Ronu Mujumdar Bansuri (short-and-sweet) Concert Blog

Bansuri: Ronu Mujumdar

Tabla: Ramdas Palsule

Tanpura: Dhrupad

Organized by: SPIC-MACAY at IBS (Indian Business School), Aundh, Pune

Time: 23rd December, 2008 at 6:00 PM

 

Namaskar!

 

Over the years I have enjoyed many concerts organized by SPIC-MACAY and I am so glad that I did not miss this one.

 

There was a lot of excitement in the air, usual of SPIC-MACAY concerts with young students wearing kurtas and sarees organizing the event. The stage was small and well decorated. The sitting arrangement seemed a bit strange with a lot of space reserved for bharatiya baithak (completely unoccupied) and just one row of chairs along the walls (almost all occupied). Then one soul thought of rearranging this. This was followed by a few minutes of comical jugglery on the part of many volunteers, helpers and audience . Finally one carpet was reserved for bharatiya baithak and the chairs were arranged in rows behind it. I promptly decided to take a seat in the front row on the bharatiya baithak. Soon many others followed and the audience - mostly students but also some other music enthusiasts of about 150-200 settled down quickly.

 

At about 6:30 PM the MC took control of the mike and started the proceedings as the artists walked in. This was followed by a small ceremony offering flower bouquets to the artists and lighting of lamp.

 

Ronuji greeted the audience, admired the SPIC-MACAY initiative and mentioned that even the artists had a lot to learn from such events as well as draw inspiration from the youth.

 

Ronuji started the concert with raga Jhinjhoti. The aalaap was quite elaborate. For lower octave Ronuji used a bass flute (having base note at lower madhyam). I noticed that the holes of this flute were drilled in an angular pattern on the sides of the flute suited for Ronuji's fingers (as opposed to the typical straight line on the top). Using the bass flute Ronuji could reach all the way down to mandra-mandra nishad. Ronuji has cultivated superb blowing technique having excellent control over the volume of the notes while avoiding extra hiss. This combined with very good mike technique makes the bansuri tonal quality very rich. Ronuji's swara lagav is very tuneful. The raga vistaar was unhurried and did complete justice to all the notes.  After the aalaap, Ronuji told the audience that he was enjoying the notes, especially nishad and decided to prolong the aalaap section. He chose to drop the jod and jhala sections and went on to play a composition in vilambit/madhyalaya rupak taal. The gat was beautifully played and the layakari was nicely done. Ronuji played one more composition in Jhinjhoti, set to drut teen taal. There were a few fast taan patterns played very well and doing full justice to the aesthetic beauty of the raga. Ramdasji's solo tabla sessions were crisp, precise and controlled while taking great care not to sound noisy.

 

Ronuji played a kashmiri dhun next and credited to having learnt it from his friend Rajendra Singh. It was a very beautiful dhun in deepchandee taal - or should I say dhun-mala in raag-mala. The primary melody sounded like a mixture of Pahadi, Shivaranjani and Maand to me. There was also influence of many other ragas. All the notes (with the possible exception of komal rishabh) were taken. Some parts also sounded like a Bengali (Bhatiyali?) dhun as well as kajri (apparently intentionally - as announced by Ronuji). A small section was played on a small bansuri just before switching to the main bansuri for the conclusion of the dhun and the concert.

 

Overall it was a short and sweet concert absolutely appropriate as a SPIC-MACAY event. Ramdasji's tabla playing was superb. I absolutely love the crispness and tonal quality of his tabla playing. One more very remarkable fact is that he takes a lot of care not to dominate the proceedings unnecessarily while providing sufficient occasions for the audience to clap!

 

Now a minor complaint - the small bansuri section played for a few minutes (a max of 5) sounded out of tune - a bit sharper. At the same time the tabla was sounding flatter (utarlela). It was not just me but I also heard a couple of other members of the audience discussing this part sounding out of tune. This could have easily been avoided as it unnecessarily put a small blemish on otherwise such a beautiful concert.

 

Enjoy!

