2015 year (ear) for music!!!

2015 year (ear) for music!!!

Year 2015 was a very good year for me as a music lover. I managed to attend a number of concerts in UAE and India.

The ones that I attended are:

1. Swar Nakshatra: Pradnya Deshpande & Pt. Hemant Pendse at Sanskritik Bhavan, Phaltan in Jan 2015.
2. Kalapini Komkali (Vocal) at Indian Embassy, Abudhabi in Feb 2015.
3. Ganesh (Violin) & Kumaresh (Violin) at ISC, Abudhabi in Feb 2015.
4. Kushal Das (Sitar) & Shashank Subramanyam (Flute) at ISC, Abu Dhabi in March 2015.
5. Harini Krishnan (Vocal) at residence of Sujatha & Ravi, Abu Dhabi in March 2015.
6. Shubhendra Rao (Sitar) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
7. Satish Vyas (Santoor) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
8. Gauri Pathare (Vocal) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
9. Monica Shah (Vocal) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
10. Sudheer Nayak (Harmonium) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
11. Raja Miya (Vocal) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai on April 2015
12. Satish Krishnamurthy (Carnatic purcussion) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
13. Devaki Pandit (Vocal) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai on April 2015
14. Sucismita and Debopriya (Bansuri) in Alladiya Khan, Mumbai in April 2015.
15. Rajrupa Chauduri (Sarod) at NCPA, Mumbai in April 2015.
16. Sangeeta Shankar (Violin) at NCPA, Mumbai in April 2015.
17. Ravindra Chary at ISC, Abu Dhabi in May 2015.
18. Lakhachi Goshta at Indian embassy, Abu Dhabi in Jun 2015
19. Bhavsargam - Hridaynath Mangeshkar (Vocal) at Balgandharva, Pune in Aug 2015.
20. Haye Akhtari at Madinat theater, Dubai in Sep 2015.
21. Marathi bana - Ashok Hande (Vocal) at Vishnudas Bhave, Vashi in Nov 2015.
22. Music trilogy at Nando's, Dubai in Oct 2015.
23. Anand Bhate (Vocal) at Indian Islamic centre, Abu Dhabi in Nov 2015.
24. Pankaj Udhas (Vocal) at WTC, Dubai in Nov 2015.
25. Zakir Hussain & Niladri Kumar at Shanmukhananda hall, Mumbai in Dec 2015.
26. Raghunandan Panshikar (Vocal) in Sawai Gandharva, Pune in Dec 2015
27. Pravin Godkhindi (Bansuri) in Sawai Gandharva, Pune in Dec 2015
28. Rajendra Gangani (Kathak) in Sawai Gandharva, Pune in Dec 2015
29. Ulhas Kashalkar (Vocal) in Sawai Gandharva, Pune in Dec 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU.

Ulhas Kashalkar (Vocal)

Attended a concert of Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar (Vocal) accompanied by Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar (Tabla) & Sudheer Nayak (Samwadini) on 12th Dec 2015 at Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, Pune with Alhad kaka.

Ulhasji has received training in the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas and blends style of these khayal gharanas. He is a disciple of Pt. Ram Marathe and Gajananbuva Joshi.

Ulhasji started the concert with raag 'Jog Kauns (जोग कंस)'. He presented what sounded like 'Sugar barava ayo re (सुगर बरवा आयो रे)' followed by 'Peed parayi (पीड पराई)'. He sung for about 40 minutes and showed his class in this limited time.

Second presentation was a Bandish 'Aai re kaise raat (आई रे कैसे रात)' in Raag Adana (आडाणा). He sung for only about 7-10 min.

Concert ended with the famous Bhairavi 'Jamuna ke teer (जमुनाके तीर)' upon farmaish by Sureshji that lasted for about 7-10 minutes.

It's known that Ulhasji is a very good singer. He is considered point of reference by many contemporary and junior singers. He acts what he sings, making it easy to understand.

Pt. Suresh Talwalkar is considered encyclopedia of taal. His books are considered Tabla gospel and his Tabla tuitions are considered one of the best. To see him perform was an opportunity of life time.

