The 2025 Komal Rishabh season is off to a great start. The first concert of the season featured a vocal concert by Supriyo Dutta, an established vocalist hailing from the Indore gharana. Accompanying him on the sarangi and tabla were Sangeet Mishra and Aarchik Banerjee; a young but formidable team of musicians. Our own members Anirudha Phatak and Devayani Pradhan provided support on the harmonium and tanpura.

Supriyoji commenced his performance with the raag Marwa. It was a tribute to the name of our organization “Komal Rishabh”, since Komal Rishabh is the note of utmost importance in the raag Marwa. This beautiful sunset time raag belongs to the Marwa thaat, but drops the pancham (“Pa” note) altogether. Though Marwa shares the same scale as Pooriya and Sohoni, it has a distinct “feel” due to the difference in chalan (melodic formulation), uchcharan (intonation of swar) and vadi-samvadi (mainly emphasized notes). The notes komal Re and shudha Dha are the dominant notes of Marwa. There is always a samvaad (conversation) happening between these two notes in the raag. Another interesting fact is that the shadaj (Sa) is skipped during this dialogue between these two notes and the note Ni has a weak presence. Supriyoji presented a vilambit Jhoomra (14 beat) composition, Piya Morey Anat Des Galhilo. Being an ardent fan of Ustad Amir Khan saheb, who founded the Indore gharana, I personally looked forward to listening to this style of gayaki.

It is very meditative, immersive and unhurried. Supriyoji delivered with aplomb; slowly unfolding one delicate note at a time. The Re, Dha conversation explored all the beautiful shruties (microtones) of this majestic raag. After a little mic issue was corrected, the melodious strains of sarangi filled the baitak space and added to the meditative trance. In this gayaki style, the tabla theka is soft and unobtrusive. Young Aarchik came through and provided perfect theka for Jhoomra. The intricate sargams and sapat taans (taans traversing across the octaves) were breathtakingly beautiful. It takes years and years of rigorous riyaaz (practice) to achieve this level of mastery. Kudos to all the artists for their dedication to this artform. A madhya laya (medium tempo) bandish in teentaal (16 cycle beat) came next: Guru bina gyaan na pavay. Again the artists’ technical mastery was on full display. Supriyoji demonstrated different types of taans. Even at fast speeds the taans were crystal clear. Next came Megh Malhar. Very apt for the rainy spring day in Michigan.

Two compositions, a Jhaptaal(10 beat cycle) bandish Garaje Ghata and a tarana in Ektaal (12 beat cycle) were presented. Again here, Megh and Madhmad Sarang share the same scale, so it is very important to differentiate the two while singing. Suprioji did that with his majestic andolans (oscillations) on Re and Ni thereby creating the mood of clouds swirling. It added to the charm of April showers. The taranas by Ust Amir Khan saheb are the gold standard. It was heartwarming to hear that tradition being cultivated by artists like Supriyoji. The anataras are Persian rubais (Persian verses usually quatrain, meaning they have four lines) with deep spiritual meaning. Ust Amir Khan himself composed many of Amir Khusro’s Persian taranas in various raags. It was indeed a treat to hear the Megh tarana.

Post interval, Supriyoji presented raag Jog. After a detailed aalap which explored the interplay between both the Gandhars (Ga) that is used in Jog, he sang the popular bandish in teentaal; Saajan morey ghar aaye. We were enthralled by the intricate sargam patterns, or the “Merukhand” method of improvisation which was popularized by Ust Amir Khan saheb.Merukhand involves structuring phrases around a fixed set of swaras (notes).

A brisk tarana in teentaal followed. Again, Sangeet Mishraji’s sangat on the sarangi provided an added layer of beauty and elicited a lot of “wah wahs” from the audience. Aarchik once again provided the perfect theka that was required to enhance the music. Our own Phatakji gave a very pleasant sangat on the harmonium and young Devayani should be commended for playing the tanpura steadily for the entire concert.

The concluding pieces were a Dadra, Kaisa Jaadu daar gayo re in raag Gara (relatable to the song Mohe Panghat pe Nandlal ched gayo re from Mughal-e-Azam) and a Meerabai bhajan in raag Bhairavi; Koi kahiyo re prabhu aavan kee. The “shringar ras” (romantic feel) came out gushing in Supriyoji’s rendition of the Dadra. Aarchik should be commended for his laggis (high speed repetitive compositions played in Dadras, Thumris etc). He has a bright future. The sarangi phrases were icing on the cake. The concert ended with the divine notes of Bhairavi. Like Supriyoji said, it started and ended with raags that have a prominent Komal Rishabh.

