Within You - Baiju Mangeshkar's path breaking sufi album...

To Baiju Mangeshkar, music means much more than melody, sound and lyrics… it is his soul, and cascades his veins... The nephew of Lata Mangeshkar, and son of Pt Hridaynath Mangeshkar, is an archetypal artist; his is a career where music and visual art seamlessly come together, each reinforcing and reinvigorating the other.

Within You  is Baiju’s  latest path-breaking release which also is his first solo album as a singer and composer. It is being released by Times Music with a presentation of three music videos as well.

Baiju is gifted with a unique soulful voice and his compositions are musically sensitive that leave a lasting impression.   Within You with Baiju’s soulful voice and compositions is a musical inner journey within one’s being.

“Sufi poetry is profound and clearly aspires to elevate ‘being’ from humanity to divinity; into the realms of unconditional love and peace. It is timeless and perpetual, and more importantly always relevant in every era, especially in this bleak age of injustice, escalating violence, increasing irreverence and the unfortunate recent world pandemic. In such a time, Sufi poetry and music are akin to a soothing balm to heal the spirit.,” elaborates Baiju.

The album ‘Within You’ is a soulful bouquet of six songs with the theme based on Sufism. The style is contemporary with inflections of World Music and yet its soul punctuating the Indian Classical traditions surrounding the lyric/kalaam of great revered Sufi saint poets of 16th century India namely Hazrat Shah Hussain, Baba Bulley Shah and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. The album also includes two modern and contemporary songs that are rufiyaa in thought written by an emerging and gifted young poetess Amruta. The songs have been musically arranged by Jatin Sharma, a well-known name to recon within the Indian music industry and with a host of extremely talented Indian musicians contributing to the soundscape.

One of the highlights in the musical arrangements is the collaboration with two brilliant musicians from America; Susan Mazer, a jazz harp virtuosi and Dallas Smith, a master of woodwinds and the saxophone. They are veterans in the world of jazz music who have worked with none other than the great world legends such as Frank Sinatra, Ahmed Jamal and Johnny Mathis to name a few and our very own RD Barman. Their contribution and style have added a unique dimension to the music of this album and to the world of sufi music.

Some songs in the album appear as romantic love songs to the ear and mind but they are subtly disguised with a resonance, reflection and play with the concept of ‘Ishq-e-Majazi and Ishq-e-Haqeeqi.’

“There are two kinds of ‘Ishq’ (love) mentioned in Sufism and in Urdu poetry; Ishq-e-Majazi and Ishq-e-Haqeeqi.  ‘Ishq-e-Majazi’ is the love one feels for another human being, the birth of feelings such as love, desire in ones heart for another person. It is transitory and is a physical desire or an emotional need. The latter ‘Ishq-e-Haqeeqi’ is in contrast; Sufism eloquently elaborates about Ishq-e-Haqeeqi which highlights the concept and feeling one has for the creator or one’s maker. It is a more intense elevation of one’s being, a pure submission to one’s maker/creator in absolute awe, wonderment and gratitude! This love and romance of a higher intensity is the theme in this album,” avers Baiju.

More about Baiju Mangeshkar. He  cut his first record for EMI India at the tender age of ten, and then as an adult made his debut with a song for a Marathi feature film composed by his father, the renowned composer Pt. Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

It was in 2014 that he came into his own with the release of ‘Ya Rabba’ (Saregama India), a Sufi album where he composed and sang  lyrics by the great sufi saint Hazrat Shah Hussain with a unique contemporary sound, graced by the dulcet tones of his legendary aunt Lata Mangeshkar.

The album, released both internationally and in India, won critical acclaim from younger listeners for its blend of traditional Hindustani music infused with Soul and Gospel music.

Stalwarts such as Pandit Jasraj, Begum Farida Khanum and Sufi Queen Abida Parveen regaled his voice and compositions as unique and deeply soulful, a rare honour indeed.

He has since also sung  for a few Marathi films and a TV serial and has recently released a few original singles and some covers as well.

Growing up in the hallowed environs of the Mangeshkars, India’s first family of music, rhythm and melody came naturally to Baiju. He trained in light classical music under Pt. Tulsidas Sharma, Pt. Ramesh Jhule and more recently under Pt. Ajay Pohankar. This training has been reinforced by the continued guidance which he receives even today from his father and his illustrious aunt and idol Lata Mangeshkar, whom he has accompanied frequently on stage in India and abroad.

 In all earnestness and sincerity, Baiju hopes his music and this album can transport the listener to enter into a realm of Love, Devotion and Peace. More power to this young man!