Search - Nikhil Banerjee :: Afternoon Ragas Rotterdam 1970

Allauddin Khan's Genius of the Sitar

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 12/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll just state the obvious first: This is a masterpiece!



I used to be of the mindset of only listening to ragas during their prescribed time of day but I have kind of gotten out of that. Now I listen to whatever I need to listen to whenever I am in the mood for it... which brings me to this disc.



Recorded live in Rotterdam in 1970, Nikhil Banerjee and Kanai Dutta give what are, for me, "deep dark dead of night" performances of 2 afternoon ragas. Very little compares to listening to this disc around 2 or 3am with all the lights off and just the flickering of a few candles flashing through your closed eyelids. I don't mean this is relax and zone-out music (as is the general stereotype), though. You will be hanging on every note, every emotion. There is just something so deep and so emotional about Nikhil's brilliant tone and melodic invention here... these are performances that burrow into your soul.



Part of Nikhil's power (at least to my ears) was that he seemed to have a surbahar sensibility, yet he played the sitar. His tone, melodic ideas, and his meends are on a whole other level. Of course no one can put a musical experience in words, but there are a couple notes here... a couple phrases that haunt me. The whole performance is excellent... I don't mean to make it sound like there are just a couple moments... but what I mean is that there are some things he does here that feel as if the entire beautiful history of Hindustani music was leading up to those couple phrases. You just feel it all. I'm not sure any other sitarist ever had "the power of One Note" the way Nikhil had it.



Add Nikhil's power of melody and tone with Kanai Dutta's remarkable precision and dexterity on tabla and you have the recipe for some wonderous gats.



Pick this one up for yourself, turn off the lights and be moved.





"

Music Of Inner Mind

Mitul Anwar | Mankato, MN United States | 12/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nikhil Banerjee is a genius of North Indian Classical music and it is a rare opportunity to have afternoon raga collection from this great musician. In this album the artist takes the listner on a pleasent journey of devotion by the late afternoon ragas Multani and Bhimpalasri. It has all the ingredients of this genius. The alap, gat with exquistie tans are excellent and you can heard the unique style of jhalla. This CD is filled with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee's playful mode and melodic skill. As I am also a sitar player I had a very satisfying experience. I recommend this is a must buy for his fans and who loved to listen Sitar."

ONE OF THE GREATEST INDIAN MUSICIANS

HOT MIX | Southwest Desert | 07/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of my Indian musicians. I have all his albums. Banerjee is sometimes overlooked in the West, but I often think he even surpasses Ravi Shankar. Others I love are Hariprasad Chaurasia ("Venu"),Irshad Khan ("Magic of Twilight") and Akbar Khan ("Garden of Dreams", and "Journey"). I like these artists because they are easy to listen to and put one in a meditative state."