Gig review/ Rhythm Roots

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Rhythm Roots/ Various artistes

Genre: Indian percussion, semi-classical 

Details: NMACC Studio, August 8

Rating; ****

The tabla and pakhawaj from the north blended with the mridangam and ghatam from the south and the shreekhol from the east. With a sarangi and violin providing the melodies, the ensemble at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) Studio Theatre paid tribute to Ustad Zakir Hussain on Friday.

The 100-minute concert was titled Rhythm Roots, and what was particularly noteworthy was that the music was totally Indian, without any fusion elements thrown in. US-based tabla exponent Hindole Majumdar and violinist Ratish Tagde were joined by six musicians to create different styles.

The show began with Gopal Burman playing the shreekhol, a two-headed drum used in Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali kirtanas, in an eight-beat cycle. Next came the tabla duet by Majumdar and his son Ayushman, with lehra by sarangi player Farooque Latif Khan. The musicians paid tribute to Ustad Allarakha and Zakir by presenting Punjab gharana compositions in teen taal.

A range of peshkar, kaayda, rela and chakradhar followed in a display of tabla virtuosity. Majumdar has studied under Pt Sankha Chatterjee, who learnt from Ustad Allarakha. Besides Punjab tabla, he has trained in the Farrukhabad style, but this concert was exclusively reserved for the former.

Violinist Tagde then performed 'Lotus Feet', composed by guitarist John McLaughlin (and not Zakir as announced, though it was one of the tabla maestro's favourite pieces). One has heard many artistes play this tune, including flautist Rakesh Chaurasia at the Khazana ghazal festival last month. Tagde's rendition was unique in the way he approached the piece, using many soulful, gooseflesh-inducing passages and bringing in the familiar melody line very subtly.

This was followed solos on pakhawaj by Sukhad Munde, mridangam by Sridar Parthasarathy and ghatam by Somnath Roy, a student of Carnatic percussionist S. Shekhar and the only Bengali musician to play ghatam professionally.

To provide the melody instrument balance, there was an abhang on the violin and a sarangi rendition of 'Saawan Ki Rutu Aayi Ri Sajaniya', a kajri in raag Maanjh Khamaj. The sawaal-jawaab finale with all artistes brought the show to a rousing finale.

Majumdar, Tagde and Parthasarathy spoke of their association with Zakir and how he had created an impact on their music. While the anecdotes were interesting, one wishes the artiste introductions were a bit shorter, as at times they affected the flow. 

What was welcome was that the whole set-up was similar to ensembles like Rhythm Experience and Masters Of Percussion that Zakir led. The sequence of pieces was smooth and there was a fair amount of variety. As Parthasarathy said, Zakir gave as much importance to the melodic element as he did to rhythm. One would imagine the legendary musician saying 'Waah' from somewhere around.