Day 4 & 5 at 37th Annual Saptak Music Festival

On the fifth day of music festival, Ustad Shujaat Khan gave a very enjoyable performance on sitar.  It was an evening for the sitar lovers of the city of Ahmedabad. The Ustad belonging to Itava Gharana began with the raga marubihag. He started with ’aalap, jod and jhala’ carving out thought provoking phrases in a precise and pensive manner. His strokes of ‘mijraf’ were powerful showing virtuosity while playing several notes in a single stroke. He presented focal tunes ‘sa ga ma pa, ma  ga ma pa ga re sa’ of  marubihag displaying clear perception of the melody.

The Ustad played many compositions. The gharana is known for rendering vocal music through the medium of sitar. He concluded his concert with singing folk music like ‘rangi sari chunariya’. He concluded with a ‘dhoon’. He played sitar to an enraptured audience at the music festival.  Shri Sapan Anjaria and Shri Amit Choubey gave excellent percussion support.

On the fourth day of the festival Shri Rattan Mohan Sharma, a student of Pt. Jasraj gave an entertaining vocal performance. Evolving spiritual mood he recited religious mantras. He gradually merged into a slow tempo khayal in raga gorakhkalyan. He presented all the salient features of the Mevati  Gharana. He concluded with a haveli music composition. He was supported by his students in haveli music. He was supported on pakhavaj by Shri Hemant Bhatt and tabla by Shri Mukund Pelkar.

Photographs : Aditya Sharma