Some performances transcend the boundaries of music, blurring genres and structural lines. The fifth episode of KCC Offstage, held at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), witnessed one such confluence. On February 15, Grammy-awardee Padma Bhushan Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Grammy-nominated maestro Subhen Chatterjee, and guitar legend Amyt Datta came together as Trilogy, crafting a fusion experience that took audiences on a delightful ride. My Kolkata was in attendance.
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s Grammy-winning compositions on the Mohan Veena had the audience in a trance
The evening commenced with a welcome address by Chatterjee. “The magic of fusion is that it is a journey where we don’t know where we’re going,” he said. Trilogy started off their performance with a composition by Bhatt in Raga Basant, in honour of both spring and Valentine’s Day.
‘Everything else divides, but music unites. We tried to put not just our music together, but our minds,’ said Amyt Datta
This was followed by Bhatt’s Raga Kirwani, which also had influences of Beethoven. Chatterjee enthralled audiences with a glimpse of his band, Karma’s original, Have You Ever Been Used, based on Raga Jhinjhot. “Now, we’ll head to Rajasthan for their special, Kesariya Balam,” Chatterjee beamed. What followed was a unique take on the iconic folk number.
‘We’ve been playing together for 45 years, and it keeps getting more special with each performance,’ said Subhen Chatterjee
The loudest cheers were reserved for Bhatt’s most iconic compositions with the Mohan Veena, which he invented decades ago and wielded with expert dexterity. “On one of our tours, the legendary [musician] Matt Malley fell in love with this instrument, and invited us to his house in California. Panditji (Bhatt) has a habit of recording the entire album in one night, and he did the same that night. When we finally finished at 5am, Matt asked him, ‘What should be the name of the album?’ Panditji replied, ‘Sleepless Nights’!” Chatterjee chuckled.
The epic closer, Vande Mataram, tied the performance and audiences together with patriotism. The standing ovation that followed lingered for a long time. Aamir Rizvi, a musician and student of Datta said, “This was my first time at a Trilogy concert, and I learned a lot from how these different worlds of music came together. Big thanks to KCC for curating such a beautiful event.” An ardent student of Indian classical music, Soumil Sanghvi agreed. “It was a delightful fusion of two different tones and styles. Raag Jog with the Blues theme was the evening’s highlight for me,” said the engineer.
“We improvised and created a lot in tonight’s performance. Every number had some novelty and a lot of enjoyment, and the audience’s response made it special,” signed off Bhatt.
