A programme of devotional songs at the Birla Academy on September 9, celebrating Janmashtami, was a treat of sorts for the audience looking for spiritualism and solace through pala kirtan. And Nupurchhanda Ghosh?s carefully selected songs ? subjects touching upon Lord Krishna?s childhood playfulness and the metaphysics of love, allowed ample space for reminiscence of past stalwarts like Radharani Devi and Chhabi Bandyopadhyay. Ghosh began with a short Krishnastotra ? her melodious notes highlighting the nuances of platonic love and the pain of separation in Birahey kator binodini Rai. The repetitive chorus ? akhar ? was adequately ornamental, adding to the lilting pattern of authentic kirtan, duly supplemented by a vigorous khol and violin.
Mohua Mitra
Fusion ? a fad smitten by the West nowadays ? finds an oriental face, with distinctly ethnic and traditional features. Conceived and conducted by tabla player Mallar Ghosh, ?Drums of India? merged the rustic beauty of a number of drums with the classical sophistication of the tabla, played by Koushik Bhattacharya, Rajiv Biswas and Ghosh himself. The solo pieces by Gopal Burman on shreekhol, Bablu Biswas on bangla dhol, dholak, nal and pakha-waj and Somnath Roy on ghatam, kanjira and nakkara stood out with their varied tonal quality and technicality. This was presented at the Sansad Sabhagar last Saturday as a part of the year-long celebrations of the Bharatiya Sanskriti Sansad.
Meena Banerjee
On Monday the American Centre presented a performance by the US Pacific Fleet Band TSUMAI at the Lincoln Room. It began with three jazz offerings, including the evergreen My Funny Valentine, distinctive for the saxophone and trumpet interludes by Jesse Carmona and Guy Gregg. Mallory McKendry enthralled the listeners with her intimate style and seemingly limitless vocal versatility. At the keyboards was Christopher Griffin whose fingers spilled cascades of notes on to the keys. Scot Shepherd joined on trombone as they moved into the more contemporary numbers, progressing from When You Say Nothing At All to the truly funky encores which had a restrained audience dancing in their seats. McKendry?s forte lay in the latter half of the programme, which, despite the generous encores, came to an end all too soon.
Fauzia Marikar
