Shobha Gurtu

by Craig Harris
The chosen successor to influential Indian classical vocalist Begium Akhtar, Shobha Gurtu has been inspiring audiences with her husky, but, melodic, vocals for more than six decades. A master of the thumri style of singing, Gurtu was described as expansive, spontaneous, yet laidback by the Times Of India. Shobha received her earliest training from her mother, Menakabai Shirodkar, a well-known professional dancer. She later studied classical Indian music with Ustad Nathan Khan and light classical and popular music with Ustad Gamman Khan. After releasing dozens of recordings in India, Gurtu received a lifetime achievement award from the Maharashtra government in the early-1990s. Her first internationally distributed album was Shobha Gurtu (CMP, 1990), and her most recent work has been as a guest vocalist on albums by her son, Trilok Gurtu.