Following a full week of lessons and practicing, my pakhawaj made its stage debut with Ashish Gangani Friday evening at Kathak Kendra. Ashish, one of my three pakhawaj teachers (and the only one of them I handpicked based on his expertise as a kathak accompanist), left Hauz Khas the night before with my drum aboard his scooter in a soft protective case. He needed a loaner for the weekend as he waits on a new drum to be made. Apparently his pakhawaj maker refuses to build drums during the monsoon out of concerns over inferior quality.
Ashish accompanied Samiksha Sharma, a student of Rajendra Gangani (his uncle) and a teacher at Kathak Kendra, alongside Yogesh Gangani (also his uncle) on tabla. The above clip shows Ashish and Yogesh accompanying Sharma's presentation of gat nikas. These Ganganis play so well together, and their alternating phrases highlight the complementary sounds of the tabla and pakhawaj as well as their respective roles in kathak accompaniment. The clip below shows Ashish performing a short solo in drut (fast) tin tal towards the end of the program.
Tonight I'll head to Shri Ram Centre at Mandi House to see Ashish perform with my drum for the second night running. Tomorrow it makes its eagerly anticipated return to Hauz Khas by scooter. Then tomorrow evening it's back over to Mandi House to watch the young tabla virtuoso Yashwant Vaishnav perform a solo. I've been wanting to catch him since arriving in February. Excited to finally have the opportunity. After a couple slow summer months, the show calendar is ramping up again.
No comments:
Post a Comment