complex taals are worth appreciating. I am very thankful to these Tabla vadaks for accompanying me. On the final note I would just like to say that this project is way for us to give back to our community. Our intentions with this project are to preserve the tradition of gurmat sangeet. This project is indeed a very unique one, first of its kind out of India; so I hope that the sangat will find it appreciable. The CDs will be released on the 11th of September and copies can be obtained in person as of that date. We are currently working to make it available for sangat to order online so it will be available to order online soon after the release. The details can be provided upon completion.

Do you know how 'Suhaagans' remain beautiful?

They accept peacefully and they speak sweetly!

- Guru Nanak (Raag Sri)

Last week my maternal grandmother, Preetam Kaur, passed away, only a few months after my grandfather. Twice an immigrant, first from Pakistan to India, and then India to the US, this pink complexioned Pindi lady was full of love just like her name suggested. Gurbani was always on her lips and deep in her heart. She was dyed in Sehaj and Santokh in a way I have rarely seen anyone else. You could have known her for ages or just met her, but you could not have met her without being charmed by her smile and overwhelmed by her hospitality.

There was one quality that everyone who met her remembers her with - her sweet words. The sweetness of the Nirvair universe had somehow condensed into her. No one ever heard anything harsh from her about anyone. Whether they were present or not. She would always look at the positive side of every everyone and every instance. We met her the day before she left and she was in tremendous pain, she could not speak, but she smiled when she saw Geet, my eighteen month old daughter.

4 Generations in a Picture ...

I usually sing Gauri at the occasion of death. This weekened, one person at her funeral mentioned that a soul like her descends to earth once in a generation. I thought it was apt to sing Raag Suhi in this case. Raag Suhi is named after the color "Suhaa" or red. The word has a common origin with "Suhaag" which connotes the bliss of a bride that is in love. Red is also the universal the color of love. This is the raag we sing when someone gets married. The laavan are sung in this raag. It would only be apt to sing Raag Suhi to remember this pink complexioned lady imbued in love.

This simple composition in Raag Suhi is dedicated to her sweetness ... I am sharing here the recording I did at home on the piano before singing the same shabad at the San Jose Gurdwara. Listen, enjoy, download and share with loved ones ...

For Lyrics and Translation:

Suhi Mahalla 5 Chhanth

Mith Bolara Ji Har Sajjan Swami Mora
Hau Sammal Thakki Ji
Oh Kade Na Bolai Kaura

Kaura Bol Na Jaane Pooran Bhagwane
Avgun Ko Na Chitare
Patit Paavan Har Birad Sadaye
Ik til nahi Bhanne Ghale

Ghat Ghat Vasi Sarab Nivasi
Nerai Hi Te Neraa
Nanak Daas Sadaa Sarnaagat
Har Amrit Sajjan Mera

In 2010, I composed a simple melody for Guru Arjan's shabad Charan Kamal Prabh Kay Nit Dhiyaoon, Guru Arjan Dev's shabad focused on continual remembrance of the scented path of the Beloved. The composition was made in raag Bilawal in such a way that the chords repeat in a 4-bar cycle. That way the music meditates while the singer sings every line of the shabad. Many of the melodic elements are also repeated throughout the shabad. Even when we are singing different words, in different melodies, there is a continuity in the music, a humble attempt to depict melody and music losing their own ego.

Collab with Janapriya Levine and Kimberly Foree

While I have been singing this shabad at different venues over the years, I have never released any studio quality recording. This year we are launching a new arrangement and video of this shabad. Much of the work on the arrangement and the video was done by American multi-instrumentalist and video producer Janapriya Levine. Janapriya has intimate knowledge of ancient raagas as well as pop arrangements. His music videos often feature Indian fusion music(1). Additionally, Kimberly Foree has played the Oboe and provided inspiration throughout the process of creation and editing. Both of them really poured their love into this production. We hope that you will enjoy this as much as we have enjoyed creating this. We will be singing this shabad live in various kirtans and hope to see some of you there ...

The video:

The Raag

Bilawal is a raag which uses all "shudha" notes, and is designed to evoke feelings of remembrance of love, the remembrance of one's spiritual guru. Guru Arjan Dev reminds us in the shabad, "let me never ever forget you." Most of the popular compositions in this raag are in an alternative form of the raag called, Alhaiya Bilwal, which uses both Ni's in addition to all shuddha notes. This composition is truer to the older and more stricter interpretation of the notes of the raag. But there is one important difference and nuance ... While the raag is uttarang, much of the melody of the shabad is poorvang; this was intentionally done to create a sense of continuity desired by the words of the shabad.

The words:

Charan means feet, and Kamal means lotus. Hence Charan Kamal literally means Lotus Feet. The most important message from this poem is to remember the scented path of the beloved continually. Following is a translation:

Charan Kamal Prabh Kay Nit Dhiayaon

I meditate continually on the lotus feet of love.

Kavan sumat jit preetam paaon

What wisdom will lead me to attain my love?

Kavan Sanjog milaon prabh apnay

What blessed destiny will lead me to meet my love?

Pal pal nimakh sadaa har japnay

Each and every moment meditate on love.

Aisee kirpa karoh prabh meray

Please, bless me with such mercy my love

Har Nanak bisar na kahoo beray

That I may never ever forget you.

(1) Learn more about Janapriya's music at https://www.patreon.com/janapriya and watch his other videos at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf4pvyOdaljpTW7NUgOWO4A.

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