 

Bansuriwala

 

PS:

As Anand has suggested in one of the comments from the "Almost live from Sawai…", this time I am attempting to give the notation of the Jhinjhoti compositions. Please note that this has gone through a couple of indirections, taking it down during the concert and then trying it out again just before writing this blog. chuk bhul dyavi ghyavi…

 

Jhinjhoti - Vilambit/Madhyalaya Rupak (I think it started at a laya of about 50 beats per second):

G - (MG) (RS)	(S R ,n) (,D ,P)	(,P ,D) (S R)	(asthayee)
(D M) (P D) (n D)	S, -	(R, n) (D P)	(antaraa first line - I could not get the second line)

Both asthayee and antaraa start from the 1st matra

 

Drut Teen Taal

R M P D	n D P -	M G R S	,n ,D S -	(asthayee)
G M P D	S, - S, -	D S, R, -	G - S -	(antaraa)

Both asthayee and antaraa start from the 9th matra

 

PPS: I think the conventions are fairly straightforward. May be I should write a small post on them as time permits

Day 4 - (Almost) Live from Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav 2008

Namaskar!

 

After the late night completion of day 3, it was no easy feat, but I managed to reach the venue with the better half and the kids in toe for the 8:00 AM start of day 4 morning session.

 

Pt. Vinayak Torvi (Vocal)

Tabla: Gurumurthy Vaidya, Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak

 

Vinayakji began with raga Ramakali (khyal in vilambit ektaal - aaj radhe tore, bandish in teen taal - sagari raina ke jaage followed by another bandish in teen taal - hari hari hari japana). The swara vistar was unhurried, tuneful and rich with careful and measured appearance of tivara madhyam and komal nishad. The taans were full throated. After Ramakali, Panditji sang a teentaal bandish in raga Alhaiyya Bilwal. This was followed by Marathi bhajan/song - jhala mahar pandhari natha adopted by Panditji for a classical style rendering. Panditji sang a Kannada bhajan - yalle mana murari on a "one more" request from the audience.

 

I admire Panditji's planning and preparation - which I am sure was done specifically for this performance resulting in superb execution. I wish other musicians follow this example.

 

Gurumurthy Vaidya and Sudhir Nayak provided appropriate sangat.

 

Pt. Ronu Mujumdar (Bansuri)

Tabla: Ramdas Palsule

 

Ronuji started his concert with Mangal Bhairav (aalaap, jod, jhala followed by gats in Jhaptaal, addha teen taal and teen taal). The aalaap was quite elaborate and included use of bass bansuri for lower notes. I heard Mangal Bhairav for the first time. It is a beautiful raga with S r M P D S, S D P M r S as aroha-awaroha (a murchhana of raga bhupakali - or bhupashree which goes S R G P d S, S d P G R S). The swara lagav and meends were very well executed and true to the haunting nature of the raga. Ronuji followed this with the bhajan - thumak chalat ramchandra.

 

A very good and measured performance. While there were some tabla solos - they were quite controlled and in fact very enjoyable.

 

Ramdas Palsule's tabla playing was crisp and non-intrusive!

 

Pt. Jasraj (Vocal)

Tabla: Vijay Ghate, Harmonium: Mukund Petkar

 

Panditji started the concert with raga Shuddha Sarang (khyal in vilambit ektaal - sakal bana laagi followed by bandish in drut teen taal - jaoji jao shyam). His voice sounded slightly shaky for about 10 minutes but then warmed up beautifully. His meends in Shuddha Sarang are to die for! Also the subtle, tuneful swara lagav was lajawab as usual! The great part I like is that the range and tonal quality of Panditji's voice is as good and as tuneful as ever. I am a great fan of Panditji's Shuddha Sarang (especially the old recording with Zakir Hussain on tabla and a different one recorded by my brother from an AIR broadcast). After Shuddha Sarang Panditji sang three bhajans (two in Sanskrit and one in Hindi) - prabho prananatham, mero man, govindam gokulavandam gopalam.

 

I enjoyed Pt. Jasraj's concert (I have developed the right filters over many years of patient practice). Panditji had a lot of vocal support - to use his own words, he had brought the whole of school (when Anand Deshmukh started announcing all the names, Panditji commented - sagali shalach gheun aalo). But we missed Punyacha suputra Pt. Sanjiv Abhyankar. The good news is that after some on-stage tutoring a member of the school got the shadja right! But despite their guru singing so tunefully right next to them, none could sing a good nishad in a full fledged one hour rendering of Shuddha Sarang.

 

Mukund Petkar provided very good harmonium sangat. Vijay Ghate's tabla accompaniment always belongs to its own class.

 

This concluded the morning session of day 4. It was already 1:30 PM and it took half an hour more to exit the pandal. I decided to drop the idea of going home for lunch, ate at a nearby restaurant and got back to the pandal by about 3:00 PM to retain my good old seat.

