Indian classical music’s finest and folk/fusion rock’s dependables came together along with speakers, authors and designers to draw from the wellspring of poet Saint Kabir
At the second edition of the Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi last week, there was a connection between geography, history and art that few festivals in the country can claim to make successfully. Across two days, on November 11 and 12, Indian classical music’s finest and folk/fusion rock’s dependables came together along with speakers, authors and designers to draw from the wellspring of one of India’s near-mythical status poets, Saint Kabir.
As is the tradition in classical music festivals, including the Jodhpur RIFF, there were morning and evening sessions of performances across two days. You really haven’t experienced classical music in this kind of setting until you’ve heard santoor prodigy Kumar Sarang and tabla player Shrutisheel Uddhav render raag Bhairavi or veteran vocalist Rashmi Agarwal just as the mist over the Ganga river clears behind them and the sun comes into view. Kumar Sarang and Shrutisheel Uddhav share an excited smile as they perform, closing with added vocals from Kumar, using the Kabir couplet ‘Moko Kahan’.
What followed was a dastan-e-goi by Ankit Chadha, easily one of the best highlights for any music and non-music lover. This was where the festival’s main showcase of literature, music and culture came together with great modern relevancy, Chadha sitting and boldly talking about Kabir in a way that everyone understood, laughed and nodded in agreement to.
If Chadha had attained rockstar status by the end of his session, it was a sign of things to come on the music side of the festival. The Mahindra Kabira Festival had enlisted rockstars who knew their Kabir – Hindustani vocal veteran Shubha Mudgal (who closed proceedings on day one with stirring renditions of Kabir, including ‘Saheb Hain Rangrez’), master drummer Nathulal Solanki (world-renown for collaborating with everyone from Ben Walsh to Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, but every bit humble as he performed on day two) and of course, folk fusion rocker Kailash Kher’s Kailasa. The band who closed proceedings at the festival were received with roaring applause throughout and Kher, still a jokey humble guy, managed to bring out all the hits at their highest volume, something that may have irked some of the classical music listeners who’d stayed to check it out.
The headline sessions were interspersed with acts that would be great new discoveries for any crossover crowd that wasn’t averse to contemporary retellings. Among the strongest storytellers of Kabir (and Rahim) was singer-songwriter Harpreet, who played his heart out twice at the festival. Meanwhile, Mumbai-based fusion act Maati Baani became a new discovery for many, their friendly energy (and Varanasi-bred French clarinet/saxophone player Madhav’s impeccable skill) keeping the crowd at Assi Ghat interested.
Although Maati Baani too picked ‘Moko Kahan’, Bengaluru-based Bindumalini and Chennai-based Vedanth Bharadwaj (on day one, at the Chhota Nagpur ka Bageehca stage) were a little more even-tempered in their presentation, picking Kabir and Kumar Gandharv works with help from percussionist Ajay Tipanya. Day one’s evening session mood-setters where dependable voices such as the versatile Vishnu Mishra and Rajasthani vocalist Mahesha Ram, whose rustic yet hypnotic music had everyone clapping along.
In between, nuggets of Kabir – courtesy of celebrity designer Aabha Dalmia and writer Vinayak Sapre (who linked economics, commerce and Kabir’s poetry with mixed results)—were proof enough that here is literature and history that is striving to be current. It’ll be interesting to see how the festival curates more names influenced by Kabir. Perhaps that would be a true testament of the saint poet’s relevancy, as well as the festival.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Anurag Tagat / November 21st, 2017