After our long winter, it was nice to meet up with KR members again and partake in this joy of listening to top grade artists in an intimate baitak setting. Many thanks to Dr. Bhagat and Geetaji for hosting the concerts. Looking forward to the next concert on May 18th. Until then, enjoy the May flowers resulting from the April showers.

The second Komal Rishabh concert of 2025 season featured the eagerly anticipated vocal concert by the leading vocalist of Mewati gharana, Pandit Sanjeev Abhayankar.

Accompanying him on the tabla and harmonium respectively were Shri Sanjay Deshpande and Shri Abhishek Shinkar. True to his reputation, Sanjeevji delivered a spellbinding concert.

The concert started with the beautiful notes of the pleasing afternoon raag, Bhimpalasi. There is indeed something magical about the way Sanjeevji approaches “swar lagaav” (treatment of swar/notes). It literally feels like he is slowly peeling open the petals of a beautiful rose and bringing our attention to every little vein on each petal. The vilambit Ektaal (12 beat cycle) composition by Pandit Jasraj ji, Kagava Bole Moree Atariya had a very unusual sam (first beat) on the ‘Dha” note. Bhimpalasi skips Dha on the aaroh (ascending scale) and on the descending scale it uses a pleasing dheerga (elongated) “Dha”. It gave me goosebumps every time Sanjeevji landed on the Dha. There were so many subtle variations in the way he came to the Dha, that I lost count. I could completely understand when he talked about forgetting technicalities after a certain point in one’s musical journey and just creating! As Sanjeevji gently unfolded the raag for us, we were treated to intricate sargams and taans which enthralled the Komal Rishabh audience.

The popular bandish in teentaal Ja Ja re Apne Mandirva followed. With the perfect blend of technical virtuosity and soul, Sanjeevji took the bandish to another level. The subtle laykaari and the way the “mukhda” (first line of the composition) melted in with it, was once again magical. Here, it is important to mention Sanjayji on the tabla. Just recently we heard Sanjayji accompany an artist from a different gharana which demanded a very aggressive style of playing. Here, Sanjayji adapted to a very different approach and provided perfect “sangat” (accompaniment). The soft theka complimented the compositions perfectly. Young Abhishek once again won the hearts of KR audience with the way he echoed the vocalist. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of him in the coming years.

Next came the raag Saraswati. An offshoot of the Carnatic Vachaspati (64th melakarta scale in Carnatic classification), this raag with its serene teevra (sharp) Ma evokes feelings of devotion. Sanjeevji sang a beautiful composition in Ektaal composed by his mother Smt. Shobha Abhayankar, Lagee Lagan Tum Sanga Shaam Kanhayee. Sanjeevji gave an extensive “tour” of the raag as the audience soaked in the divine mood that was created. The taans showed the marriage between technical wizardry and imagination. Hovering around different notes in the raag, teevra Ma, Pa, Re and komal Ni, we got to hear mind boggling patterns. We bow down to such sadhana (dedication) to music.

After a brief interval, Sanjeevji opened with Bageshree Ang ka Chandrakauns. This raag skips the Re and Pa of Bageshree and what results is a pentatonic scale. He sang two compositions, again composed by Smt. Shobha Abhayankar. Slow tempo Rupak, Piya Bina Nahin Parata Ek Palahu Chaina. Sanjeevji encouraged the audience to enjoy the “anahata naad” or the sustained notes leading into silence, in silence, rather than applaud and break the spell. That makes perfect sense in the context of Indian classical music. The meends (glides between notes) in the raag brought a sense of tranquility. The dhrut teentaal composition Le Jaare Jaare Kagwa followed. Sanjeevji displayed delightful laykaari in the composition with Sanjayji matching the excitement on the tabla. Once again the complex and yet precise taans took our breath away. Sanjeevji mentioned that beyond all technical perfection is the concept of “bhaav” (emotion).

He demonstrated this with raag Shivaranjani. Again a composition by Shobhaji, Tum Bina Kaun Leta Khabar Moree. Every note tugged at our heartstrings and we had many moist eyes in the audience when he finished singing the composition. It was perhaps a good place to end, but we had the case of “dil maange more”. Panditji obliged and sang a Kabir bhajan in Bhairavi, Lagan Bina Jaage Na Nirmohee. As Kabir says in the bhajan, without total devotion one can’t realize, evoke the Lord.

Sanjeevji showed us that his journey of total devotion to this artform has led him here. We are indeed lucky that we get to be a part of his journey as he shares his voice with us. We look forward to hearing him again on his tour in 2028.

We have an amazing line up for the season. See you all at concert #3. Until then, stay calm and listen to Nayaki Kanada