 

The afternoon proceedings started slightly earlier to 4:00 PM. In fact the artists were already on stage tuning their instruments well before the clapping alarm!

 

Smt. Madhuri Dandge (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar

 

Madhuritai started her concert with raga Puriya Dhanashree (khyal in vilambit ektaal - murali bajayee followed by bandish in drut ektaal - mai to jaan tumari re). After Puriya Dhanashree she sang a bhajan (I think in raga Kalingada) by Surdas followed by a "tribute to Bharat Ratna Bhimsenji" in raga Deskar set to teentaal.

 

Madhyalaya Talavadya Kacheri

Pakhawaj: Akhilesh Gundecha

Dholak, Bamboo, Dafali, Hudka: Anup Singh

Tabla: Himanshu Mahant

Daf, Djembe (African Drum): Manoj Singh

Sarangi: Sharvar Hussain

This is a group led by Akhilesh Gundecha. Akhileshji explained that they call themselves Madhyalaya Talavadya Kacheri as they belong to Ujjain area in Madhya Pradesh.

 

They started their concert with Mahakal Vandana - a composition containing Sanskrit Shloka's and pkhawaj/tabla bols. It was a very beautiful short piece.

This was followed by Teen Taal in the accompaniment of a beautiful nagma in Kaushikdhwani on Sarangi  with vilambit, madhyalaya and drut round of solo portions followed by a few minutes of joint playing.

Sharvar Hussain played madhyalaya Kaushikdhwani beautifully for a few minutes.

 

What a performance! The conception, planning, preparation, coordination and execution was fantastic. Even with such a varied variety of instruments put together in an innovative way, the classical dignity was totally and completely preserved. There was no attempt made to jazz up. All the playing was beautiful, measured, controlled without ever being overboard - a tight rope walk indeed with this lineup of instruments. Hats off to all of these people.

 

Shrinivas Joshi (Vocal)

Tabla: Prashant Pandav, Harmonium: Avinash Dighe

 

Shrinivasji started his performance with raga Bihag (khyal in vilambit ektaal - mora mana lage, drut teen taal - aali ri alabeli sundara nar followed by hori in teen taal - khelo nandalala sanga aaja hori). He sang a thumari in Khmaj (chhab dikhalaja dhyan lage mohe tora) and an abhang (kanhoba tujhi ghongadi).

 

Pt. Bhimsenji's car came near the stage. Panditji listened to his son's performance and remarked that it had been excellent (karyakram uttam jhala).

 

Smt. Aruna Sairam (Carnatic vocal)

Mridangam: J. Vaidyanathan, Ghatam: S. V. Ramani, Violin: Lalgudi Smt. Vijayalaxmi

(Note: Earlier disclaimers about my exposure to Carnatic music are very much in effect here as well)

 

Arunaji began her performance with a composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar in raga Vrindavani Sarang in aaditaal. After this she performed detailed rendering of Carnatic raga Todi in ragam, tanam, pallavi format. She followed this up with her adaptations of Marathi abhang tirth vitthala kshetra vitthala and on kannada bhajan bhagyada laxmi parama on a "one more" request from the public (both originally sung by Pt. Bhimsenji). There was yet another cry of "one more" when Arunaji sang a tillana by Venkata Subbayya in aaditaal (which interestingly had prose in addition to song) to conclude her performance.

 

On the whole Arunaji's was an excellent performance that was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience (and yours truly). Powerful voice, full throated and tuneful swara lagav and most importantly fantastic planning - taking into account the psychology of the audience - were the main features of her performance. Superb! A very minor complaint - while Arunaji ably sang both of Pt. Bhimsenji's bhajan's very well, the laya for both the songs in original recordings is much faster. This could have been very easily addressed.

 

Tejendra Mujumdar (Sarod)

Tabla: Vijay Ghate

 

Tejendraji started his recital with raga Kedar (aalaap, jod, jhala, vilambit and drut gats in teen taal). His aalaaps were true to the sublime nature of the raga - very tuneful, contained excellent meend work. His treatment of tivra madhyam and komal nishad was delicate and subtle - kyaa baat hai! The gats were presented quite well. Tejendraji played a dhun in Mishra Mand set to deepchandi for a "one more" request.

 

Excellent Sarod performance! A couple of observations - some of the sessions with tabla were a bit noisy  (what's new?) and more importantly a couple of longish tihai sessions during the madhyalaya gat that ended on tara shadja were grossly out of tune (much sharper) unlike the rest of the performance which was very tuneful.

