Music maestros come together for travel fest

The Citi-NCPA Aadi Anant Festival of Indian Music premieres in Mumbai on January 7 and 8 at the NCPA, then travels to Delhi on January 25 and 26 and Bengaluru on February 10.
The first edition of Citi-NCPA Aadi Anant will feature some of India's greatest musicians like Zakir Hussain, Kaaraikkudi Mani, Anindo Chatterji, Rashid Khan, Shujaat Khan, Ashwini Bhide, Taufiq Qureshi to name a few.

The festival is based on the juxtaposition of the concepts of eternity and those that are bound by time, and how the two co-exist in our lives.

The concept of eternity (anant) denotes that which has neither a beginning (aadi) nor an end (ant). It is inherent in Indian philosophy, where time is viewed as being not linear, but cyclical.

Specially conceived by internationally renowned tabla wizard Zakir Hussain, the first performance on January 7 at the NCPA, Mumbai, is a creative blend of melodies from the north and south India, as well as from the world of jazz.

The maestro explores the frontiers between traditional and contemporary musical expressions on the canvas of diverse melodies, leading to a fiesta of pulsating rhythms that take listeners into a world of masterful innovation and fusion.

Zakir Hussain will be accompanied by the 'Godfather of Indian Jazz' Louiz Banks (keyboards), Ganesh Rajgopalan (violin) known for blending virtuosity with an innovative approach and Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri), nephew of flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia.

January 8 at the NCPA, Mumbai, Rashid Khan (vocal) and Shujaat Khan (sitar) begin with solo presentations followed by an encounter, wherein the voice and the instrument explore the common meeting points to strike a meaningful musical dialogue.

K.N. Suntook, Chairman - NCPA, said: "The festival attempts to showcase traditions with innovations. Across all three cities, we'll present some of the finest Indian musicians."

Pramit Jhaveri, CEO, Citi India, said, "A unique property, it will showcase music that has emerged from the traditional, yet keeps evolving - a philosophy that has been essential for us as an institution to grow, improvise and innovate over the last 200 years, and one that will build and strengthen a legacy for future generations."

Citi-NCPA Aadi Anant will entertain music lovers in Delhi on January 25 and 26, 2012, with two exhilarating concerts at Kamani Auditorium. Taufiq Qureshi (Djembe), Niladri Kumar (sitar and zitar), Gino Banks (drums), Satyajit Talwalkar (tabla), Sheldon D'silva (bass), Angelo Fernandes (keyboards) will be performing on January 25.

The group presents a sonic medley of acoustic instruments, exploring new sounds and creative musical expressions using sitar, djembe, tabla, with electronically supported instruments such as zitar and keyboards.

On January 26, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and Sanjeev Abhyankar will come together for the 'Jasrangi-Jugalbandi,' beginning with solo presentations and concluding with a Jasrangi duet.

The travelling music festival's next destination is the city of Bengaluru. On February 10, 2012 Citi-NCPA Aadi Anant will present two back to back performances on the same day at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. Kaushiki Chakrabarty Desikan's (vocal solo) performance will be followed by Talavadya Kacheri: Anindo Chatterji (tabla), Kaaraikkudi Mani (mridangam), V. Suresh (ghatam) and N. Amrith (kanjira).