After the fabulous response to its inaugural edition held in Bengaluru on March 18, 2023, the Mahindra Percussion Festival (MPF) returns as a two-day event this year. The venue will be Prestige Srihari Khoday Centre for Performing Arts.
To be held on March 23 and 24, the festival features a formidable line up including ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram, djembe exponent Taufiq Qureshi, mridangam players Viveick Rajagopalan and Charu Hariharan, drummer Darshan Doshi and Bengaluru band Swarathma. Going by this list, it’s evident that there will be enough variety as the musicians collaborate to create fresh sounds. This has been the trend at such drum fests, whose popularity has increased over the past seven or eight years.
Says drummer Darshan Doshi, who is performing with the group Rhythms of India, “The good thing is that in India, besides the regular western drum kit, one can hear different types of percussion, from Hindustani and Carnatic to folk and Bollywood.”
Gino Banks
The concept of percussion festivals isn’t new. Taal vaadya concerts and Gurupurnima events dedicated to percussion teachers have been popular for a long time. The annual Barsi concert held in Mumbai, as a homage to legendary tabla artiste Ustad Allarakha, has had many Indian artistes, besides top international drummers such as Billy Cobham, Vinnie Colaiuta, Pete Lockett and Simon Phillips, Congrero Giovanni Hidalgo, Sikiru Adepoju and Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto.
Taufiq Qureshi playing the djembe
In 2016, drummer Gino Banks launched Mumbai Drum Day, after being inspired by VHS tapes of a similar event organised by Modern Drummer magazine. “Though the focus was the western drum kit, they had different genres. I wanted to start something similar in India. Here too, we have tried out different themes. In 2023, we had a drummer play with an Indian percussion instrument. This year, with Ustad Zakir Hussain in the line-up, we focused more on world music,” he says.
Gino Banks isn’t performing at MPF this year, but was there last year with his group Pulse Conversation. “Such festivals help drummers come to the forefront. In a regular concert they often get noticed only during their solos,” he adds.
Charu Hariharan
After Mumbai Drum Day found the right groove, the concept moved to other cities. Drummer Arun Kumar began curating the Bengaluru Drum Fest in 2019. Last year, tabla exponent Subhen Chatterjee and his son, drummer Sambit Chatterjee, curated the first Kolkata International Drum Festival.
Jenukuruba honey-collecting community of Nagarhole in Karnataka
Such festivals feature percussionists from across the country. The audiences are a good mix of connoisseurs and lay listeners. Says Darshan, “Different people relate to drumming in different ways. That’s what makes such festivals more universal in appeal.” Adds Taufiq Qureshi, who has adapted north Indian rhythms to the African djembe, “I’ve seen people taking a sudden liking to the djembe after seeing me or my son Shikhar Naad Qureshi play on stage. Many youngsters now want to learn this African instrument. After the pandemic, online classes have become regular.”
Ananth R. Krishnan
At MPF, Taufiq Qureshi will lead his group Surya, which has undergone many avatars since its formation in the late 1980s. The forthcoming show will feature him on the djembe, Shikhar Naad on the drums and djembe, Abhay Nayampally on the guitar, Sarang Kulkarni on the sarod and Kaushiki Joglekar on the keyboards. Darshan’s Rhythms of India comprises his on the drums, B.C. Manjunath on the mridangam, Varijashree Venugopal on vocals and flute, and Pravin Rao on the keyboards and tabla.
Multi-percussionist Charu Hariharan has an interesting set. Her main quartet comprises her on the mridangam, vocals and assorted percussion, Pranay Verma on the guitar, Shalini Mohan on the bass and Manonmani on the sarangi. She says, “The show is a three-layered presentation, first featuring the quartet and then bringing the Kozhikode Nanthalakootam folk musicians from Kerala. Finally, there will be tribal musicians from the Jenukuruba honey-collecting community of Nagarhole in Karnataka.”
Besides chenda and thavil, they will use rare percussion instruments. “The folk musicians have tudumba, a big bass drum like the nagara, and tudi, an ancient drum. The Nagarhole tribal musicians use kotta datte, using three rows of bamboo, the burude, a gourd used as a shaker, and gajje, which is like a manjira. They also convert a lot of plastic items as drums. There is also something called ‘disu’, which is basically a dish antenna, played with sticks,” says Charu.
Viveick Rajagopalan
Viveick Rajagopalan will play with two line-ups. There is ‘Two Summ’ with mridangam player Anantha R. Krishnan, which will blend Carnatic rhythms with electro-acoustic sounds, and Ashtanayika, which is a fusion of Surdas’s poetry, Kuchipudi dance and the raw narratives of rap, with assorted rhythms. Vikku Vinayakram’s Ghatam Ensemble will feature his son V. Selvaganesh on the kanjira, whereas in the Swarathma Percussive Experience, members of Bengaluru-based folk-fusion band Swarathma will be joined by different percussionists, including Karthik Mani, Thavil Raja and Beat Gurus.
Praveen Rao
The consensus is that these days, percussionists are open to new sounds. Take Charu Hariharan, for instance. After learning the mridangam from Mannarkoil J. Balaji, she played with slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya’s project ‘O Shakuntala’. Her mind opened up to global sounds after participating in the Ethno Sweden World Music Camp, and later joining the world folk ensemble Varldens Band. “It’s an endless ocean out there, but much as I like to explore international rhythm trends, I am also keen to discover more drum sounds closer home.”
Selvaganesh
According to Vikku Vinayakram, such festivals can help young drummers broaden their perspective and take in new ideas. He says, “I have always told my students to approach music with an open mind. Keep adding to your repertoire and allow your style to evolve. It’s important to adapt oneself to every situation.”
Ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram at his residence in Chennai. | Photo Credit: SRINATH M
Adds his son Selvaganesh, who was part of ‘This Moment’ that won the Grammy this year, “instrumentalists, especially percussionists have never had it so good. Over the past few years, I have learnt more by interacting with musicians from around the world. Believe in your training and make the most of the exciting opportunities coming your way.”
The rhythms never stop flowing on Planet Drum.
