Ojas Adhiya (Tabla)

Attended a concert of Ojas Adhiya (Tabla) accompanied by Siddhesh Bicholkar (Harmonium) at NCPA, Mumbai as part of "Saz-e-Bahar" festival on 2nd April 2016 with Ravi, Alhad Kaka & Rekha Kaku.

Ojas Adhiya (Ajrada Gharana) hails from Mumbai. He holds Limca Book record of being the youngest Tabla player. He is disciple of Mridangraj ji.

Concert started with Teen taal (तीन ताल). Siddhesh started with a beautiful piece and was instantly appreciated by audience as well as Ojas. First Ojas played vilambit (विलंबित) demonstrating controlled Tabla. Then he shifted to madhyalay (मध्यलय). Ojas presented Kayda from Delhi Gharana. Finally he changed gear to drut (16X). He also displayed excellent dagga play.

He then presented Ajrada Gharana Kayda. Ojas showed his skill with lightning fast fingers. At times it was difficult to see fingers in the blur of motion. Audience was mesmerized with his Tabla and applauded the artist multiple times. His ghi-da-na-ga (घि ड न ग) was too good. He presented a beautiful Tripalli Gat(त्रिपल्ली गत) followed by Chakradhar (चक्रधर).

Concert concluded with 'nau dha ki gat (नौ धा की गत)', a Gat with 9 dha (धा) that resembles bells in a mandir (मंदिर) during Arati (आरती).

His kayda's (कायदा), tukda's (तुकडा), rela's(रेला), palta's (पलटा), tihai's (तिहाई) and chakradar's (चक्रधर) were awesome. He played pure Tabla without resorting to modern gimmicks most of the time.

Ojas is a fantastic artist. He is already rated amongst top Tabla players in India. More accolades are to follow.

Siddhesh played a very sweet sounding lehra. He knew exactly when to increase and decrease the volume of harmonium. He played his lehra in Raag Maduwanti (मधुवंती).

When I had met Ojas more than a year ago in Abu Dhabi and asked him what is the correct duration for a solo Tabla concert, he had replied that it should not be more than 1 hr to 1 hr 15 min. He walked the talk today. The duration of concert was 50 min.

Can't post any photograph of concerts as organizers did not allow photography. Just photo with the artist.

Wow, what a concert!

Entertainment rating 9.5/10.

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.