Tabla Concert - Yogesh Samsi Punjab Gharana 19th June 2004 Review

This concert was absolutely amazing. Opening with Punjab Peshkar, Yogesh introduced the basic sounds of the tabla with consistency and clarity. His concentration was evident as he effortlessly moved into different speeds and remaining in time with the tala. Memorable pieces include dha terekete taka dhitetetedhitetete kete taka terekete dha terekete taka terekete dhene gene nag tak dhene gene, played in 3 speed. The essence of this bol was that all the tete was played with two fingers rather than the full hand. Yogesh managed to bring out immense power through these fingers, such power that I have never seen in my life. What also mesmerised me was his speaking ability (paranth) as even the most complex compositions were spoken with the same flavour as they were played, encompassing the audience into each and every stroke he performed and consequently heightening the enjoyment of his performance. His stamina was incredible, as he reeled off continuous variations and even multiple tihais. Some rare compositions were played, adding an extra depth into his performance and deliver a personalised “mehfil” atmosphere to the Ramgharia hall. Astounding…
Gurdain Rayatt

Chakardar Tabla Summer School August 2002

This was by far one of the most successful Indian Music summer schools around. Students travelled from far and wide, Cornwall, Wales, Leeds, Leicester, Shropshire ... not to mention Germany!! The setting was fantastic - Hockerill Anglo European College is a beautiful Victorian Gothic building, with lovely leafy grounds. Students were on two floors of an accomodation block, wth Shankar Ji, Bikram, Gurmit and Harkirat taking up tutor accomodation in the same block. Teaching was highly diversified, catering to all the needs of the various students. Pandit Ji ran individual one to one sessions with each student, whilst others n the group practised his lesson. Gurmit Ji, Bikram and Harkirat managed group sessions. Students walked away from lessons laden with material, bursting with enthusiasm and excitement - ready for long practise sessions in their rooms. One could hear drumming going on long into the hot summer night. The variety of sessions ranging from the traditional to the fusion and accompaniment sessions, gave students a broad perspective on percussion and Indian music. In all a highly memorable event, that left an indelible impression on all the students. Motivation levels have never been so high.

Evaluations from all students made one suggestion - make the next summer school longer, or run it twice a year. Next year, there are plans afoot to make this the most spectacular Indian music summer school in the UK, if not in Europe. Soooo watch this website.

Tabla Duet - Pt Shankar Ghosh and Bikram Ghosh 2002

An absolutely fantastic event - the interaction between this father son duo is really incredible .... a combination of mutual respect, joviality and unpretentiousness made for a really charismatic combination. (technical details will be posted here soon).

The student's supporting performance also went down a treat, particularly with the many professional tabla players in the audience.

Pt KUMAR BOSE - Tabla Solo - Great Notley, 4th May 2002 (A Chakardar Concert)

What drama, what power!! This perfrmance puts KumarJi among the top 4 tabla players in the world. This was a typical Benaras Gharan performance - but sooo refined, yet highly dramatic. As a member of the audience, I've never felt so much on edge - Kumar Ji really is an expert in creating a truly sensational atmosphere of suspense and expectation. We'll be definitely bringing him back for a major Chakardar Tabla solo next year.

Unlike most uthaans that build up gradually, this maestro's uthaan thundered dramatically onto the stage. There are no half measures with this guy - it's all or nothing. Typically, Benaras and Punjab Gharana Tabla players have real prowess in this technique. The peshkaar was abound with intricate layakaari, culminating in a playful tihai with emphasis on the bayan. The rest of the performance stood out from all other Solos in its sheer drama, speed and power playing. The clarity is also awesome. In dhrut laya his intellectual and physical dexterity was given free range - playing multitude versions of "ge tirkit tik ta .........keta gege dhin......." parans that ripped through the air. Kumar Ji also brought some very very rare gems to the solo - kaida relas and farads, directly from his Ustaad Pt Kishan Maharaj: dha s s tak dhina kit dha tir kit tik dha tir kit tik...........and dhige dhina tir kit dhina - all had the audience applauding profusely. That's not all though, this guy has the MOST powerful and enduring Nadhi dhina around.

Overall - a tremendous Tabla solo, the likes of which has never been heard before in this country. Watch out for Kumar Bose CDs and our own Chakardar Solo Next Year.

Bikram Ghosh Tabla Solo - Treaty Centre - June 2001 (A Chakardar concert)

A cracking performance to a hall packed with tabla enthusiasts - Tanmoy Bose, Sanju Sahai, Frances Shephard and Sukhaniya Ji all gracing the front row seats. This is the next phase in a long list of Tabla solos showcased by Taal - 14 solos to be exact, hosting Zakir Ji, Anindo Ji, Swapan Ji and Sharda Ji to mention but a few. As should be expected, the programme was supported by the latest audio visual equipment. A first in the history of Tabla solos, a huge projection of Bikram's whirring hands was clearly visible - much to the delight of the audience.

The performance began with a peshkar in Teental, within which Bikram introduced a very unusual ard-laya, a creation of his ustad and father, Pandit Shankar Ghosh. His modulation on the bayan giving the peshkar a distinct seductive quality. Bikram certainly plays one of the most beautiful peshkars on the grand stage. The most striking feature of the first half, apart from the peshkar, was the powerful and sustained DhineGine and DhireDhire.

The second half began with the nine beat Nasruk Taal showing off Bikram's prowess in mastering difficult Farukabad kaidas split exactly into 41/2 and 41/2 patterns. You've got to have your wits about you when playing like this in an odd beat tal.

A drut teental which led the audience to the finale, displayed the explosive energy that Bikram can bring to his performances. Relas, gats, chakardars and captivating story themes set the seal on a performance that would be remembered for years to come.

