Dhaka music fest: Feted percussionist T.H. Vinayakram steals a march on Day 3

By Debayan Mukherjee

Dhaka, Dec 29 (IANS) Grammy Award-winning Indian percussionist T. H. Vinayakram set the Bengal Classical Music Festival on fire with his virtuoso performance on Day 3 of the event at the Abahani grounds in Dhanmondi on Thursday.

Playing the Ghatam (an earthen pot), the 75-year old who won the Grammy Award in 1991, jammed alongwith his son V Selvaganesh and grandson S. Swaminathan in a unique case of three generations performing together.

Selvaganesh accompanied him with Kanjeera and percussion, besides Swaminathan on the Kanjeera and Konnakol and Ganesan on the Morsing.

They bedazzled the near-packed crowd with Shiv Tandav, a seven-and-a-half beat Composition; Guru Bandana and Ganapathi Thalam to later engage with them in a rhythymic clap-session following the beats.

Towards the end of their hour-long treat of a show, the trio, who like calling themselves 3G alongwith Ganesan who is not part of the family but a dear friend, mimed myriad sounds of a moving train in different situations and also how it varied from air-conditioned and non-air conditioned compartments.

Such was their craft and connect with the audience, each and everyone gave them a standing reception at the end with shouts of "once more" reverberating in the background, giving it a feel of a rock concert.

"We always like to engage with the audience as the instruments we play keep them moving in their seats and tapping their feat. So the moment we allow them to be a part of what we are doing, they feel happiest," Selvaganesh told IANS later.

"We have toured across the globe but the audience here is amazing. They are knowlegeable and encouraging," he added.

Organised by the Bengal Foundation, the third evening started with a sitar rendition by the students of Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay.

Proshanjit Mondol, T.M. Selim Reza, Ringko Chondra Das, Mehreen Alam, Jyoti Banerjee, Mohamad Kausar and Jahangir Alam Shraban performed a composition of Raga Kirwani by Pandit Kushal Kumar Das, a noted sitarist from India.

Then came Vinayakram and co. to take the audience to another level. Khayal by Government Music College students followed next. They performed Raga Malkauns.

Abir Hossain then performed Raga Abhogi on the Sarod. Pandit Yogesh Samsi accompanied him on the Tabla.

The next item was a flute rendition by Gazi Abdul Hakim. He performed Raga Desh, Pilu Thumri and a few other dhuns.

Late into the night, Pandit Uday Bhawalkar's Dhrupad kept the crowd going while Vidushi Kala Ramnath's violin tickled the romantic senses of the younger crop who were enjoying good food and beverages alongwith the music.

The night came to an end with Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty who performed Khayal in Raga Gunkali. Ll

(Debayan Mukherjee's visit to Dhaka is at the invitation of the Bengal Classical Music Festival's organisers. He can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)

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