JAGJIT SINGH was honored for his Guinness world record at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Malton, Ontario on Sunday, December 7, 2008.
Jagjit Singh received the the Guinness World Record for the "Longest Drumming Marathon by an Individual," from Daljit Singh Shekhon, President of Sri Guru Singh Sabha. The award officially recognizes his record-breaking 110 hours of playing tabla non-stop for five days and four nights in a row.
Jagjit Singh also announced his intent to perform the definitive tabla marathon by playing 310 continuous hours in 2009. Jagjit hopes that his music and his Guinness world record will inspire the younger generation to know that anything can be achieved if you put your mind spirit and soul into it .
Jagjit Singh is a Brampton Ontario resident and a local tabla teacher, His record eclipsed the previous record of 101 hours during an official attempt lasting 5 days from October 3 to October 7, 2007.
Jagjit Singh 'Batalvi' was born and raised in Batala, a small city in Punjab, India, and was always a great music lover and passionate about playing tabla. He began learning tabla from his cousin, Kamalpreet Singh when he was only four years of age. His love and passion for tabla has brought him a long way from his childhood to now.
He completed his graduation (Grade 12), but kept his practice for tabla along with his studies. His father, Taru Singh, was a doctor by profession but also a music lover and could also sing very well. He continued to learn tabla from his cousin up to the age of nine and then met Ustad Sushil Kumar Jain who taught him until 1992.
During this period, he continued his studies and completed his Bharat Vikas Parishad course in Punjab. After finishing his studies, he thought about meeting Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, a Bollywood legend and a well-known tabla player in Bombay, so that he could learn directly from him. He wrote a letter to Ustad Alla Rakha Khan showing his interest and obsession about learning tabla. Ustad ji wrote back saying he would like to see him perform first and then he would decide if he was capable of learning from him or not.
In 1993, he went to Bombay to perform the test Ustad Ji proposed and he passed with outstanding marks and therefore decided to live there to give real life to his dreams of becoming a passionate tabla player.
During his stay in Bombay, he passed the audition for Television and Radio in 1995. In the same year he had an opportunity to play tabla in a Television show. Now that he was under the guidance of Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, he felt even more motivated and inspired to become a great tabla player. To achieve his goal, he decided to compete against other tabla players from Punjab.
All of his hard work and effort paid off when he received first prize in Punjab State competition. Then, he started getting lessons from another famous professional Ustad Zakir Hussain, son of Late Ustad Alla Rakha Khan. In 2000, he settled in Canada. While living in Canada, he decided to learn western music along with teaching eastern music to youngsters. In 2002, he had a chance to work in a T.V. commercial for an Airline.
Up til now, he has been fortunate enough to work with many different famous artists from all over India and Canada. Some of the stars are Ariane Muffatt, Richard Tremblay, Bruno Patiq, Ravi Joly, Uwe Newman, Bosky, Catherine Potter, Late Maestro Bhai Sahib Joginder Singh Talwara Ji, Bhai Balbir Singh, Master Niranjan Singh, Ustad Dr. Tejinderpal SinghJi Dulla Vir Ji. Bhai Niranjan Singh Jwadi Kalan, Dolly Gularia (Daughter of Surinder Kaur), Rajkumar Rajivi, Hasu Patel, Padam Bhushan Sumitra Goha, Hardeep Bakhshi and many more.
At the moment, he is currently living in Brampton, Ontario and has had the opportunity to travel many different countries such as England, Australia, all over North America and he looks forward to meeting people from all over the world.
It was passion and gratitude that inspired Jagjit Singh to this new record. “I want the drumming marathon to serve as a lesson to younger musicians and encourage them to chase after their dreams,” he said in an interview with The Mississauga News prior to commencing his attempt in 2007.