Explosive jugalbandi by Ustad, son

A welcome spurt in the number of second and third generation artists in the ongoing Saptak festival in Ahmedabad could be seen when star students of the Senia gharana, Aman Ali Bangash and Ayan Ali Bangash strode into the music world with relative ease. This, since they train with their illustrious guru and famous father Amjad Ali Khan.

But this family trait alone was not sufficient for the grand showing of their art on the sarod on the fifth day of the festival.

They opened their recital after an exhilarating tabla duet earlier. Ali brothers had to their credit an alap, jor jhala mould of behag followed by the composition of the same raga in different movements - show, medium-fast or super fast which had melody and harmony that could speak directly to the audience. At its best their music was a connoiseur's delight - electric in style and lucid in presentation. In intimate accord with the sarod duo was mature Vijay Ghate who supplemented their music with his tabla sangat emphasising rythmic virility and tricky movements.

Tabla wizard Ustad Allah Rakha's tabla jugalbandi with son Fazal Qureshi and celebrated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan was easy to describe as a resounding success.

The explosive father-son combination engaged in tabla talk in an ecstastic joint performance, a delight for the music buffs.

They beat out rhythms and simulated the conversation and wordy exchanges between the orthodox parent and youthful son, through bols, taals and baaz in various situations. This was the cream performance of the festival thus far. Particularly regaling the people of the day was their high-pitch sawal-jawab resonating improvisations on the 'daaya' and 'baaya' brought in some exciting musical moments last evening.

Compiled from local news media