 

Vijay Ghate's tabla accompaniment always belongs to its own class.

 

Smt. Prabha Atre (Vocal)

Tabla: Mukundraj Deo, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar

 

This time the honor of concluding 56th Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav was given to Smt. Prabha Atre. Prabhaji began her concert with raga Madhukauns (khyal in vilambit ektaal - mohan shyam salona followed by bandish in drut teen taal - manena manena manena). Prabhaji captivated the audience right at onset. The raga vistaar was very carefully and aesthetically done. The taans were crisp and clear. Prabhaji followed Madhukauns with Chandrakauns (bandish in madhyalaya ektaal - saguna sarup nandalala followed by a tarana in drut teen taal). Prabhaji concluded her performance with a bhairavi dara (mori maili ho gayee re chunariya kaise jaun mai piki nagariya) and bhajan (jagat janani bhavatarini mohini tu navadurga).

 

Excellent performance loved by all (and yours truly)! It was quite evident that Prabhaji and her students who provided vocal support had warmed up their voices in the greenroom. This must be applauded as it shows professionalism and should be practiced by all artists. The quality of vocal support artists singing was excellent. The coordination was superb - an indicator of careful planning and preparation. The choice of bandishes and attention to lyrics was remarkable. Now some complaints… lack of antara in vilambit khyal as well as absence of full throated tara shadja (or even pancham in case of Madhukauns). These are missed - exactly the way absence of rice along with katachi aamti is missed at the end of a meal featuring excellent puran poli! Note that the absence of rice has no bearing on the quality of puran poli - but the meal feels incomplete.

 

Mukundraj Deo and Suyog Kundalkar provided appropriate saath sangat.

 

After this as is customary the 56th Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav proceedings concluded with a recording of Sawai Gandharva's rendering of bhairavi thumri being played while the audience stood in his honor.

Thank you!

Warm regards,

Bansuriwala

Day 3 - (Almost) Live from Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav 2008

Namaskar!

 

While I knew that today's session was scheduled to start at 3:30 PM instead of 4:00 PM, I was about 20 minutes late in reaching the pandal. Hence I cannot comment on the clapping alarm. When I entered the pandal, all I heard was reaching of the first weighty sam of the vilambit khyal in Multani. As I reached the place inside the pandal where I usually sit, it was full and I had to find some other place outside the pandal.

 

Arshad Ali (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak

 

Arshad Ali started his performance with Multani (vilambit khyal in jhumra - jago mana re, bandish in teen taal - kangan muralia mori followed by a bandish in drut ektaal - I think - so nikaso brij kunvar). I cannot comment about the aalaap as I could not hear it. His start of the vilambit khyal was weighty, full throated and very tuneful. The badhat was typical kirana style with some influence of Amir Khan. I liked the swara lagav and unhurried approach. I also enjoyed his full throated and crisp taans.  Multani was followed by Des (bandish in addha teen taal - ya ali karam karo na followed by tarana in drut jhaptaal). On a "one more" request from crowed Arshad sang a bandish in Janasammohini (teen taal - tumare karam kaise kara paaun).

 

Overall the performance was very good. A few observations - some of the fast taans (with a tendency towards gimmicks) were not as tuneful as the rest of the performance. Also the Des and Janasammohini sounded a bit stretched. He needs to pay attention to the lyrics - it was very difficult to guess the words of the bandishes (I am quite likely to be wrong about the words I have mentioned). I found the drut Jhaptaal tarana a bit unnatural. Except for one stanza of famous natyageet - surat piya ki na - saajan bina mohe, I have not found Jhaptaal being used in drut laya. In this tarana the theka sounded a bit noisy at no fault of the tabalji and the tarana lacking in structure. I think with a bit of cool headedness and maturity, Arshad Ali certainly has a potential to rise at the highest levels.

 

Sudhir Nayak's harmonium accompaniment was noteworthy. Especially his control of the weight of notes is simply superb - may be from his association with Abhishekibuwa. Bharat Kamat provided supportive tabla sangat.

 

Madhup Mudgal (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte

 

Madhupji began his concert with raga Shree (khyal in vilambit ektaal - pawa men daraa se, drut teentaal bandish - karane de re kachhu lala re followed by tarana in drut teen taal). On the background of Arshad Ali's power packed performance, Madhupji's voice sounded a mellow. However the swara lagav was good and very tuneful. The taans were measured, well planned and very well executed. The tarana was also well sung. Madhupji followed Shree with Yaman Kalyan (madhya laya teen taal - mukha tero karo) and then sang a nirguni bhajan - aun re kaise.

