Zhakir Hussein (tabla)

Attended 'Nirvana 2014' a republic day special concert of Zhakir Hussein (tabla), Louis Banks (piano), Shankar Mahadevan (vocal), Taufiq Qureshi (multiple purcussion instruments) and Niladri Kumar (sitar & zitar) at Madinat Arena, Dubai on 25th January 2014 with Aditi, Thangaokar family, Pooja, Prachi, Prakash, Vijay, Pawar and Raju. This was the second time I was witnessing live performance of 'The Legend' Zhakir.

Concert started with solo performance of Zhakirji. It's amazing to see him playing extremely difficult pieces effortlessly. Wherever his fingers danced, they created magic. Fabulous!!! This start set the tempo of the concert.

Then came an overture called 'dove' a joint performance by Zhakirji, Louis Bank, Niladri and Taufiqji. A section of this piece somehow reminded me of Mongo Santamaria's 'watermelon man'.

Zakir and Louis were joined by Shankar Mahadevan for next performance 'color of love' followed by 'shadows'. Shankar did not sing any song, he just recited the bols (बोल).

Next piece was called 747 by Louis, Toaufiq and Niladri on 'zitar' an instrument he invented by combining sitar and guitar To play fusion and western music. The instrument sounds different. Niladri's fingers fly!

Next piece was played by Louis, Niladri, Taufiq & Zhakir with spotlight on each one, one by one. Taufiqji played his signature vocal instrumental and was applauded multiple times. He also made audience to play rhythm (clap) with him.

Next performance was jugalbandi between Shankar and Zhakir. Started with south Indian classical and migrated to north Indian thumri composed by Zakirji (kori chunar mori..), jocularly dubbed as masala dosa + mutton biryani.

Next was a composition called 'Doors of desire' by Louis, Shankar, Zhakir and Taufiq.

Grand finale was brought up by all the artists performing together. This included 'breathless' of Shankar.

Program started almost one hour late. It was a very big hall, so the cosy atmosphere was missing. Sound system of Mujib Dadarkar was excellent.

Interestingly all five did not play simultaneously till the last piece. All the artists were so good (एक से एक) that it was difficult to choose the best performer. I would like to attend Niladri Kumar's solo concert. Shankar's voice was not at its best today.

Again I came out of the auditorium with a feeling that it was a fabulous concert but there was not enough of Zhakir Hussein.

An excellent concert. Rating 8.5/10.

Wow what an year 2013 !!!

Wow what an year 2013 !!!
Year 2013 was a fabulous year for music lovers in UAE. There were a number of concerts.
The ones that I attended are:

1. Nirvana-Zhakir Hussein (tabla) & others.
2. Sunidhi Chauhan & Shankar Ehsan Loy (Vocal)
3. Mysore brothers (violin)
4. Rajesh Vaidhya (veena)
5. L. Subramaniam and Ambi (Violin)
6. Monalisa Ghosh & Kundan Mukherjee (Odissi dance)
7. Hariprasad Chaurasia (Bansuri) & Gweneth Wentink (Harp)
8. Amjad Ali Khan (sarod) & Amman, Ayyan
9. Ustad Rashid Khan (vocal)
10. Chirag Katti (sitar)
11. Shiv Kumar Sharma (santoor)
12. Bikram Ghosh (tabla)
13. Pandit Jasraj (vocal)

And then there were some that I could not attend viz:

1. Asha Bhosle (Vocal)
2. Shubha Mudgal (Vocal)
3. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Vocal)
4. Pankaj Udhas (Vocal)
5. Rajan-Sajan Mishra (Vocal)
6. Bal Murli Krishna (Vocal)
7. Rahul Sharma (Santoor)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU.

Pandit Jasraj (Vocal)

Mandar's concert report

Attended a concert of Pt Jasraj (vocal) assisted by Pt Ramkumar (tabla- he is grandson of legendary anokelal), Parthasarathi (pakhawaj), Mukund (sanvadini- he is disciple of Appasaheb Jalgaokar), Ratan Mohan Sharma ( tanpura & vocals- he is nephew of Jasraj) & Preeti (tanpura & vocals) at DUCTAC, Dubai on 21st December 2013 with Aditi, Thangaokar family, Banchhode family, Amit, Prakash, Ashok, Yashodhan and Raju.

