The atmosphere was electric, as the incessant rain didn’t deter fans from packing Mumbai’s massive Shanmukhananda Hall on the evening of July 13. The Abhangwari concert, conceptualized and presented by singer Mahesh Kale, had the entire crowd in a daze, basking in the melody of Marathi abhangs like ‘Kaanada Raja Pandharicha’, ‘Avghe Garje Pandharpur’ and ‘Sakha Panduranga’. Towards the end, everyone chanted ‘Vitthal Vitthal’ along with the singer, who walked down the aisles.
Now settled in the San Francisco Bay area, Pune-bred Mahesh started the Abhangwari series eight years ago. The idea was to present the abhang genre, dedicated to Lord Vitthal, and musically depict the annual visit of thousands of pilgrims to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, on Ashadhi Ekadashi day. He says, “Besides the songs, I wanted to create an experience for the audience. Thus, teeka is applied on the foreheads of those entering the hall, and topis given to them. We also show visuals of scenes that take place on the way to Pandharpur.”
Mahesh points out that though the basic theme remains the same, he has a new script written every year. This year, Prajakt Deshmukh worked on the script and Subodh Bhave was the narrator at the Mumbai show. Mahesh’s effort is to popularize abhangs outside Maharashtra, and this year’s schedule thus includes Hyderabad on July 19, Chennai on July 20, and Bengaluru on July 21. For this tour, he has written a special song called ‘Abhangwari’, which will be used as a title track.
Mahesh Kale’s ‘Abhangwari’ is dedicated to songs on Vitthal.
Now 48, Mahesh started learning music from his mother Meenal Kale, and gave his first performance of a devotional song at age three. He later learned from Purshottam Gangurde, before being chosen as a disciple by the renowned Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. His focus now is on abhangs, and spreading the reach of classical music in the Bay area, where he and his wife Purva Gujar-Kale run the non-profit organisation Indian Classical Music & Arts Foundation. “This is my way of trying to preserve tradition,” says Mahesh, who won a National Award for his song ‘Aruni kirani’ in the 2015 Marathi film Katiyar Kaljat Ghusli.
Before this tour, Mahesh had performed at the Stanford Jazz Festival along with saxophonist George Brooks, kanjira exponent V. Selvaganesh, bassist Kai Eckhardt, pianist Frank Martin and drummer Scott Amendola. He also had a devotional music recital at the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal at San Jose.
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“The jazz show was called Indian Jazz Journey, and George and I present it every year with a different line-up. He is familiar with Indian music. He has some jazz pieces and I have some Indian classical pieces. We try to have a musical conversation.”
The vocalist says that these days, things have changed with social media and unlimited television programming. “During my growing up years, I used to hear the musical greats on the radio. When I first met Pt Jitendra Abhisheki, I was totally in awe. I remained like that even while I was training under him. When I entered his gurukul, music became a way of life for me.”
After Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki passed away in 1998, his son Shounak became Mahesh’s mentor. “I traveled extensively with him, and in the process honed my performance skills.”
Talking about getting the National Award, Mahesh says that it was not only the first time he sang in a film but it also marked the revival of Natya Sangeet. “It was an amazing experience because most of the songs in the film were my guru’s (Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki) compositions. There were some originals also, including the one for which I got the award.”
The singer also spends a good amount of time composing new tunes, especially sant sahitya. At the Mumbai concert, Mahesh sang an Urdu verse on Vitthal. “The audience response shows how they enjoy when you push the boundaries and come up with novel ways to engage with the art,” says Mahesh.
