“Suresh, you've been to Kolkata. What do you have to say about the traffic there,” asked Bickram. Suresh’s instant reply, in the form of beats, brilliantly captured the bustle and chaos of traffic on a busy road.
Rhythmscape, a band comprising Bickram Ghosh on the tabla, handsonic and mouth percussion, Arun Kumar on the drums, V. Suresh on the ghatam, S. Sekhar on the mridangam, Ambarish Das on vocals, Abhishek Mallick on the electric sitar and Pulak Sarkar on the keyboards, kick-started the The Hindu Friday Review November Fest at The Music Academy in the city. “I have reservations about the word fusion. The content of our music is mostly Indian classical. One cannot perform it, if he or she is not a trained classical musician. But, we experiment with sound,” said Ghosh, just before the concert got off to a start.
Rhythmscape, last performed in the city nine years ago, and the band relived some of those moments in the first composition they played — “The Dance of Shiva’. Loosely set in Raag Jog, this was a powerful piece with Das’ voice in full throttle, and the percussionists taking turns to improvise on the rhythm with their individual instruments. The tabla's jawaab to the sawaal that each instrument posed was fascinating.
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The next composition was called ‘Zinc’, which Ghosh said was born out of his tryst with sounds in New York. Based in Raag Megh, the composition explored the genres of jazz and groove. Sarkar began the composition with a little bit of jazz which then transitioned into 'Badarwa barsan laagi re' in Megh. The composition flowed in and out of the western and Indian genres with ease.
The showpiece of the evening was a love song, ‘Bin Dekhe’, a thumri, rendered in Rhythmscape's typical style. Mallick's electric sitar stood out, the impish tinge to its sound accentuating the light-hearted feel of the composition. Next, was ‘Little Krishna’ in Raag Kalavati, which showcased an interesting sawaal-jawaab between Ghosh and Mallick. After this composition, Ghosh initiated a tani avartanam, or what he referred to as a’'drum jam’, which was fabulous. Kumar was at his best on the drums, as well as Suresh, who was a treat to listen to. S. Sekhar, of course, played with a finesse that comes only with years of experience and training.
Ghosh handled a host of instruments with ease. Along with the tabla, he handled mouth percussion and the dafli — all so comfortably. But he held the audience's attention when he performed what he called ‘Drum in face’ — tapping his cheeks to create unique beats, supported beautifully by Kumar. The concert concluded with ‘Rhythm Speaks’, the band’s first song as an outfit. Dedicated to Pandit Ravi Shankar, who Ghosh had played with for many years, the song was set in Raag Banjara, a raag Shankar had created. The composition had thumri elements, and showcased Das’ proficiency as a vocalist.
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Schedule:>http://thne.ws/frnf14-schedule
Web:>www.thehindu.com/novemberfest
Tickets:>http://thne.ws/novfest-tkts
Facebook:>Friday Review November Fest 2014
Twitter : >@frnovfest