VOCAL
An Unheard Voice From Jaipur-Atrauli
Vasanti Tembe, 2020
She’s one of the most senior disciples of Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. I have heard most of the contemporary and senior musicians from Jaipur-Atrauli, starting from Kesarbai, Moghubai, Mallikarjun Mansur to Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and Ulhas Kashalkar, but I honestly hadn’t heard about Vasanti Tembe before I went in for her concert earlier this year in Melbourne. I loved her recital and tried to find more of her work but couldn’t. The only other interesting piece of work by her you’d find is a three-part (1, 2, 3) lecture demonstration. Over the years, she has mostly been teaching other students (Rasika Vartak-Garud) and getting them prepared for the stage.
Her voice is a beautiful amalgamation of Malini Rajurkar with a hint of Gangubai — not sure if anyone has come to that conclusion before. I heard that she sang a beautiful Jhinjhoti in the beginning. I missed the first half of the concert but got in just in time for the second half of the concert, where she began with a rarely heard raag called Bahaduri Todi. It’s a Jaipur-Atrauli speciality.
She introduced the raag by saying it is a mixture of six different ragas — Desi, Todi, Bhairavi, Jaunpuri, Bilaskhani Todi and Bhoopali Todi. As the raag is not sung outside Jaipur-Atrauli, there are probably a very limited…
