Classical Indian Artists To Play Haiti Benefit

Posted on Feb 23rd 2010 

by Derek Beres/ShoutCast Radio Blog

On Monday, March 8, a number of classical Indian musicians will join forces with African and Haitian artists in a benefit concert for Project Haiti and MADRE. The show will happen at Drom, in New York City, from 6 pm until midnight, with a $20 minimum donation.

Sponsored by HarmonyOM, a local marketing and production company that specializes in Indian classical music, the evening will feature Pandit Ramesh Misra on sarangi, Carnatic violinist Arun Ramamurthy, sitarist Ustad Ikhlaq Hussain, Nitin Mitta on tabla, and A.R. Balaskandan on mridangam, as well as singer James Ruff, percussionists Tiga Jean-Baptiste & Tchaka, African guitar player/vocalist Abdoulaye Diabate, Zing Experience and kora player Yacouba Sissoko.
br />The evening is also sponsored by WKCR 89.9, and features an after party with DJ Kamala. 100% of the proceeds will go to the two charity organizations.

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"An Indian Evening of Enchanting Music"

By Partha Banerjee

(Author is a writer, teacher and media professional. His writing agency www.thescriptline.com works with for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Email: banerjee2000@hotmail.com.)

 

Congratulations to Veronique Lerebours for hosting a wonderful recital! I felt privileged to experience an evening of Indian classical music, and that too, high quality Hindustani classical music – something that doesn’t happen very frequently even in a place like New York. Enchanting – yes, it was indeed like chanting and meditating, with melody.

Veronique floated her new organization HarmoNYom (www.HarmoNYom.org), and invited three younger-generation artistes to present their craft in front of a sold-out New York audience at Lower East Side’s Drom. Milind Tulankar on Jal Tarang, Sunil Avachat on Indian Flute and Ramdas Palsule on Tabla created melodious, harmonious music on a Sunday afternoon of May 17, doing great justice to Veronique’s efforts and her new organization.

A Jal Tarang recital is rare today, even in India, where classical music is dwindling with the rapid rise of “Americanized” music that’s more for the eyes and less for the ears. To see someone carrying the Jal Tarang tradition is thus even more reassuring, because honestly, you can close your eyes and be engrossed by its soothing tinkles. Combine that with the deeply meditative Indian bamboo flute and an able, rhythmic tabla accompaniment, and you’ve found a fantastic concoction that’s bound to make you high. That is Indian classical! If you don’t believe me, come to the next recital Veronique does.

For those who don’t know much about the instrument, I’m revising here after what Wikipedia describes. Literally the Sanskrit word means "waves in water" but indicates motion of sound created with the aid of water. Jal Tarang, that sounds somewhat like a xylophone, developed on the pattern of Gong and Gamelan played in Java, Bali, and Burma. Gong or Gamelan are made up of copper and other metal alloys and are molded in different shapes to create various musical notes. Holding bamboo sticks in both hands with cotton on the striking end of sticks, the gongs are gently struck to create the desired sound. Bowls of varying sizes were made of either bronze or porcelain. Today, artists prefer about sixteen china bowls. Bowls for Mandra Swar (notes of lower octave) are large while those for Taar Swar (notes of higher octaves) are smaller. Water is poured into the bowls, and the performer changes the pitch by adjusting the volume of water. The bowls are arranged in a half-circle in front of the player who can reach them easily. The player softly hits the bowls with a wooden stick on the border. Ancient Indian literature mentions that if the player can rotate the water through a quick lithe touch of the stick, nuances and finer variations of the note can be achieved.

Milind Tulankar took his Jal Tarang lessons from his grandfather the late Pandit Shankar Rao Kanhere. Among noted Indian exponents of the instrument, we can mention Ranjana Pradhan, Seetha Doraiswamy and Ragini Trivedi, notably many women. Visit this YouTube clip of the performance by Ranjan Pradhan. The link is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDm2uhcgIPY.

Sunil Avachat trained under maestros like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. Seasoned admirers like myself would find easy resemblance between the disciple and his guru: the flute-holding style, the soft and gentle manners, their emphasis on certain softer notes as well as quick transition from Mand (very slow) to Drut (fast-paced) segments are all comparable.

The evening’s percussionist Palsule has strong palms that can produce storms on the skins of his tabla. The characteristic North Indian drums are now quite a household name with elite American music lovers, thanks to the relentless efforts and fascinating performances of Zakir Hussain or Swapan Chowdhury especially with legendary Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar. Young Palsule is already well known for his accompaniments with celebrity musicians. He will go a long way, I’m sure.

Before the two-hour-long recital of the trio, young Max ZT displayed his virtuoso on the Hammered Dulcimer. It was rather incredible to see such a young man already so proficient with such a difficult instrument. His performance reminded me of a young Tarun Bhattacharya of Kolkata on the Indian variety of the instrument Santoor. I post a YouTube clip of Bhattacharya playing the Raaga Hansadhwani together with a young vocalist. The link is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJoIVpaCD2U .

Milind and Avachat also played Hansadhwani as their third and final composition. But before, they started off with the Raaga Charukeshi followed by a short composition of Khamaj. Their exposition of Charukeshi was quite rich. Nachiketa Sharma write: “This morning melody is a relatively recent import from the Karnataka stream into the Hindustani system. Its notes obtain from the 26th Karnataka melakartA and are: shaDaj, shuddha rishab, shuddha gandhAr, shuddha madhyam, pancham, komal dhaivat and komal nishAd. No consensus exists on the precise canonical phraseology for this rAga but typically the madhyam, pancham and dhaivat are accorded dominant roles.”

The performers played a Bilambit (slow) introduction and a traditional Drut or Jhala segment, interspersed by a traditional Jod – a connecting piece with no use of tabla. Even though we must always leave it up to the exponents’ discretion to perform the way they like, especially when it’s Hindustani classical music that largely resides on improvisation and maximum flexibility, my own preference would be that a softer, morning raga not be played so fast with such a vivid use of tabla that sometimes drown the essence of the raga. I’ve seen maestros like Ali Akbar, Nikhil Banerjee and Bismillah Khan to refrain from Drut and Jhala – the very fast-paced beats – while performing sad or softer ragas such as Bhairavi, Kafi or Malkaus. But really, it’s the artists’ preference.

The second piece on Raga Khamaj was also well done, although, I thought from time to time, Avachat’s flute took the center stage and Tulankar’s Jal Tarang took a back seat, only to find company with the senior partner. It’s not easy to hold steady on a more difficult instrument like Jal Tarang where the arms and fingers are bound to get tired after an hour of playing.

But those are minor points one could simply overlook. The end-of-the-day experience was marvelous, and very fulfilling. The enchanting music and its meditative attributes made the evening a rewarding experience.

I wish the performers and event organizers all the success.

May 20, 2009
Brooklyn, New York