 

While not a blind copy, Madhupji intentionally sings Kumarji's gayaki - an extremely hard thing to do. The rendering of Kumarji's famous bandish - karane de re kachhu lala re in my opinion was the high point of his concert. It was very clear that Madhupji had put in a lot of thought and adopted it very well to suite his style and limitations while preserving the original spirit. I did not find the rendition of mukha tero karo as captivating. It felt a bit stretched and lacking in intensity of emotion - a characteristic of Kumarji's renditions.

 

On another note Bhuvanesh Komakali - Kumarji's grandson - accompanied Madhupji on taanpura and also provided vocal support. I have heard him sing well on TV. But this time I must say that his vocal support was a disaster - thankfully it was kept to a very minimum.

 

Dr. Arvind Thatte's harmonium accompaniment was sublime and subtle - enjoyable as always. Bharat Kamat provided apt tabla sangat.

 

Ganesh and Kumaresh (Carnatic violin duet)

Mridangam: Naiveli Narayanan, Ghatam: Tiruchi Krishna

(Disclaimer: My exposure to Carnatic music is limited to attending a few performances at Sawai which initially I used as socializing breaks until hearing a stunning performance by Dr. Chitti Babu in 1991 or 92)

 

Ganesh and Kumaresh started with a varnam in Carnatic raga Shree in Aaditaal. Then they played a composition by Tyagaraja in Raga Mohanam (similar to Bhup) set to Aaditaal. This was followed by a detailed ragam, tanam and pallavi (as explained by the artists themselves) in raga Dharmavati (Close to Madhuvanti - however the aroha-awaroha and chalan are different. Unlike Madhuvanti Dharmavati is treated as a sampurna sampurna raga with S R g m P D N S', S' N D P m g R S as aroha-awaroha). The song was set to Aaditaal. On a "one more" request Ganesh and Kumaresh played a folksy sounding piece in what felt like Pahadi in a garba taal.

 

Overall this was a perfect performance. Everybody (including yours truly) was completely overwhelmed. From now on if Ganesh and Kumaresh are performing anywhere nearby, I will make every effort to attend. The planning, presentation, sur, taal, coordination, the explanations to the audience, singing a few lines of the song, their attitude, even attire and smile - everything was simply flawless! Very impressive.

 

The accompaniment was outstanding! The ghatam and mridangam solo pieces were very well done without ever sounding like gimmicks.

 

Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra (Vocal)

Tabla: Arvindkumar Azad, Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte

 

Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra started their concert with Bageshree (khyal in vilambit ektaal - kavan gata bhai, madhyalaya teen taal bandish - eri ai mai kaise ghara jaun mitava, tarana in rupak taal followed by bandish in drut teen taal - avan kahi gaye ajahu nahi aaye more balam eri sakhi). Both the Mishra brothers had their voices in top form and they captivated the audience right from beginning. The badhat was elaborate, beautiful and soulful - true to the nature of Bageshree. In fact this rendering gave yet another feeling of Bageshree being an athang raga that can be sung for ever. The taans were crisp, tuneful and showing a great control over power. The choice of bandishes was exquisite! Each bandish had a unique personality and was presented in a way that took the rendering of Bageshree to the next level. The attention to lyrics was very noteworthy. Bageshree was followed by Sohoni (bandish in addha teen taal - aayee ritu naveli and tarana in drut teen taal). Mishra brothers concluded the concert and day 3 proceedings with a soulful rendering of bhairavi (or mishra kirwani) bhajan by Guru Nanak - jagat men jhuthi dekhi preet).

 

Overall a great performance - absolutely making the visit to Sawai worthwhile. Some observations - rendering of Sohoni, while technically sound, did not come even close to their rendering of Bageshree. I found it repetitive and stretched. There was also the usual stuntbaaji - along with dazzling tabla. Hmmm… Is learning to put on some filters (mental and physical - earplugs do help) the only way to enjoy contemporary classical music performances?

 

Dr. Thatte and Arvindkumar Azad provided appropriate accompaniment.

See you tomorrow!

- Bansuriwala

Day 2 - (Almost) Live from Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav 2008

Namaskar!

 

Today's session also started with the customary clapping by the audience exactly at 4:00 PM. Anand Deshmukh commented on the clapping as the alarm that kicks off the proceedings and went on to introduce the first artist of the day, Prasad Khaparde.

