If Friday’s performance by Indian Ocean had the audience asking for more, Saturday saw ‘Nirgun Naad’ by Vidya Shah and the Manganiyars treat city music lovers to a beautiful fusion of Rajasthani folk and Sufi Bhakti music at ‘The Hindu Friday Review November Fest 2014’. But if you think that sounds sedate then you couldn’t be more wrong. Sung in Vidya Shah’s full throated voice the Sufi numbers were beautifully complemented by the strains of Rajasthani folk music belted out by the Manganiyar artistes.
The group began their performance with the traditional Rajasthani folk number Kesariya Balam which set the pace for the rest of the evening. Vidya then went on to sing a couple of Meera Bai’s compositions like Dharan Sarika Ghagra and Balam Ji Mhare , the latter a perfect fusion of Rajasthani folk and Sufi with the Manganiyars matching Vidya note for note. They went on to sing Amir Khusro’s Mohe Ran De More Rangeele that also featured a beautiful jugalbandi between the tabla and khartal with the bhapang joining in. The group’s performance of the popular qawwali Chap Tilak Sab Cheen Le was memorable. The fun and upbeat number reached a crescendo when the instruments took over, with just the morchang, guitar and sarangi talking.
What made the concert more interesting was Vidya Shah taking time between compositions to introduce the songs they’d be performing and stories associated with them, as well as introducing the various instruments being played that evening like the Dhol, Bhapang, Manjira, Morchang, Tabla, Darbuka, Algoza (double headed flute), harmonium and the guitar. The highlight of the evening was their finale piece Damadam Mast Kalandar that had the audience loudly cheering them with some even doing a little jig in the aisles. The rendition was much appreciated, leading to an encore by the jubilant group.
Web:>www.thehindu.com/novemberfest
