Music Festival of India: Medley Two Great Recitals
Guitar maestro Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya evolves into a global inspiration in the arena of contemporary musical uprising. The musical journey is a counterpart to what remains a fond reminiscence of a child’s fancy with a Hawaiian lap guitar at the age of four. The multi-dimensional intrigue of invention became a passion with the making and widespread recognition of the patented Chaturangui (a 24-string hollow neck guitar), Gandharvi (a 14-string guitar which holds the longest glissando) and Anandi (a 4-string slide Ukulele ) which not only excels in sound variety and quality but has become the designer’s choice. With the lineage of Gurus like Pandit Brij Bhushan Kabra and Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty the inspiration has gone beyond performance. Born to musician parents Pt Debashish Bhattacharya, a child prodigy, was initiated into Indian classical singing, but was drawn to the guitar because of the ability to emulate the human voice by using the slide. Past performances of Debashish have include John McLaughlin and his latest incarnation of Shakti, Bob Brozman that resulted in the album Mahima. Led Kaapana, Martin Simpson are the others. The uncanny ability of sliding like a voice and mesmerizing tantrakaari ang put Debashish Bhattacharya as a leading slide guitarist of the world. This extremely personable and gifted artiste takes us on a timeless journey through the history of Indian Classical Music, bringing it into the 21st century, with detours into the Blues and Hawaiian music as well. His work has earned him president of India award in 1984, The Asiatic Society Gold Medal in 2005 and BBC Planet Award for World Music in 2007.
Blessed with a mellifluous voice and exceptional versatility, Pritam Bhattacharjee is one of the most accomplished and acclaimed Indian Classical vocalists of his generation, who has performed at most of the prestigious festivals around the world. He is a leading exponent of the illustrious Mewati Gharana. In addition to being a renowned vocalist, Pritam is also a brilliant and an acclaimed composer, who has written and composed over 400 compositions in different Ragas (melodic patterns), which he has presented at many festivals. Pritam has also experimented with different genres of music through his own compositions and performances. Hailing from Silchar, Assam in India, Pritam is one of the foremost disciples of the legendary Mewati Maestro Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj, and has received rigorous training under Pandit Jasraj’s tutelage since he was 12 years old. Pritam had earlier begun his initial training at a tender age of 4 years from his mother Mrs. Manjushree Bhattacharjee and then under other Gurus including, Shri Sundhanshu Deb, Shri Vijay Chakraborty and Shri Amarendra Chakraborty. Pritam has performed at many concerts and prestigious festivals in India and abroad, including Aarohi Festival (Mumbai), Pandit Motiram Maniram Sangeet Samaroha (Hyderabad), Harivallabh Music Festival (Jalandhar), Saptak Music Festival (Ahmedabad), Avishkar Smriti Samaroha (Goa), Ustad Alladiya Khan Music Festival (Mumbai), Sudarshan Sangeet Sabha (Pune), LearnQuest Festival (Boston, USA), South Asian Performing Arts Foundation (SAPAF),etc.. He has also traveled extensively and performed with his Guruji, Pandit Jasraj ji, in prominent music festivals. Currently he is faculty at the Pandit Jasraj school of music in Atlanta.
Subhashish Bhattacharya is one of the most prominent name in the younger generation Tabla artists. He belongs to Rampur Farukhabad schooling of Tabla, as he has been studying under Late Pandit Shyamal Bose, Pandit Prabir Bhattacharya, and Pandit Samir Chatterjee and now he is disciple of maestro Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. At the age of thirteen he has performed in Jadubhatta Music Conference. Since then he has performed almost every music festivals and conference in India like ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Bishwa Banga Sammelan (Kolkata), Swati Thirunal Music Conference (Trivandrum), Music Today Swar Utsav (Delhi), Spicmacay (Virasat, Delhi), Chennai Music Academy, Pracheen Kalakendra (Chandigarh), NCPA (Bombay), Uttar Para Sangeet Chakra (Kolkata) and The Dover Lane Music Conference to name a few. Abroad He has performed in USA, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Greece, South Africa and Quait to participate in innumerous number of concerts and Festivals. Subhasis has performed in the 50th anniversary of India Independence Day at the United Nations (NY). Subhasis is the participant artiste of the International Band “SILK AND STEEL”, and “THIEVES OF SLEEP”. He is a member of Calcutta Cene Music association. He has scored rhythm as background music in many Films and T.V.Serials.
Pankaj Mishra is born into an exceptional Musician-lineage. Being the son of Shri Satya Narayan Mishra, Great Grandson of Sarangi virtuoso Late Pt. Saraju Prasad Mishra and Grandson of Late Pt. Mahadeo Prasad Mishra. Pankaj was trained from an early age by the renowned Sarangi player of Banaras Gharana late Pt. Mahesh Prasad Mishra. Pankaj created a distinct style of playing & has performed both as a Solo artist and an accompanist at several prestigious events in India including the Dover Lane Music Conference, ITC Festival , Indo Occidental Symbiosis, The Salt Lake Music Festival more. He has toured extensively in USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, Bangladesh and more. He has accompanied with highly regarded Tabla players like late Pt. Shyamal Bose, Pt. Swapan Chaudhury, Pt. Anindo Chatterjee, Pt. Kumar Bose, Ud. Sabir Khan, Pt.Samar Saha, Subhankar Banerjee, Ud. Tari Khan, etc. He has also accompanied vocalists like Girija Devi, Purnima Chaudhury, Pt. Dinanath Mishra, Kathak exponents like Pt. Birju Maharaj, Pt Rammohan Maharaj, Pt.Vijay Shankar, Ghazal Maestro Ghulam Ali & Sabri Brothers of Pakistan, more on list