 

Prasad Khaparde (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar

 

Prasad Khaparde (a disciple of Ud. Rashid Khan) took his time to tune the instruments (tanpuras, swaramandal, tabla) and started the concert with Raga Multani (khyal in vilambit ektaal - gokul gaon followed by bandish in drut teen taal - kangan muraliya). He sang elaborate aalaap in the beginning. Prasad possess a naturally beautiful voice which he has cultivated with good training and riyaz. But it did take some time for him to warm up. The raga badhat was well done - in ati vilambit laya exhibiting Ud. Rashid Khan's influence.  I enjoyed his taans - crisp as well as weighty. After Multani Prasad sang Raga Patadeep (dhrut ektaal bandish - ranga rangila banara mora) and concluded his performance with a bhajan in kirwani - (tore bina mohe chaina nahi - drut ektaal - same tune as the natyageet sura sukha kari tu vimala).

 

Overall it was a good performance. Prasad Khaparde has good potential and good guru. I felt that there is a need for him to keep his feet on the ground.  Some warning signs I noticed were - too much time spent in tuning the instruments even when his was the first performance of the day, many taans/swara lagav being quite sloppy - to the extent of sounding gross besur especially in Patadeep - or inconsistency in quality of singing (in spite of warm up allowances).

 

Bharat Kamat and Suyog Kundalkar provided supportive and appropriate  accompaniment.

 

The sound system clearly had been attended to. It fared much better - in fact quite well almost all the time during the evening.

 

Devaki Pandit was scheduled to perform after Prasad Khaparde. However she came up on the stage and announced that she had a sore-throat (awaj basalela) and could not sing. She promised to come fully prepared for next Sawai. Mohan Darekar performed instead of her - and what a superb performance he gave! Another change in the schedule was that Shrikant Deshpande was to perform and Farhan Khan was not going to perform. (Sorry for not getting the details… I was using the announcement time for bio-break so as not to miss any musical content).

 

Dr. Mohan Darekar (Vocal)

Tabla: Arvind Kadgaonkar, Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak, Taal (bells): Mauli Takalkar

 

Mohanji started his performance with Raga Gavati (khyal in vilambit ektaal - aasa lagi tumare charanon ki followed by drut teen taal bandish - hamari par karo). Mohanji has a beautiful voice and his swara lagav, obviously having a huge influence of Abhishekibuwa is very good. The raga vistaar was very well done. Taans were crisp and balanced. He followed Gavati with a marathi abhang - santa bhara pandharita. The rendering of abhang was absolutely soulful and touching - without being a blind copy of Abhishekibuwa. Very nice indeed!

 

Overall an excellent performance. I was very impressed with the cool headed and balanced singing with emphasis on raga and bhava (and abhava of stunts!).

 

Arvind Kadgaonkar and Sudhir Nayak provided supportive accompaniment.

 

Shrikant Deshpande (Vocal)

Tabla: Hanumant Phadatare, Harmonium: Prabhakar Pandav

 

Shrikantji started the performance with Raga Puriya-Kalyan (khyal in vilambit ektaal - aaj so bana followed by a tarana in drut teen taal). He started a bit gingerly but warmed up quite quickly and performed in true Kirana style with unhurried badhat, full throated taans and the eekari tara-shadja. After Puriya-Kalyan he performed gopala meri karuna kyon na aaye, the bhajan made immortal by Late Pt. Firoze Dastur. It was a very soulful and emotional rendering with not a single dry eye from the folks who have heard this bhajan sung by Pt. Firoze Dastur. Shrikant Deshpande said that while it was impossible for him to reach Pt. Dastur's level, he hoped to revive the memories (aathavaninche tushar tari udatil …). He sang the abhang majhe maher pandhari for a "one more" request. Even after this people were asking for more but Shrikantji concluded his performance in the interest of time. All of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's students (Shrinivas Joshi, Anand Bhate and others) came on stage to congratulate Shrikantji on his performance of gopala meri karuna kyon na aye. It was a very emotional moment.

 

Overall it was a very good performance - quite apt for the senior organizer of the event.

 

Hanumant Phadatare and Prashant Pandav provided good accompaniment.

 

Anuj and Smriti Mishra (Kathak dance)

After this the brother sister duo, Anuj and Smriti Mishra gave a stunning Kathak dance performance that was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. I liked the performance but I hope I will be pardoned for not writing more about it.

