Pt. Joshi was born on February 4th,1922 at Gadag in the Dharwad district of what was then known as the Bombay Presidency (The district is now part of independent India's southern state of Karnataka.) He thus belongs to the distinguished group of southerners who have risen to prominence in the field of Hindustani (or North Indian) music during the 20th century. It is interesting to note that quite a few of them, such as the Late Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Smt. Ganghbai Hangal and of course Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's own guru, the illustrious Sawai Gandharva, came from this same district. This is no mere coincidence, for there are sound historical reasons why Hindustani music should have established itself in this very corner of the south. From the latter years of the 19th century, many noted Hindustani musicians began to migrate to the southern area of the Bombay Presidency and to the adjacent Mysore State, where they soon found recognition from local music - lovers and patronage of the courts of several princely states. While the Hindustani artistes would travel back and fortu, taking residencies in various princely courts, stopping on the way to give recitals or to teach, they began to acquire not only admirers but also musical disciples among the people of the area.

Nowhere was this more so than in the Dharwad district through which all had to pass on the journey to and from Mysore and where the popularity of the Northern masters gradually came to eclipse that of the home grown caramatic tradition. Among the Hindustani vocalists who had came south were representatives of several of the great gharanas (or 'house traditions') of Khyal singing, such as Gwalior, Agra and Atrauli - Jaipur, but the most popular, without any doubt, proved to be Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Pioneer of the Kiran gharana, whose extremely seet sensuous vocalism made a profound impression or the music lovers of Dharwad district. It was indeed after listening time and time again to one of the Ustad's 78 rpm's in a local record shop that young Bhimsen. Then barely II; made up his mind to follow in the Master's foodsteps.

Although not born in a family of professional musicians, he had been attracted to music from infancy and had displayed early singing soon became an obsession and his father arranged for some private tuition. This musical training, however, was in addition to the boy's regular school education and there was no intention of steering him towards a musical career. Shortly after his encounter with Ustad Abdul Karim Khan's recordings, a recital of Sawai Gandharva to which he was taken in a neighbouring locality confirmed Bhimsen in his vocation. His desire to become a professional singer became so overwhelming that he ran away from home and wandered from place all over North India in search of a guru. After travelling to such centres of musical excellence as as Gwalior, Calcutta and Jullundhar, where he learnt from several masters, he eventually returned to his have district where he was destined to find his main guru in the person of none other than Sawai Gandharva, the most outstanding disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. To quote the eminent Hindustani music critic Mohan Nadkarni, "It was significant that for one who went crazy after hearing the recorded music of Abdul Karim Khan, he should have at last found his guru in the chief disciple of the Ustad."

After five years of intensive studies with his guru, Bhimsen came back to his home town - where he stayed for a year, practising on his own and giving private recitals. He then went North again, his sojourn in Bombay. Proving particularly fruitful in that it introduced him to the art of such luminaries as Rasoolan Bai and Siddheshwari Devi of Benarus, Begum Akhtar of Lucknow and Musthaq Hussain Khan of Rampur. Their music made such a profound impact on his mind that, after giving his first ever public concert in Bombay, he travelled first to Rampur, where he studied with Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan for six months and then to lucknow where Begum Akhtar helped him get a job as a staff artist of All India Radio. Having returned to Bombay late in 1942, he secured a similar job on the Bombay station of All India Radio and started broadcasting from there in February 1943. His radio appearances soon made him popular among the music loving public but, according to him his real big break came January 1946 when he took part in a concert making the 60th birthday of Sawai Gandharva in Pune. There, in front of a capacity audience in which his honoured guru was being paid tribute by many other great masters, irrespective of their gharanas, Bhimsen established himself as a major Musical talent through a magnificent rendision of raga- Miyan Ki Malhar, the main raga on this album as well, whose profound character he managed to convey with amazing maturity. This was the beginning of a fame which has been growing ever since. Although the blessing he received from his guru on this momentous night established him as a foremost disciple of the Kirnad tradition, he has never ceased developing and perfecting a distinctive approach in which he has also taken what suited him from other teachers or influences, among which, besides the above mentioned, one must include the legendary Kesarbai Kerkar, with her open mouthed voice-production technique and laya-bound treatment of Khayal, as well as the great Ustad Amir Khan, for his virtuosic team patterns.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is now universally and justly recognised as the foremost living exponent of the Kirana gharana. The personal manner which he has evolved over time is characterised by a more balanced approach in the presentation of raga. The exposition of Khayal is a perfectly balanced presentation showing excellence in all its varied components. Panditji's long and successful career has been crowned, at home, with such prestigious honours as the PADMASHRI and PADMABHUSAN titles and the SANGEET NATAK Academy Award and has seen him achieve wide recognition abroad.