The Hindu Friday Review November Music Fest commences in Coimbatore tomorrow. The four-day festival opens with a blend of Hindustani and Carnatic music with ‘Adrishta' featuring violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya.
Performing together for the first time in India, the artists mix and match ragas from both traditions. Ganesh Rajagopalan, the older of the violinist duo Ganesh – Kumaresh, has introduced along with his brother a new musical expression Ragapravaham. Debashish's musicality matches all categories of music - Indian, classical, jazz, blues, folk or New Music.
On November 18 performing ‘Acoustic Tamasha', a concert with a mix of folk, rock, blues, indie and R&B music is the band ‘Subject to Change'. Popular playback singer Benny Dayal, who has rendered hits for many music directors including A.R Rahman, is part of this band. The band comprises Aakash Jacob (guitar/vocal), Toby Joseph (guitar), Anisha Verghese (vocal), Anjana Raghavan (vocal) and Wayne Fernandez (bass guitar).
Bringing ‘Lahori Blues' to the fest is the Pakistani duo of Zeb and Haniya on November 19. Strongly influenced by music from India, America and West Africa, their music in Pashto, Dari and Turkish will bring a unique flavour to the fest.
One of the most popular songs of the duo in Pakistan is ‘Bibi Sanam Janem' which has received over two million You Tube hits. Zeb and Haniya have performed live in Europe and North America to audiences who are non- Urdu/Hindi speaking.
The fest concludes with a ‘Tribute to Pancham Da' on November 20. This concert will bring to listeners a medley of some of the greatest hits of R.D. Burman from the 60s to the 90s. The performers for the evening are play back singers Karthik, Kalyani Nair, Gayatri Asokan and Gopal Rao.
Accompanying these singers is the group ‘Bennet and the Band'.
The concert will showcase gems such as ‘Jaane Jaan', ‘Dekha Na', ‘Ye Shaam Mastani', ‘Beeti Na Bitayi', ‘O Mere Dil Ke Chein', ‘Mehbooba' and ‘Tere Bina Zindagi' .
The Music Fest will be held at Corporation Kalaiarangam in R.S. Puram. The concerts begin at 7.30 p.m. on all four days.
For details, call 99948-11466, 0422-2212572/2217538. Parking has been arranged on Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School Grounds (behind Eye Foundation).
