Bharat Ratna Pt Bhimsen Joshi- ATribute… Part2

 
     Sangeet Manthan 2001… Another tribute to Pt Bhimsen Joshi was organised just a few days after the Dagdu Sheth Sangeet Mahotsav.
                                                   
      On the eve of April16 2011, at the College of Engineering Auditorium, Shivajinagar, Pune… we had Kree Media Solutions presenting three of the finest Contemporary Maestros of Hindustani Classical Music: Pt Jaiteertha Mevundi, Dr Dhananjay Daithankar and Pt Vijay Bakshi paying a  tribute to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi with  their performances.    
  

     Pt Jayteertha Mevundi was splendiferous as he opened the evening with spell bounding renditions of the Ragas- Marwa and Chhayanat and a thumri in Kafi that set the mood of the evening. The eve was intended as a tribute to Bharat Ratna Pt Bhimsen Joshi and Jayteerth‘s ease of flow of musical notes and his Bhim Anna like swar lagav (note stress) which is a speciality of Kirana Gayaki deported the audience into a time and space the music connoisseur Punekar’s seemed to have missed…

     Dr Dhananjay Daithankar’s mellifluous rendition of the teevra and shudha madhyam Raga Maru-Bihag reminded us of his Guru Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma. His, precision of note, immaculate sync with the tabla (tabla by Satyajeet Talwalkar s/o Taal-yogi Pt Suresh Talwalkar) and his mastery over the santoor made it an unforgettable experience.
                                                                
     It was special moments indeed when  Pt Vijay Bakshi the renowned Guru from Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune whose name is synonymous to Anvat Ragas for those in the know, gave the audience a grand surprise by taking up Raga Bihag and Jog enthralling the connoisseur and the novice both... Over the years, Panditji has amalgamated and blended several (styles) gayakis of Hindustani Classical Music, predominantly the Gwalior, Kirana and Patiala Gharanas and has evolved a very distinct style of his own… The audience was glued to their seats as he unfolded the two Ragas using Khandmer patterns and extremely complex sargam patterns, etching an everlasting impression on one and all.
      The notes of  the Pandit Bhimsenji’s   Bhairavi ‘Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada’ that was played towards the end of the Sangeet Manthan-2011 eve still  linger in my ears as I wind up this post…
These were two of the -Bhim Anna tribute- events that I attended… I have also seen event organisers using to –Bhim Anna tribute- tag as a marketing gimmick… in fact, a lot of the tribute events are using it as a cash cow… well to each one his own…
The_Word…
P.S. >> Just two, probably three days ago, we lost to nature’s mercy yet another singing great- Sangeet Ratna Madhav Gudi- one of Bhim Anna’s best disciples, someone whom Bhimsenji thought would be the torch bearer of the Kirana Gharana post Panditji…
Pt Bhimsen Joshi's Bhajans