Bhatt: Man on a mission

Ranchi, Feb. 20: Grammy award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt?s fiery strains will soon fill halls across the state, as the man who improvised his guitar, calling it the ?Mohan Veena?, arrives here on Wednesday on a five-day visit.

Bhatt?s visit to the Jharkhand is being organised by Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (Spic Macay), Jharkhand chapter. He won the Grammy in 1994, along with Ry Cooder, for their world music album, A meeting by the River.

A disciple of famous sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar, Bhatt belongs to a line of musicians who trace their origin to the Mughal Emperor Akbar?s court musician, Tansen. Bhatt?s guru is the Hindu mystic Swami Haridas.

Bhatt, who hails from Jaipur, is considered one of the most expressive and versatile slide players in the world. He attracted international attention by creating the ?Mohan Veena? ? an Indianisation of the Western Hawaiian guitar. The musician assimilated sitar, sarod and veena techniques and added 14 more strings to the guitar, creating the ?Mohan Veena?.

Outstanding features of Bhatt?s baaj (style) include his natural ability to play the Tantrakari Ang and incorporate the Gayaki Ang on the Mohan Veena, which is the greatest advantage of this instrument has over traditional Indian instruments such as the sitar, sarod and veena.

During his visit, Bhatt is scheduled to perform in a series of concerts at Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bokaro. In Ranchi, he is scheduled to perform at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences on February 22, said a senior Spic Macay official.

The concert in Bokaro will be held at the Delhi Public School on February 23, while in Jamshedpur, Bhatt will perform at the Xavier Labour Relations Institute on February 24.

Subrato Bhattacharya of Calcutta will accompany him on the tabla.