Sudheerji is an excellent harmonium player. He enhances the singers performance by his understanding and complimenting them with his 'singing' harmonium.

A lot of time was lost in changing the stage arrangement for previous Kathak concert and back again for this concert. The concert had to be wrapped up in one hour because of municipal restrictions to finish all programs by 10 pm. By the time performers and audience had warmed up, it was time to finish. What a shame. Either the time restrictions should be relaxed or time management has to be better.

Trivia - Sawai Gandharva festival is arguably the largest festival of classical music in the world. Attendance this year was around 15000.

Entertainment rating not allotted because of time restrictions.

Rajendra Gangani (Kathak)

Attended a concert of Pt. Rajendra Gangani (Kathak) accompanied by ensemble of musicians on 12th Dec 2015 at Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, Pune with Alhad kaka, Dilip kaka and Vinita kaku.

Rajendraji is trained in the Jaipur Gharana by his father. He also has a rare mastery over the tabla, harmonium & pakhawaj.

Rajendraji made a swirling entry to the applause of audience. His energy is amazing. He danced almost for 1.15 hrs and also managed to say bols and make announcements. By having a dialogue with audience he took the audience with him on joy ride. He drew many applauses.

He displayed amazing foot work and graceful movements. He performed on Uthans (उठान), Parans (परन), Bandishes(बंदिश), Mukhdas (मुखडा) and tihais (तिहाई).

He even created sound of rain through sound of his ghungroos while dancing. He displayed various moods with his facial expressions, body language and dancing.

His jugalbandi and sawal-jawab with tabalji Azad were especially mention worthy.

Concert ended with a dance on bhajan of Surdas. This bhajan was commemorating Guru, a gurubhajan.

The live music with Lehra, Tabla and Vocals was good. Rajendraji frequently advised them about the speed he needed from them.

Trivia - Organizers had to stop the sale of tickets for the day due to huge audience response.

A very different, good, amazing and entertaining performance.

Entertainment rating 9/10.

Pravin Godkhindi (Bansuri)

Attended a concert of Pravin Godkhindi (Bansuri) accompanied by Ojas Adhiya (Tabla) and Mohsin Mirajkar (Tanpura) on 12th Dec 2015 at Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, Pune with Makarand, Shilpa, Alhad kaka, Dilip kaka and Vinita kaku.

Engineer by education, Pravin is1st Indian Flautist to perform on the 8 Feet contrabass flute. Pandit Venkatesh Godkhindi (Flute - Kirana gharana) & Vidwan Anoor Ananth Krishna Sharma (Mridangam) are his Gurus. He plays in gayaki (गायकी) and gatkari or tantrakari (तंत्रकारी) style.

Pravin started the concert with Raag Maru Bihag (मारु बिहाग). First in vilambit Ek taal (विलंबित एक ताल) and then in drut teen taal (द्रुत तीन ताल). His rendition of raag was soulful and delicate. He played this raag in gayki style. This raag was a strong contender for the best performance of the day.

In second section he played Raag Rageshree (रागेश्री). First he played Aalap and then in Matt taal (मत्त ताल) followed by Teen taal (तिन ताल). He played this raag in tantrakari style and informed that he will bring in what he learned from his Mridangam Guru into Hindustani music. This section drew multiple applauses from audience. Audience especially liked their jugalbandi

Concluding the concert, they got up. Needless to say he got a standing ovation with shouts of 'once more'. Acceding to public demand he played Bhimsenji's famous bhajan 'Maze Maher Pandhari (माझे माहेर पंढरी) for another five minutes.

Pravin played extremely well. He displayed his command in both gayaki ang and tantrakari. He also played to the audience. It was my first time to hear Pravin live and I look forward to next opportunity. He had excellent understanding with Ojas which enhanced the performance manifold.

Ojas is a future star. His effortless Tabla playing was on display. He displayed amazing dagga play and was reportedly applauded. Ojas demonstrated why he has a great future.

