Romancing raga Jhinjhoti

Sharing two small clips from two concerts of mine.
Venue 1: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark.
Venue 2: the famous Nat Mandir of Beadon Street Deb House in North Kolkata

I am fortunate to have listened to an hour long recording of Jhinjhoti played by the legendary Sitar and Surbahar maestro Ustad Wahid Khan, my Ustad's grandfather.
I express my gratitude to Mr J. Stevenson who had recorded that in the 70s. Needless to say it's one of the rarest of recordings of the great Ustad.
In our Gharana, raga Jhinjhoti used to be peformed with 'dou (2) Nikhad'.
I was overjoyed when my Guru Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan taught me the same Gat Ustad Wahid Khan had played on the Sitar after finishing the Alap, Jod Alap and Jhala.
I have heard the same Gat from Ustad Imrat Khan as well.

However, here I have performed Jhinjhoti in it's present form.
Raga Jhinjhoti (excerpt from Alap)


Sitar - Subhranil Sarkar - Jhinjhoti (Alap) from Subhranil Sarkar (Sitar spieler) on Myspace.

I am sharing an excerpt from the Beadon Street Nat Mandir concert.

Here is a write-up on the Beadon Street Deb House
http://www.bangalinet.com/traditional_inside_chatubabulatubabu.htm

This Deb House Nat Mandir has been witness to several great performances by great Maestros such as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Rais Khan, Ustad Imrat Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee and several others,
Whenever, one hears recordings from those concerts, one is instantly struck by the impact of the sheer amount of love and hard work musicians had put into their art in that era. That honesty stands out and has always remained an example for the generations that followed..

On the personal front, it was an honour to perform at the Deb House at their invitation.
The clip contains signature patterns of intricate Layakari that my Ustadji does with so much ease.
Mine is a student's offering. Please pardon me if there are mistakes.

Apologies for the distorted sound.
The one doing the recording must have sat too close to the Speakers with a handheld camera. Also, it is a partially open courtyard where they do the concerts. Hence the resultant sound.
Raga Jhinjhoti (excerpt - Gat in Jhaptaal)

Here is a video clip, I found on YouTube which is about the above mentioned evening!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j-Uu_P66Dw

Excerpt from a house concert

This Gat (from the Clip shared) is such an incredible composition of my Ustadji! Every time I play this Gat I marvel at the beauty of the composition. How beautifully he has interpreted the Sam of Rupak which happens to be it's Khaali as well and composed a Gat which brings out the colours of both Rupak and Yaman.
I have tried to play a few traditional Sapats of the Etawah Gharana. And, I have tried to play the Taans at 8 times the base Laya ending with Tihais. This, as most music lovers would know, is one of the hallmarks of my Ustadji's music.
A house concert is most enjoyable when there are musicians in your audience! I am happy that there were quite a few musicians there that evening. In such a situation, one thing is certain. There would be knowledgeable people giving 'daad' at the right moments. It makes it more enjoyable for the musician when he/she knows that his/her inner feelings are reaching the audience and they are conversing with him/her through their appreciation.

Raga Yaman - Rupak Taal

Tabla - Debopriyo Sarkar (student of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee)

"The Great Masters of Etawah (Part 1)"

 Recently I, along with Prof. Amlan Dasgupta (HOD English, JU) did a presentation on the Etawah Gharana, my Gharana, at the Rama Krishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kol, India
Some 800 people came to attend it along with stalwarts such as Pandit Kashinath Mukherjee (student of Ustad Vilayat Khan & Ustad Amir Khan), Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Prof. Sanjoy Banerjee (RBU) and others.
It felt good as it was appreciated by all.
Here is the playlist :-
1. Gara (Ustad Vilayat Khan) - 30 mins before the start of the concert (with the official poster as the screen background)
2. Title track (an a/v presenatation)
3. Yaman (Sitar) - Ustad Imdad Khan (an a/v presentation)
4. Bihag (Sitar) - Ustad Imdad Khan
5. Jaunpuri Todi (Surbahar) - Ustad Imdad Khan
6. Bhairavi (Sitar) - Ustad Enayat Khan (an a/v presentation)
7. Bhairav (Surbahar) - Ustad Enayat Khan
8. Khamaj (Sitar) - Ustad Enayat Khan
9. Bhimpalasi (Surbahar) - Ustad Wahid Khan
10. Piloo (Sitar) - Ustad Wahid Khan
11. Khamaj (Sitar) - Ustad Wahid Khan
12. Bihag clip (Surbahar) - Ustad Wahid Khan (video from the Film Jalsaghar (The Music Room)
13. Ghazals - Ustad Hafeez Khan (along with a video)
14. Bihag (Sitar) - Ustad Hafeez Khan
15. Miyan Ki Todi (Sitar) - a 10 yr old Vilayat Khansahab
16. Brindavani sarang (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan
17. Pancham se gara (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan
18. Puriya (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan (taankari from a concert recording)
19. Darbari (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan (Jod from a concert recording)
20. Bhatiyali (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan (from a concert recording)
21. Sindhi Bhairavi (Sitar) - Ustad Vilayat Khan

Here is the Family tree that I used in the presentation :-

I have uploaded the title track from the programme on YouTube & Facebook.
Here is the link (Title track)
"The Great Masters of Etawah (Part 1)"
:)