Pt. Brij Narayan (Sarod)

Attended a concert of Pt. Brij Narayan (Sarod) accompanied by Dr. Aneesh Pradhan (Tabla, disciple of Pt. Nikhil Ghosh) at 39th Sangeet Samrat Alladiyakhan music festival on 10th April 2016.

Brij Narayan (His own style) hails from Mumbai and is disciple of Pt. Ram Narayan, Pt. Chaturthi Lal & Ust. Ali Akbar Khan.

Main Raag of the concert was morning Raag Komal Rishabh Asavari (आसावरी). He started with Aalap (आलाप) followed by Jod (जोड) and then Jhala (झाला). Brij Narayan ji made eye contact with the audience during recital. Then he presented a Gat (गत) when Tabla joined in. Audience applauded his Chakradhar (चक्रधर) & Tihai's (तिहाई). Sawal - Jawab (सवाल जवाब) of Sarod and Tabla were entertaining. It was Teen Taal (तीन ताल). First in madhyalay (मध्यलय), then drut (दृत) & then ati drut (अति दृत). Audience gave a long sustained applause.

Second Raag of the concert was Raag Mishra Pilu (मिश्र पिलू). It was a beautiful rendition.

Concert concluded with a Bandish (बंदिश) of Ust. Allauddin Khan in Raag Pilu (पिलू) in drut Teen Taal.

Brij Narayan ji has an expressive face. His expressions and eye contact with audience engage them in the concert and augments enjoyment.

Anishji played a different kind of Tabla. He was more forceful than usual. It might be an adjustment for sound of Sarod. His understanding and anticipation of what artist is going to play is amazing.

Surprisingly organizers did not use pick up microphone for this concert as well as for previous Sitar concert.

Around 125 people attended the concert and it lasted for about 1 hr 20 min.

Trivia: Brij Narayan is the son of Sarangi player Pt. Ram Narayan.
He was accompanied by his son Harsh Narayana (who is a Sarangi player) on Tanpura.

Entertainment rating 8.75/10.

Suchismita & Debopriya (Flute)

Attended concert of Suchismita Chaterji (Flute) & Debopriya Chaterji (Flute) accompanied by Sawani Talwalkar (Tabla) on 5th Apr 2015 in Chembur, Mumbai. I attended the concert with Ravi. This concert was part of 'Sangeet Samrat Alladiya Khan music festival 2015'.

This was a one raag concert. It was Raag Jog. First they played without Tabla (solo, tandem and synchronized) and later Tabla joined them. This raag lasted one hour.

To conclude the concert they presented a Thumri in Raag Mishra Pilu. They said that this has become rare now a days.

Most of the jugalbandis are of two different instruments. Previously I have also attended  carnatic violin duet concerts. This was first time I attended a flute jugalbandi. It was innovative and piqued my interest.

This was also a ladies special concert. It was interesting and entertaining. I had a premium seat right in front of the artists and about 10 ft away. Parents of the artists attended the concert with general audience. It was also birthday of their mother.

Suchismita & Debopriya displayed fine synchronized and complimentary flute play, though they went slightly out of sync on a couple of occasions. They displayed controlled flute in the first half an hour of concert where they played without Tabla, this was the best part of the concert.

Sawani justified her lineage by playing very good tabla. She refrained from playing fancy and stuck to traditional tabla play. She too missed a beat once.

The duration of concert was about 1 hr 10 minutes. Around 250 people attended.

A different concert. Entertainment rating 7.75/10.