MERA DIL MERI JAAN/Geeta Dutt/Film: AAB-E-HAYAT/Music: SARDAR MALIK/Lyric: HASRAT JAIPURI

MERA DIL MERI JAAN/Geeta Dutt/Film: AAB-E-HAYAT/Music: SARDAR MALIK /Lyric: HASRAT JAIPURI/ODEON - (P)1972 The Gramophons Co. of India Ltd. GEETA DUTT - IN MEMORIAM - This marvel of a musical montage will bring you bitter-sweet memories of bygone years. -Bitter, because the voice that persents it is the voice of Geeta Dutt who is no more with us. -And sweet, because sweetness was the keynote of her music. Geeta's was the voice that lent a rare sensitivity and poise, an uncanny grace and dignity, to every song she warbled. It had also in it a subtle blend of talent and imagination, of originality and virtuosity-the kind of blend we find so beautifully reflected in the rich legacy of recorded repertoire she has left behind. Indeed, her sudden death at 41 has left a void in the melody world that is hard to fill. 4 Born in a well-known family of Zamindars from East Bengal, now Bangla Desh, Geeta Dutt migrated to Bombay soon after partition in 1947. Timbre and tone were in her blood and before long did she blaze a new trail as a singer par excellence. Maestros of the eminence of S. D. Burman and O. P. Nayyar found her silken voice idealy suited for films and harnessed it to best advantage. From then on, for almost two decades, Geeta had her sway over millions of ner fans, singing as many as 5,000 songs in a variety of languages-from Bengali and Hindi to Punjabi, Marathi and even Gujarati. Songs like "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" and "Tadbeer se bigdi hui", with their perennial appeal, are the finest examples of her eloquent musical expression. Geeta Dutt's marriage in 1953 with Guru Dutt, the versatile producer-director- actor, was an event to remember in the world of film music. She lent her voice to almost all the films produced by her husband-like "Pyaasa", "Mr. and Mrs. 55", "Baazi", "Aar Paar", "C.I D.", "Kagaz-ke-Phool", and "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam". And it is sheer delight to hear these songs even today. This disc offers you the very epitome of her emotional world in all its varied facets of the little joys and sorrows that shaped her musical being.