Cadence Entertainment, an organization based in the United States of America, has presented over 24 live concerts so far, showcasing both established and upcoming artists in Indian classical music from various parts of the country. Recently, this series included a violin performance by Kala Ramnath with Abhijit Banerjee on the tabla. The programme was dedicated to Pandit Jasraj.
Ramnath began with Raga Jog. The playful and rhythmic style of the artist and the depth of melody entertained listeners. In the vilambit gat, she chose to play a composition in the slow tempo of teentaal. She left a mark with her originality and raagdari. In madhyalay gat in jhamptaal, the rendition was full of soulful taans and vistaars. In the drut gat, she played a tarana in teentaal. Ramnath with her brisk taan and tempo and Banerjee on the tabla attracted the attention of the audience with a combination of tune and speed. Banerjee provided beautiful accompaniment and expressed many shades of laykari. The conversation between violin and tabla was quite enjoyable too. Ramnath also played her guruji’s favourite piece “Mata Kalika” in Raga Adana. The evening was concluded with a melodic Raga Bhairavi, “Mai savare rang raji”, another famous piece by Pandit Jasraj.
Amidst this tumultuous pandemic, Swara Samrat Festival has arranged a unique series of programmes on the virtual platform. This four-month-long series will continue up to February in different corners of the country. The shooting of the performances by eminent and upcoming artists has been organized in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. In the first episode, the young vocalist, Anubhab Khamaru, was featured along with Indranil Bhaduri on the tabla and Jyotirmoy Banerjee on the harmonium. Khamaru presented vilambit, madhyalay and drut kheyals in Raga Bageshree. The freshness and uniqueness of his voice made his performance interesting. The taans and vistaars in the vilambit kheyal were arresting and created an enjoyable ambience. The whole performance was a soulful experience. He ended with a Kabir bhajan “Jal mein kumbh, kumbh mein jal hai”.
The second half of the first episode was enriched with musicality by a duet rendition by Jayanti Kumaresh on the veena and Pravin Godhkhindi on the flute (picture). Both of them commenced with Raga Haimavati or Hemavati, giving a melodious introduction to the raga, which was ornamented with vistaars and taans in a structured pattern in aditaal. Raga Bhupali by Pravin Godhkhindi brought out the beauty of the raga owing to the sparkling style of the artist. Kumaresh played Vasanta exquisitely in mishra chapu and finally returned to Hemavati. The coordination between and tunefulness of both performers made the performance thoroughly enjoyable. U. Jayachandra Rao on the mridangam and Rabindra Yadagal on the tabla provided able support. Rao and Yadagal presented a beautiful tani avartanam as well. Music lovers may expect more such performances as the concerts are to continue every Sunday.
