Bhai Avtar Singh and his father Bhai Jawala Singh
Bhai Avtar Singh (1925-2006) has always been an ardent exponent of Gurmat Sangeet and has practised the traditional style of Kirtan in keeping with the historic melodies of Guru's Ragis. It is with great sadness that the Sikh community come to acknowledge the loss of their most dedicated Gurbani Kirtania who passed away peacefully at about 10.50 PM (IST), November 24th, 2006. At 81 years, he was at his residence, with his whole family.
Bhai Sahib's family has a direct historical link taking him back to the times of our Gurus. Bhai Sahib ji was born in 1925 to a Gursikh family; his father, Bhai Sahib Jwala Singh Ji was an accomplished Ragi, who imparted his knowledge of Gurmat Sangeet to Bhai Sahib Avtar Singh Ji and his older brother Bhai Sahib Gurcharan Singh Ji, who together were the eleventh generation exponents of a Gurbani Kirtan. Their lineage extends from Gurus' times, from when Bhai Sahib's family has been involved in Gurmat Sangeet. Bhai Sahib has devoted over sixty years to sharing and preserving the distinguished grace, aesthetics and spiritual heritage of this 400 years old Indian classical music traditions practising the ragas found in Gurbani and the talas of classical times.
Bhai Sahib Avtar Singh Ji and Bhai Sahib Gurcharan Singh Ji have rendered invaluable service to the Sikh Panth by preserving Gurmat Sangeet in its pristine form. They accomplished this by their unwavering commitment to the tradition over the years even when Gurmat Sangeet was being subverted by the pressures of popular culture and film music. The crowning achievement of their career was the publication of "Gurbani Sangeet Prachin Reet Ratnavali" in which they documented hundreds of traditional Gurmat Sangeet compositions handed down from generation to generation in an unbroken oral tradition.
Recently, the Kirtan Jatha has been renewed upon its being joined by Bhai Kultar Singh, Bhai Avtar Singh Ji's son, who gave up his professional career to return to his roots and propagate the family's tradition as exponents of Gurmat Sangeet. He forms the twelfth generation of Ragis from the times of the Guru. The jatha has continued to show their unwavering commitment and dedication to the traditional style of Kirtan and have continued the old traditions of the Gurus' Ragis.
In the summer of 2004, Bhai Sahib Ji with Bhai Swarn Singh and Bhai Kultar Singh played a wonderful role at the Interfaith meeting at Forum 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. They represented the Sikh community for a period of almost 7 days. Here they represented the Guru's music at its best and many recitals of Gurbani Kirtan were performed in front of a cross-section of the world community and they were the marvellous face of the Guru's music for the world.
Bhai Sahib was always very humble and had a lot of "Nimrata" which was always so moving for the Sangat. To witness such a hugely accomplished Kirtania without even a slight hint of selfishness or ego was very refreshing. A devoted Gursikh he was an inspiration to all the Sangat both at the Spain venue and back in the UK. He was always ready to teach his art to young students and many hundreds have been inspired by him.
Although he has always followed the traditional Gurbani style, in 2005, after a hiatus of 59 years, Bhai Avtar Singh Ji picked up a Taus again, thus bringing back to the practice of Gurmat Sangeet the use of a stringed instrument. Many recordings, made during his visit to the Boston area in June 05, feature Bhai Sahib playing Kirtan on Taus. Bhai Sahib had always been an accomplished player of many musical instruments including the Taus.
