Session-warmer: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on stage (Picture by Tapan Das)

The 53rd Dover Lane Music Conference, presented by Desh, got underway last Saturday night with an over three-hour-long sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Starting with aochar and gatkari in Hansadhvani with mridangam and ghatam accompaniment, the maestro went on to play alap and jod in Bageshri and madhya vilambit teental, drut ada chowtal and ati drut teental gatkari in Rageshri. While the first item served as a session-warmer, the Bageshri alap evoked the mood of the raga in a lyrical vein that ran through the jod as well. Expert layakari and taankari were the highlights of the Rageshri vilambit, while a masterly gat elaboration and taankari enlivened the drut. The recital also marked the big-time accompaniment debut of tabla player Anubrata Chatterjee, the son of Anindo Chatterjee. The boy showed both skill and promise. The ustad ended with Mishra Pilu. Mridangam accompaniment was by S. Shekhar. Somnath Roy played the ghatam.

Performing next, Pandit Jasraj, for a change, sang a traditional vilambit khayal composition in Darbari Kanada. Only this was noteworthy as the khayal itself was sung very much in his well-known style with sargam taans badly outnumbering taankari proper in the ektal drut piece in this raga as well as the drut khayals in Jog, Basant, Bahar and Bhairav and the ill-timed (3.08 am) Bhimpalas bhajan. These together took up well over two hours. The bhajan was too long and quite boring. Jasraj used the forbidden ni Re ga conjunction at least thrice in Darbari Kanada.

The final performer, flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia played swift-moving alap in Lalit, with pakhawaj support by Bhawani Shankar enlivening the jod. The matta tal and drut teental gatkari with good tabla playing by Shubankar Banerjee were quite engrossing. A stimulating 127-minute portrayal of Kaunsi Kanada by young sarod star Amaan Ali Bangash and 133 minutes of evocative khayal singing in Bageshri by Ustad Rashid Khan were the highlights of the January 23 session. Vocalist Padma Talwalkar had started off the proceedings with systematic and powerful khayals and a trivat in Bhupali. She, however, gave undue importance to the dhaivat and the pancham. The taankari in these and the drut khayal in Kedar was masterly.

Steady phrase development in the alap, advanced ekhara taankari and bolkari in the jod and powerful layakari, bolkari and taankari in the four gats made Amaan?s recital memorable. Powerful Kishan Maharaj-style tabla accompaniment by Sandip Das was a contributory factor. Amaan, however, went off-pitch at least twice in the recital. Such things are unwarranted as far as he is concerned. Tonal excellence, vocal prowess and artistic treatment of the raga phrases made Rashid Khan?s recital engrossing. The brief Shahana drut khayal was in the same class.

Excellent meends, phrasing and raga evocation in the best Vilayat Khan tradition made the alap in Todi by sitar maestro Shaheed Parvez delightful. However, the shortening of the rishav in the Bhairavi manner in some initial patterns was incorrect. The vilambit teental gat-kari was in the familiar pre-set manner, but there was excellent taankari in the madhya drut teental gat in Gurjari Todi and the two faster gats in this raga.