A lot has already appeared on Pt Bhimsen Joshi and most sound cliché.
Yet, like listening him again and again…and again, is a rich experience, writing on him the isn’t anything different.
So what really was special about Joshi’s voice ?
Joshi had acquired versatility after modulating his voice for years of efforts. The audience listening to Joshi often used to be mesmerized by the timbre and resonance in his voice.
If Gangubai Hangal - Joshi’s gurubhagini and doyenne of kirana gharana - had unique androgynous voice, Joshi was no different – - a sonorous masculine voice with which Joshi could traverse the three octaves easily amidst unique style taking taan. This often had a special visual effect, taking the audience at an abyssmal escatsy.
Ramya hee swargahuni lanka, a song Joshi sung for movie Swayamvar Zale Siteche, was a classic when his voice depicted the stoutness. The boom was attained after years of excessive labour. Having brought two large vessels of water from far off distance, Joshi, still gasping, used to sit for riyaz. It had desired impact on voice. Like his alcohol consuming habit, riyaz after exertion, enhanced Joshi’s singing capacity, bringing robustness in his voice.
Joshi on his part consciously, laced that robustness with asceticism.
As we know, Joshi enthralled Maharashtrian audience for more than five decades through his Abhangwani. The same voice reciting Jo Bhaje Hari ko Sada or Bhavani Dayani, sounded as if the singing legend was stirring God/dess to descend on earth.
Here’s a classic video: Joshi reciting puriya Dhanashree
