Aashish Chakraborty, disciple and son of late Pt. Prabodh Chakraborty, presented a pleasant Hindustani recital at a festival organised jointly by the SGS Sabha and Sri Guru Ganayogi Panchakshara Sangeet Yogashram Trust Music.
Trained by Pt. Gautham Prasad, Pt. Prasun Bannerjee and Pt. Jagadeesh Prasad of the Jaipur gharana, Aashish currently works as a senior faculty member at Ustad Rashid Khan's Academy of Music.
That evening, he began his concert with ‘Kahan Preetam Pyaare Aao' in Mishr Maand, then moved to Megh and Durga, touched Kaushik Dhani and Khamaj and ended once again with Mishr Maand. Aashish chose Puriya Kalyan in vilambit ektaal for elaboration. The lyric, ‘O Man Aa,' was followed by a piece in dhrut teen taal, ‘Mere Ghar Aaja,' which was a full-throated presentation and showcased the beauty of the raag.
Then, in his powerful voice, Aashish rendered a thumri-style bhajan in different ragas, which was the tour de force of the evening. Accompanying him were Dattatreya on the tabla, Kiran Hangal on the harmonium and Viresh Madri on the violin.
Moushami Chakraborty, who took the stage next, chose Yaman and presented ‘Aaj Mangal.' After a tarana, she ended her concert with ‘Ban Chale Ram Raghurayee,' the famous bhajan of the Patiala gharana. She was accompanied on the tabla by Bassavraj and on the harmonium by Viresh Madri.
Moushami has trained under Chandan Chakraborty, wife of Pt Ajoy Chakraborty, and the maestro himself. She showed great promise especially while singing taans; but she needs to watch her pitch.
Memorable
Pt. Abhijit Banerjee showcased the Farukabad gharana in his solo tabla concert. Starting with Peshkar in teen tal with traditional bols, he moved on to ‘Qaida' from the Delhi gharana, once again in teen tal. In Qaida, particular bols are presented in variegated forms ending in Tihai.
This was followed by an Ahmed Jan Tirikwa Khan composition called ‘Challan' which showcased gat and chakradhar and many kinds of layakari.
Accompanying him on the tabla was his disciple Chandrajit, and on the harmonium was Kiran Hangal. It was a memorable performance.
