'Israj'’s lilt & rhythmic beats keep chill at bay

It was the ninth day of Saptak festival. As the mercury moved southward, the enthusiasm of music-loving Amdavadis went north. Amrut Mody School of Management resounded yet again with melody.

The evening began with Abir Singh on israj accompanied by Prabhu Edouard on tabla. Singh presented raag shree on israj, an instrument which is a combination of sarinda, sitar and sarangi and is most popular in Bengal region. The israj, played with the help of a stick similar to that used in violin, produces rich overtones and resonance.

Saptak’s incharge of archives, master of ceremony for Saptak and senior vocalist Rushi Kumar Shastri then gave a stellar performance. Accompanying him was Pranav Pandya on harmonium who is also a student of Upasna School of Performing Arts. Starting with raag Sundarkauns, Shastri later presented bandish of raag Marwah in memory of late Pt Nandan Mehta, founder of Saptak. This raag was composed by Pt Mehta.
Explaining raag Sundarkauns, Shastri said that years ago this raag was presented by Ustad Vilayat Khan Saab in Ahmedabad. Also, it is a different face of raag Malkauns.

The next performer for the evening was Ustad Rashid Khan presented raag Saraswati. He was accompanied by Satyajit Talwalkar on tabla.

The evening came to an end with Ragaranga Global Harmony with Pt Krishna Mohan Bhatt on sitar, George Brooks on saxophone, Fazal Qureishi, brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain, on tabla and Baiju Bhatt on violin.