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Jazz fever hits Mumbai

Famed jazz musician Igor Butman kicks off Mumbai tour with a spellbinding stage performance with talented visually challenged Mumbai students.
by Ravi Shet

Noted Russian Jazz maestro Igor Butman, after giving a magical performance in Goa on October 4, 2015 reached Mumbai yesterday with his quartet comprising Saxophone, Drums, Double Bass and Piano. Jus’ Jazz 2015, an annual jazz fest series is initiated by Jazz Addicts, a group of jazz enthusiasts.

Igor needs no introduction, especially to people who understand and love jazz music throughout the globe. It was in the year 2003 that Igor first came to India as a part of India Russia Cultural Programme and this is the fourth time Igor (who has been associated with Jazz Addicts) has come to India. This time, he will enthrall audiences with a unique presentation.

His quartet features an exceptionally talented pianist, vocalist and the visually challenged Oleg Akkuratov from a small Russian town, Armavir. Oleg has won numerous awards and hearts through his incomparable talent. Igor met Oleg three years ago in a competition and was impressed by him. Drummer Eduard Zizak and Sergei Korchagin, double bass player, a new member of the Quartet, completes this magical band.

In an interactive workshop yesterday between Igor Butman Quartet and the students from National Association of Blind (NAB) at Little Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai, every moment was a touching one and the auditorium was spellbound by jazz fever. The NAB students and Igor Butman Quartet had an excellent Jam session and also one of the NAB students, Bhagwan and Oleg sang ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’ which was an excellent performance of the evening.

Igor Butman Quartet will perform today at Tata Theatre, NCPA. Igor says with his infectious smile, “I love coming to India since people over here respect and appreciates jazz music and also the food, especially chicken dishes are really good. Jazz music motivates me to perform and improvise my own composition every time.” He says that music runs in his family, his grandfather was a pianist who used to perform for Russian band. “I enjoyed watching my father performing on the stage and that made me follow in his footsteps. Also my mother and grandfather encouraged me lot in my music journey.”

Jazz music lovers, get ready to be mesmerised this evening by Igor Butman Quartet.

This event is at Tata Theatre, NCPA, 7 pm today, Tuesday, October 6, 2015. Tickets are priced from Rs 300 to Rs 1,668.

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Attend: Hindustani classical vocal recital

The NCPA Mumbai hosts two vocal recitals by Kalpana Zokarkar and Ramakant Gaikwad this evening. Do not miss this performance.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you are a Hindustani classical music lover, you wouldn’t want to miss this performance.

This evening, the NCPA hosts two recitals featuring classical and semi-classical streams of Hindustani music, as presented by two talented vocalists. Kalpana Zokarkar and Ramakant Gaikwad.

Trained in classical music by her father, Krishnarao (Mamasaheb) Mujumdar, Kalpana was also groomed by senior artistes like Sushila Pohankar and VU Rajurkar. Gifted with an appealing voice, she has an equal command over the classical and light classical styles of music. In a career spanning three decades, Kalpana has won numerous accolades.

Born in a musical family, Ramakant Gaikwad has trained with his parents, Suryakant and Sangeeta Gaikwad. As a practitioner of Patiala gharana, he also specialises in thumri presentation, and has a penchant for thumris immortalised by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

At NCPA, 6.30 pm today, Friday, August 7, 2015. Tickets are priced at Rs 150 and are available here.

(Picture courtesy NCPA, Mumbai)

 

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Attend: ‘Bandish’ comes to Mumbai

Kick off the monsoon season with some awesome performances from the best in Hindustani classical music. Do not miss it.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The monsoon brings with it a fresh wave of the best in music every year. This year, too, Mumbai is lucky to have the chance to hear the best of Hindustani classical music’s doyens show us why they are at the pinnacle of their careers.

Starting today, the NCPA kicks off ‘Bandish’, which showcases legendary musicians. The festival has been on since July 2010, when the NCPA launched it first.

The word ‘Bandish’ essentially means a ‘well structured composition’, based on which a raga can take shape. A composer (vaggeykar, nayak, rachnakar) as the creator of both lyrics (sahitya) and melodic or rhythmic content is a much revered figure in the Indian classical music tradition. The collective works of many composers through the ages have given rise to a vast repository of musical ideas that constitute our musical heritage today.