Trivia - Organizers announced that the pendal for this Sawai Gandharv festival is being constructed by three generations of Gokhle family since inception i.e. 63 years. Wow.

A memorable concert.

Entertainment rating 9.5/10.

For more concert reports please visit
Mandar's Concert Reports
http://mandarconcertreports.blogspot.com/

Ragunandan Panshikar (Vocal)

Attended a concert of Ragunandan Panshikar (Vocal) accompanied by Tanmay Deochake (Samwadini), Prashant Pandav (Tabla) on 12th Dec 2015 at Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, Pune with Makarand, Shilpa, Alhad kaka, Dilip Kaka and Vinita kaku.

Ragunandan Panshikar is a vocalist from Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He is the son of the eminent Marathi stage actor Prabhakar Panshikar and a disciple of Gaan Saraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar and late Gaan Tapaswini Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar.

Concert started with Raag Bhup (भूप). He presented 'Pratham sur saje (प्रथम सुर साजे)' in vilambit tritaal. As the raag progressed the beats became 1.25 and 1.5 times faster.

Then he moved seamlessly without break into the famous bandish (बंदिश) made famous by his Guru Kishoriji 'Sehela re aa mil ja re (सहेला रे आ मिल जा रे)'. Audience applauded the transition and start of bandish spontaneously.

He then asked audience for farmaish for concluding item. Audience demanded bhajan (भजन). He willingly fulfilled the request by inviting Mauli Talwalkar (A regular accompanist of Bhimsenji). The abhang e presented was 'Padmanabha Narayana (पद्मनाभा नारायणा)'.

Raghunandanji sung very well. His Aalap and taan (तान) were very good. He resisted the temptation of drut singing. It was my first time hear him and I would not mind another opportunity.

Prashant and Tanmay are well known names in classical music circles and they played to their reputation.

Trivia - The pendal constructed for the festival had an area of 90,000 sq ft. Being open air, the sound system was very good.

Entertainment rating 8.5/10.

For more concert reports please visit
Mandar's Concert Reports
http://mandarconcertreports.blogspot.com/

Zakir Hussain (Tabla) and Niladri Kumar (Sitar)

Attended a concert titled 'Upaj (उपज)' of Ustaad Zakir Hussain (Tabla) and Niladri Kumar (Sitar) on 10th Dec 2015 at Shanmukhananda Auditorium, Sion, Mumbai; with Ravikiran.

Concert started with Raag Shuddha Kalyan (शुद्ध कल्याण). Niladri played amazing Sitar especially in Aalap. He played the raag for one hour. Even Zakirji clapped at the end of this raag.

Artists indicated interval, but audience urged them not to take one. So the concert continued, though some of the audience decided to take their own interval.

After this pseudo interval Niladri played a beautiful raag. He did not tell the name and I could not recognize it. But it was very sweet nevertheless. He played for about half an hour. They played amazing jugalbandi and followed it up with Sawal Jawab and ended with a crescendo with thunderous applause.

Third composition was also a very good composition. Again he did not tell the name of raag and I could not recognize it. However we enjoyed it very much.

Concert ended with a Dhun (धुन) in Bhairavi (भैरवी). Audience enjoyed it as it was a known tune. During this Zakirji drummed directly on the mic to create rhythm. He also played bedam Chakradhar on Tabla. Dhun and concert ended with a long applause and standing ovation.

Niladri extracted and extruded notes from Sitar with minuscule movement of fingers. Some were so deep and in lower octave that I did not know they existed. Sometimes audience started to clap even before Niladri finished his minute variations and he had to tell them to wait till he had finished.

Zakirji, being the living legend he is, played a conventional accompanist. He stole his moments of glory but did not try to overshadow Niladri. A commendable restraint. His Tabla playing is legendary. Each bol was crystal clear, whatever the playing speed. He breaths rhythm.

Both artists had a very good understanding and enjoyed playing together. When artists enjoy, so does the audience. Both of them have lighting fast fingers.

Organizers had discouraged audience from using camera but the official cameraman was snapping photos merrily with flash disturbing the artists.