Swapan Chaudhuri - Tabla Solo in Southend on Sea - Feb 2001 (A Chakardar/
Chandam concert)

Possibly the best performance ever given by this great Maestro. The 'mehfil' atmosphere just added to the whole drama of the evening. A real shame for those who could not make it.

The performance began with an unusual relaxed and drawn out peshkar in the Lucknow style. The amount of variations in the peshkar were tremendous and the subtle beauty of the endings in each parkaar drew the audience into an uncanny interaction with this great artist. Traditional two finger Lucknow dhagetitegegetite kaida was followed by a powerful rendition of ard laya katakatakata ke kaida. The power and clarity of the tin in this was absolutely mind boggling. The dhiredhire was introduced with a simple groove that was very effective. The neat hand movements during this kaida were rapid and modulated perfectly.

His first rela brought reminiscences of Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa playing softly. All the notes were clearly evident,
with the middle finger ti being modulated at will. The speed was cleverly set to show off the intricacies of each
composition. A numerous range of variations were displayed.

The spellbound audience was enthralled during the remainder of the performance with new unheard-of gats,
parans, relas, tukras and of course chakardars!

Bikram Ghosh Tabla Solo - June 2000 (A Chakardar Event)
...... CD available - see home page

This was the "energy concert" - the one that only happens once in a blue moon. What a tremendous performance
- jammed packed with consecutively powerful compositions. Performed with an explosive indulgence in tabla
mastery. The peshkar was developed with such style and rythmic flair - one was left mesmerised by it.

The essence of Farukabad Gharana was self evident in the prevailing kaidas and kaidangats. The Dhinegine
with and without the bayan was performed with great prowess. The width of hand movement seemed to be twice
the size of his six inch tabla (dayan). This was "edge of the seat stuff". The dynamic playing was further enhanced by very cleverly controlling the stress applied to various notes within the composition.

Each section of the performance was thickly layered with complimentary compositions successively enhancing
the core phraseology. The entire range of compositions that goes into making a great tabla solo were displayed
with soulful dexterity - gats, relas, laggis, chakardars, tukras and parans. In reality, such performances are best
listened to then expounded - so the CD would be my recommendation.

Chancellor Hall - Chelmsford 2000 (A Chakardar/Chelmsford Arts event)

What a tremendous success! Chelmsford’s concert went down an absolute treat, despite the absence of one of
the performers. All performances were of a very high calibre – an accolade indeed to the level of talent that exists
in the UK today. The Concert kicked off with a skillful rendition of Raag Bageshry by Harmeet Virdee. A
beautifully mellow alaap was followed by two compositions set to a Teental rhythmic cycle. Harmeet’s expertise
on the sitar is truly magnificent. He has a striking ability in creating the right mood and balance between
delicacy and power. Swar and laya are solidly controlled, and his jala is one of the most powerful on the British
stage.

As for Archana Patel – what can I say! She is a real virtuoso. Beautiful and elegant on stage, and every bit the
polished dancer – and that’s really something when you consider that she is currently studying Dentistry in
London!! Archna’s mastery of Kuchi Pudi, a very high energy dance style, really needs to be appreciated at the
concert level – so keep tuned for further concert dates.

After the interval, it was time for Chakardar. As usual Chakardar brought a real sense of drama to the evening.
The group performing was smaller due to exam pressures – Harkirat Harkirat, Omkar, Dilraj and Gurdain, but did
this compromise the show? Not in any way. In fact Chelmsford’s performance was one of their best. A special
piece where the Teen Tal theka was split into 4, 2 and 1 beats, played sequentially by each player was
particularly complex, not to mention the thundering "Lall Kila" finale.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the artists was absent and this caused much concern back stage. Practically every
mobile phone was engaged trying to contact Gurbaksh Singh Matharu. As it turned out, the Namdhari Sat Guru
were in the UK and Gurbaksh suddenly changed priorities to performing for Sat Guru. All I can say is that his
actions showed more disrespect for Sat Guru than anything else. Sat Guru have been promoting classical music
in the Namdhari Sangat for years, and some truly talented artists have been trained with his blessing – what a let
down for Both Guru Ji and the audience at Chelmsford.

Anyhow, the evening could not have worked out better had we planned it!. In the halla balloo of locating Gurbaksh,
Nina Burmi – UK’s leading exponent of the Kirana Gharana style of Indian classical vocal - offered to salvage the
concert and perform a small thumri. Wow! What a thumri – in raag Bhairvi. Nina held the audience spellbound for
the next fifteen minutes. This young artist is a real expert. She has been under the tutelage of Ustad Dilshad
Khan, for some years now, and must surely be a great source of pride to both Ustad Dilshad and Begum Parveen
Sultana.

She has only recently given her debut performances in the UK and is a must for all those of you out there who
have a love for Indian classical vocal. For the first time, we in Britain can proudly say that we have our own home
grown classical vocalist – born in England, trained in India. Nina is such a charismatic and vibrant artist, I would
strongly recommend that you check out her next performance in the Dairy.Audiences at Chelmsford were
absolutely thrilled with her performance, to the extent that they did not let her off stage until she had sung some
more. The evening ended with "Mere matiya" still ringing in the ears of the listeners - many of whom have
telephoned with requests for a concert devoted solely to Nina Burmi, and to say how much they enjoyed the
evening.

For those of you planning to organise an event – I would highly recommend Chancellor Hall in Chelmsford. The
stage has a striking professional appearance, and the technical team is extremely co-operative and highly
competent. The theatre can seat approximately 250 on sloping seating and the stage area can be increased to
quite a large size. In all - a versatile venue.

Check out the pictures in The Gallery

Anyone interested in organising a concert of the type at Chelmsford please e-mail us for advice.