 

Malini Rajurkar (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte

 

Malinitai started her performance with Raga Bageshri-ang-chandrakauns (khyal in vilambit ektaal - tum bina nahi followed by drut teen taal bandish - naina ne nind hira li). Malinitai's rendering was true to her music as always, measured, crisp, soulful, unpretentious, respectful and most importantly simple! But as rightly put by Anand Deshmukh, Malinitai has achieved this simplicity with a lot of research and riyaz. Malinitai concluded her performance by singing a tappa in bhairavi (najara dilabahar re piya) followed by a sargam in drut teen taal (sa dha pa dh ma pa ga ma ni dha pa ma ga re sa).

 

I am a great fan of Malinitai. When it comes to vocal classical Malinitai has achieved perfection in terms of her music, performance and attitude! I absolutely enjoyed Malinitai's performance - and felt lucky for yet another fantastic musical experience. I just have a small complaint - Malinitai has stopped using real tanpuras during her performance over last few years… could she please rectify this?

 

Dr. Arvind Thatte's harmonium accompaniment demands a special mention. In my opinion he has cultivated a special style specially to accompany Malinitai. Especially during tappa - Dr. Thatte's harmonium was absolutely lajawab!

 

Bharat Kamat as usual provided excellent tabla sangat.

 

Bye for now, see you tomorrow!

- Bansuriwala

Day 1 (Almost) Live from Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav 2008

Namaskar!

 

The 56th Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav began yesterday in an atmosphere of mixed emotions - after effects of the Mumbai horror and our beloved Pt. Bhimsen Joshi being awarded Bharat Ratna!

 

I was hoping to liveblog from Sawai, but the security measures are not allowing any communication devices in the pandal. Even though I could see many mobile phones being smuggled in, there was security checking and a huge presence of police force - apparently including many plain clothes officers. This did not deter the Sawai enthusiasts who showed up in huge numbers as usual with the pandal and surroundings getting packed to capacity.

 

Anyway, the proceedings began with the audience starting to clap exactly at 4:00PM. Immediately Arya Sangeet Mandali officials took control of the mike, declared the mahotsav open and handed over the control to veteran announcer Anand Deshmukh as the inaugural performer, Tukaram Daithankar and party walked on to the stage.

 

Tukaram Daithankar (Shahanai)

Tabla: Mangesh Karmarkar, Surpetis, Tanpuras, Shahanai and Sundri sangat - various members of the Daithankar family.

Tukaram Daithankar started his performance with Raga Bhimapalas - vilambit ektaal followed by a composition in drut teentaal. After that he played a Mishra Khamaj dhun and on a "one more" request from the audience, played one more dhun (Mishra Khamaj again as far as I can tell). Overall it was a simple performance with apt tabla sangat by Mangesh Karmarkar.

 

Krishnendra Wadikar (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar, Taal (bells): Mauli Takalkar

 

In addition to the pre-recorded introductions, Shrinivas Joshi (Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's son) introduced Krishnendra as a disciple of Late Shripati Padigar who was a senior disciple of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. 

 

This was Krishnendra's first performance at Sawai. He started with Raga Patadeep (khyal in vilambit ektaal - dhan dhan dhan followed by drut teentaal badish - piya nahi aave). Krishnendra's presentation was true to the kirana style, unhurried, surilaa and full throated. His taans were primarily in aakaar.

After Patadeep, Krishnendra sang a Marathi abhang  (smarata nitya hari) and a kannada bhajan (Govinda Nityananda) on a "one more" public request . While I don't understand Kannada, I really liked the tune and laya of the Kannada bhajan.

 

Overall this was an excellent performance in a simple traditional style without falling in the trap of stunts or gimmicks. Krishnendra is certainly an upcoming vocalist to watch for.

 

Bharat Kamat on tabla and Suyog Kundalkar on harmonium provided supportive and appropriate sangat.

 

As an aside - the sound system problems started surfacing during this performance. The audibility was not very good and inconsistent, there was huge hum for bayan, in fact Bharat Kamat had to just about touch the bayan in order to keep this at a minimum. Unfortunately things in this department only got worse throughout the evening.