Concert started half an hour late but audience was still pouring in after that. Most of the audience was not dardi (दर्दी). Some times they disturbed performers by moving around and sometimes clapping to early.

It was a fantabulous concert and pure bliss. Niladri has a great future. Zakirji is Zakirji.

Entertainment rating 9.75/10.

Pankaj Udhas (Vocal)

Attended a concert of Pankaj Udhas (Vocal) accompanied by Vishal Dhumal (Keyboard), Nirmal Pawar (Dholak), Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa (Tabla), Nasir Sajjad Hussain (Mendolin), Rajendra Singh (Violin), Ninad Gulalkar (Flute) on 3rd Nov 2015 at World Trade center, DUBAI with Sameer, Pooja and my father.

Concert started with 'Aap jinke karib hote hai (आप जिनके करीब होते है)' followed by 'Niklo na benaqab jamana kharab hai (निकलो ना बेनकाब जमाना खराब है), Deewaronse milkar rona accha lagta hai (दीवारोंसे मिलकर रोना अच्छा लगता है), 'Sabko maloom hai mai sharabi nahi (सबको मालूम है मैं शराबी नहीं)', a Gazal of Anwar Farukhabadi. He informed audience that he has done some experimentation with this gazal by adding a kata (कता) with every sher (शेर).

He presented a very meaningful Najm (नज्म) of Zafar Gorakhpuri 'Ek wo bhi that jamana, Ek ye bhi hai jamana (एक वो भी था जमाना, एक ये भी है जमाना) & followed it with Aur ahista kijiye batein (और आहिस्ता किजीए बाते), 'Thodi Thodi piya karo (थोडी थोडी पिया करो). Then he presented one of his most famous gazal 'Chandi jaisa rang hai Tera (चाॅंदी जैसा रंग है तेरा)' amidst big applause from audience. This was interval.

First song after interval was 'La pila de sakia (ला पिला दे साकिया)' followed by Jiye to Jiye kaise (जिए तो जिए कैसे)' from movie Saajan, then he presented what is probably his most famous song 'Chitthi aai hai (चिठ्ठी आई है)' on public demand. Another farmaish was 'Tum kitni sundar ho (तुम कितनी सुंदर हो)'.

He then presented the medley of various farmaishes. 'Dil deta hai ro ro duhai (दिल देता है रो रो दुहाई)', 'Aaiye barishon ka mausam hai (आईए बारिषों का मौसम है)', 'Sharab cheez aisi hai (शराब चीजही ऐसी है)', 'Aj fir tumpe pyar aya hai (आज फिर तुमपे प्यार आया है)', Ai game jindagi kuch to de mashwara (ऐ गमें जिंदगी कुछ तो दे मशवरा) and ended the medley and concert with his famous 'Ke ghungroo tut gaye (के घुंगरू टूट गए)'.

Pankaj Udhas sung some pre determined songs, some he sung upon farmaish and also sung medley. Needless to say he was too good. What was better was that he helped audience enjoy by explaining difficult Urdu words, drawing their attention to maqta (मक्ता), emphasizing important words etc.

When one sings Gazal, the wording is very important and the way they are put forth to reach the heart of audience make them golden. Pankajji does it deftly.

It was a big troupe of musicians. All musicians were good and shone when their opportunity came. Tabalji was given a little too much leeway.

Sound system was good. I would have preferred the volume of instruments a notch lower as it sometimes masked the minute variations of vocals.

Lighting on stage was good. With so many artists focus light was used effectively for audience to concentrate on the correct artist. However lighting on audience was bad. During the program glaring light was thrown on the audience for no apparent reason. It was irritating and also prevented taking good photographs.

Auditorium was good. It was a large auditorium but all seats were at same level making it difficult for audience in rows behind to see clearly. Gazal requires cozy atmosphere. That was missing due to the large size of auditorium. Organizers had the foresight of arranging drinks at the concert. Gazal and Jam (जाम) always go hand in hand.

Entertainment rating 8.5/10.