The three-day festival showcases some of the most treasured works of great composers, presented by eminent artistes. Uday Bhawalkar and Ashwini Bhide Deshpande perform today, July 3, while Shubha Mudgal and Ajoy Chakrabarty perform tomorrow. Shankar Mahadevan rounds up the performances on July 5.

Head to the NCPA today and all days at 6.30 pm. 

(Picture courtesy NCPA)

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Attend: Sawani Shende performs in Mumbai

Vocalist Sawani Shende will lend her rich voice to rain themed ragas this evening at the NCPA. Do not miss.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The rainy season is richly celebrated in Hindustani music. While there are ragas specific to the monsoon, semi-classical genres of thumri and allied forms such as kajri, sawan, jhoola also express myriad shades of emotions, from pain of separation to the joy of union with the beloved, in the months of Sawan and Bhadon.

Born in a musical family, Sawani Shende has trained in classical and semi-classical music under Kusum and Sanjeev Shende, her grandmother and father, respectively. She also received guidance from vocalist Veena Sahasrabuddhe. Sawani’s music is an aesthetic blend of Kirana and the Gwalior Gharanas. Having made a debut at the age of 10, her musical journey is replete with performances and awards. She has a number of commercial albums to her credit, and has sung for several Marathi films and TV serials.

This evening, she performs in ‘Meghranjani’, with a song selection picked from traditional repertories of classical and semi-classical compositions celebrating the splendour of the rains.

Head to the NCPA at 6.30 pm. 

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Attend: Chamber music recital at the NCPA

The Arties Festival comes to Mumbai, with world renowned cellist Gauthier Herrmann and the finest chamber music played by young musicians.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Inaugurated in March 2008, the Arties Festival takes place every March and November as a result of a collaboration between the NCPA and cellist Gauthier Herrmann. This association brings to Mumbai the finest chamber music played by the finest young musicians, who are handpicked for the festival. The musicians have three things in common: they can all compare with the finest in Europe; they are all ready to play for a good cause; and they have an uncompromising love for India. Gauthier Hermann has been at the helm of the Arties festival for almost a decade and has brought several chamber music artistes to India in mulitple editions of the bi-yearly festival. Herrmann is also the cellist of the prize-winning Trio con Fuoco.

This year, the Arties Festival returns to Mumbai, but this time with a notable change! For the first time in 15 editions, majority of musicians are females. The festival presents Audrey Vigoureux, great pianist, teacher at the worldwide renown Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, Aude Giuliano (accordion) and Marie Chilemme (viola). Violinist Hugues Borsarello, returns to the festival after spending two years, working on the Mozart project. With Hugues, one of the festival highlights definitely will be the Mozart sonatas, as Borsarello has become one of the best Mozart specialists in the world.

Watch Gauthier Herrmann perform in Mumbai 2008:

 

The second highlight this year is the accordion, which will spring many surprises in the Arties mood, and a special mention goes to the performance of Schubert’s Trio No. 2 Op. 100, which is invariably one of the greatest masterpieces of chamber music. The group will play it for the first time for Mumbai audiences.

The recital is on today and tomorrow at the NCPA, Mumbai, at 7 pm.

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Attend: Sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Tonight, sarod exponent Ustad Amjad Ali Khan performs with Vijay Ghate on the tabla, at Nehru Centre. Do not miss.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Today, on the occasion of Mahashivratri, sarod’s most enduring name in India, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will perform at the Nehru Centre, accompanied by Vijay Ghate on the tabla.

After performing for an august audience at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo recently, the maestro is giving this rare solo performance in Mumbai where he will regale music lovers with traditional ragas and vintage renditions in his inimitable style.

Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India’s second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2001. Khan has recently been awarded 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award. 20 August is celebrated as harmony day, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. Khan received the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1989 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2011. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004. The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed 20 April as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007. He received the Banga-Vibhushan in 2011. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, who has shared his rich experience in Indian classical music in classes across the West, will now teach for a quarter (three months) at Stanford University, this course will have lessons on Sarod as well.

(Picture courtesy www.kavitachhibber.com)

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