 

Suhas Vyas (Vocal)

Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar, Taal (bells): Mauli Takalkar, Voice Support - Suhasji's son (sorry for missing the name)

 

Suhasji started his concert with raga Purvee (kyal in vilambit tilwada - piharava ke paas, bandish in teentaal - banat banau bana nahi aaye and tarana in drut ektaal). The timing was right for purvee. Suhasji's voice took some time to warm up. I felt that while too much time was spent in the lower half of the madhya-saptak, the taar shadja (and antaraa) came quite suddenly (and very briefly) without much importance to dhaivat and more importantly nishad. Even the teen-taal bandish was marred by similar issues. The tarana fared better. Suhasji was requested to drop Bhup in the interest of time. He proceeded straight to sing a (nirguni?) bhajan - ek sura charachar chhayo ji. It is a beautiful composition and Suhasji did a full justice to it.

 

Except for the bhajan, the performance sounded a bit stretched and repetitive .

 

Suhasji's son's vocal support was a disaster. He was unable to stick to either sur or taal.

 

Bharat Kamat and Suyog Kundalkar provided supportive and appropriate sangat.

 

Mike woes continued…

 

After this performance and before the start of Pt. Shivakumar Sharma's performance, there was a publication ceremony of two books. I decided to make better use of this time by utilizing it for a bio-break. I also had to buy peanuts and water since the security measures did not allow me to bring the chapati-subjee lovingly packed by my better half in the pandal (I ate it after reaching home at midnight!).

 

Pt. Shivakumar Sharma (Santoor)

Tabla: Yogesh Samsi, Tanpura: Dr. Dhananjay Daithankar

Panditji started his concert with Raga Durga (alap, jod, jhala - madhyalaya gat in jay taal of 13 matras and another gat in drut teen taal). What a beautiful performance! Stylish, balanced, mature - having something for everybody! I am a great fan of Panditji and immensely enjoyed the performance along with the rest of the audience. Panditji concluded his concert with a beautiful pahadi dhun (a new one, he announced). With no surprise, this was the high point of day 1.

 

Yogesh Samsi provided excellent tabla sangat. His tabla playing was crisp and clear but without ever being either loud or disruptive. In fact I was very happy to see quite a bit of "regular theka".

 

Sound system problems got worse. We all lost a heart-beat (in fact Yogesh Samsi jumped at least 6 inches) when we heard an explosion like sound - only to discover that its origin was the sound system.

 

Pt. Ajay Chakravarty (Vocal)

Tabla: Yogesh Samsi, Harmonium: Ajay Joglekar, Vocal support: One of Panditji's disciple (sorry for not getting the name)

Panditji started his concert with Khamaj. He mentioned that while Khamaj is usually sung in thumri or dhrupad style, he was going to sing it in khyal style. Panditji attributed the vilambit khyal in ektaal - aaj aayo pahuna - to his guru, Pt. Gyanprakash Ghosh. A beautiful composition indeed. Panditji's voice was in great form. His tayyari and range are absolutely astonishing - with an ability to reach kharaj and the tar-tar shadja in the same taan. He started really well. In fact the first 15 minutes of his performance were perfect (except for continued mike issues)  and I was looking forward to yet another great performance of the evening. Unfortunately this quickly degenerated into a mixture of on-stage-tuition to his disciple (who by the way sounded quite tayyar) and gimmicks with tabla. Sad. Panditji sang four more compositions - madhya laya jhaptaal - kahe karat mose (his own - and very beautiful), madhya laya teen taal - manamohan shyam rasiya (by Ud. Bade Gulam Ali Khan), yet another in madhya laya teen taal - aaj bhigi kalai muraka gayee and still one more in drut teen taal - koyaliya kook sunaye. While I have heard 4-5 compositions sung in one single performance of a raga (done many times by Late Pt. Kumar Gandharva), it is critical for the performer to ensure that each composition brings its own flavor to the performance. Unfortunately the last three compositions Panditji sang sounded the same and did not add any value but took some time.

 

After Khamaj - it was already 10:45PM by then,  45 minutes over the deadline - amidst some protests by Anand Deshmukh about calls from police - the audience requested "one more" from Panditji. Panditjee declared that he will sing a 4 minute bhairavi bhajan, took one harmonium in his hand and sang a forceful rendition of tum aajaana bhagawan followed by a few Sanskrit shlokas.

 

Yogesh Samsi's tabla playing continued to be crisp and clear. Ajay Joglekar provided good harmonium sangat.

 

Sound system problems reached the peak! There were many explosion-like sounds with all the organizing officials - Shrikant Deshpande, Shrinivas Joshi etc. huddling near the sound system console.

 

That's all for day 1 folks, see you tomorrow!

- Bansuriwala