Concert started with alap followed by 'Shyam murari' then 'Mata kali ma' then a Thumri 'kaun raag'  and finally bhajan 'Govindam'. Audience requested him to sing Darbari but he declined sighting shortage of time and making use of a bit of humor.

Panditji sung very well and demonstrated so many variations in lower, middle & upper octaves that the audience was left spellbound. It was as if he was peeling music layer by layer for the audience and showing the intricacies and beauty of each layer.

All the compositions presented by Panditji were devotional. His ability to control and hold his breath, even at the age of 83, is amazing. His kharja (खर्ज) was especially good. Age has not impacted his singing ability. His voice was not at its best at the start. I could sense slight noise in his voice. But then it improved with time and was back to normal by the time alap ended.

Panditji kept giving looks & instructions to Ratan giving impression that he was not singing to expectations. Sanvadini player sat in Vajrasan (वज्रासन) for the entire duration and played nimbly. Tabalji and Pakhwajiya were good and were applauded by audience frequently. Tabalji, especially, was too good.

An excellent concert. Rating 8.75/10

Zhakir Hussein (Tabla) Fusion

Attended 'Nirvana' a concert by Zhakir Hussein, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Rakesh Chaurasia & U Srinivas at World Trade Center Dubai on 14Feb13.

This concert was fusion music concert where Zhakir Hussein played tabla (obviously) accompanied by Edgar Meyer (Upright bass), Bela Fleck (Banjo), U Srinivas (Mandolin) and Rakesh Chaurasia (Bansuri).

Zakir, Edgar and Bela played full time and Srinivas and Rakesh joined for certain pieces. Upright bass played by Edgar was an instrument more than 100 years old.

This was my first time to listen live banjo and live mandolin & I enjoyed it. We were witness to some scintillating and enchanting music.

All the musicians were superb and concert was a delight but............

I felt there was not enough of Zakir Hussain in it !!!

Sunidhi Chauhan and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy (Vocal)

Went for a concert of Sunidhi Chauhan and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy on 8th March 2013 at World Trade Center in Dubai.

Seats in Zabeel Hall in world trade centre were on a flat surface rather than slope so visuals were bad. Sound was so loud that we had to use ear plugs to save the ears from decibel assault.

1st half was Sunidhi. The performance was at best mediocre with flashes of brilliance in a couple of songs like “Sheela”. Rather... than starting slow and building up the tempo, she started with fast songs, but audience did not warm up and every one started waiting for Shankar.

2nd half was Shankar-Ehsan-Loy. He started with Vishwavinayak and was a delight to ears all along. He was ably supported by Raman and Rasika as co-singers and of course Ehsan & Loy. He is a man with miraculous voice and sung for almost two hours effortlessly without halt. His breathless was breath taking and end with Senorita was very appropriate.

Shankar also lightened the mood by his witty commentary and by thinking on his feet.

Finally we left the auditorium thinking that it would have been better if the concert was only Shankar-Ehsan-Loy.

Mysore brothers (Violin duet)

Attended grand violin concert in Indian Embassy, Abu Dhabi by Mysore brothers. Mysore Sri Nagraj & Mysore Sri Manjunath on violin. Accompanied by Padma Vibhushan Umayalpuram Sri K. Sivaraman on Mridangam and Sri Giridhar Udupa on Ghatam.

It was first time I watched synchronized violin. Fabulous. Who says violin is not an Indian instrument?

K.Sivaraman and Giridhar Udupa played excellant solo mudangam and Ghatam pieces.Mridangam and Ghatam jugalbandi stole the show.

2.5 huors flew by.However the concert did not end with a creshendo.

All in all a very good one.

Dr. L. Subramaniam (Violin)

Attended Indian classical music concert of Dr. L. Subramaniam (VIOLIN- He needs no introduction) and his son Ambi (violin-like father like son) accompanied by TSR Murthy on mridangam, Radhakrishnan on ghatam &  Satyasai on morsing, in Dubai on 3rd May 2013 with Jayant, Amit & Kumar.

Mehfil started with Krithi of Tyagraja. Never heard such a sweet violin. Father & son had very good understanding.

As per tradition each purcussionist played solo and jugalbandi before intermission. Ghatam stole this section.

Suresh Wadkar attended 2nd half where they played ragam tanam pallavi, chandrapriya and ragamalika.

Mehfil ended with a bang.       
Overall it was an enchanting evening.