Search - Pandit Nikhil Banerjee :: Lyrical Sitar

Peace, Devotion, and Romance from Banerjee

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 11/02/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This studio recording, done in Ludwigsburg, Germany, at some time in the 1980s before Nikhil Banerjee's death in 1986, provides three nice but short examples of his artistry: a morning rag combination of rag Nat and popular rag Bhairav in 16-beat teental; a light classical, romantic piece on khamaj with scale sampling freedom [mishra] and 7-beat rupaktal; and an encore folk melody from the mystic Bauls of Bengal. Banerjee trained under the guidance of Allaudhin Khan and his son Ali Akbar Khan; thus he has much of the depth and improvisational variation of these supreme masters of North Indian music. Although I prefer longer recordings of rags that allow more extensive development of the alap, the first movement, this album is still very worthy. There are a comparatively small number of recordings of this brilliant sitarist; each album gives us an appreciation of his art and what we have missed by his early passing."