Rakesh Chaurasia

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

Rakesh Chaurasia

A famous name attached to this musician, young Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is today amongst the front ranking disciples of his guru and shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy into the next millennium.

Just like his legendary uncle, Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. His dexterous blowing technique coupled with his training of 'swara' and 'tala' exudes adeptly in his emotions through the hollow piece of bamboo.

Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts. He is also an accomplished playback musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. During all this time Rakesh has never deviated from his main goal which is becoming a full-fledged classical musician.

Amongst other accolades and awards bestowed on this young artist is the first prize at the South Central Zone Cultural Center, Nagpur for the most promising young artist in 1989 and the Jadubhatta Puruskar awarded by the Salt Lake Cultural Association in 1995. Rakesh has regularly appeared in prominent festivals like the St. Xavier's in Bombay, and the Festival of India in Russia, Japan and USA, just to name a few.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

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Posted: 19 years ago

Rakesh Chaurasia
Bamboo Flute

Rakesh Chaurasia: A famous name attached to this musician; young Rakesh is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. The most accomplished of disciples of his uncle, he shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights. Just like his legendary uncle, Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. His dextrous blowing technique coupled with his training of 'swar' and 'tala' exudes adeptly in his emotions through the hollow piece of bamboo. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and USA. He has composed music and collaborated with artists such as the Greek legend, Petroloukas Chalkias, Spanish guitarist Marco Salaun, Indian jazz pianist Louis Banks and percussionist, Taufiq Qureshi, amongst others. He makes a welcome return to the Leicester International Music Festival, after an outstanding performance in the 2003 festival.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

Rakesh Chaurasia

Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew and front-ranking disciple of Padma Vibhushan Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. Rakesh started training with the maestro from the age of seven and has accompanied him the world over since the age of thirteen. Like his illustrious uncle, Rakesh is known for his strong phoonk and clarity of notes. Rakesh also gives solo performances and has toured many countries. He was on a jugalbandi tour recently with Rahul Sharma (son of santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma) on the santoor. Rakesh has also made a foray into ghazals and film music and is a regular featured artist in Pankaj Udhas' troupe. He tours the U. S. on a regular basis.

ICMCA rasikas had the pleasure of listening to Rakesh and Rahul Sharma in 2001.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

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Posted: 19 years ago

Striking the right note

Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of the flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, is making a mark in the music firmament. Adept at playing the classical genre, he is equally at home in fusion ventures as well.

MELODIOUS PLAY: Rakesh Chaurasia — Photo: Mohd Yousuf LISTENING TO Rakesh Chaurasia's flute play is like listening to his uncle - for such is the similarity in style. He is a chip off the old block as far as the art of playing the flute is concerned. The physical resemblance too is marked. Carrying on the legacy is difficult but Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of the illustrious Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, has not allowed that to bother him or hinder his flute play. Trained under guruji-babuji as he calls him in the guru-shishya parampara, Rakesh is at home playing classical, composing music and playing the flute for some thematic albums like Farewell and Brindavan Mukti. While in Hyderabad, he spent a few minutes talking about himself and his projects. "I am fortunate to be trained by babuji. Despite his busy schedule he teaches the students whenever he finds time. In our classes there is nothing written down. While playing, babuji improvises. This improvisation is important in classical music. And once we hear, all the students then practice," says this bright protg, who picked up the flute at the age of seven. Rakesh tours with Panditji a lot and these tours are part of the learning process. "Besides music, I learnt how to be down-to-earth looking at babuji. There is no showmanship. He does everything himself. He lives and breathes music. I am privileged to be with him," says Rakesh. How do you live up to the expectations of people? "I keep up my riyaaz. Practice is the exercise which even babuji advocates. The riyaaz itself takes care of breathing - inhaling and exhaling. For building up stamina one has to do other exercises like walking and jogging. Rakesh Chaurasia proves his mettle as a composer in the album Farewell where the music is sombre. This 'sentimental' album is soulful and ideal for long drives. "Listening to such music eases the tension of driving. In fact I like listening to such music (jazz and light jazz) which is easy on the ear. That is why I try to compose such music." He shares his thoughts on fusion having participated in fusion ventures himself. "Classical musicians should be open-minded. There is always something to learn from somebody. Wearing jeans and kurta itself is fusion. One needs spontaneity and the ability to improvise swiftly in fusion projects." Recently, Rakesh has worked on an album Veera with Talvin Singh. It is a traditional tabla-flute album recorded in London. This talented flautist plays in Bollywood films but is not interested in composing for them at the moment. Rakesh loves to listen to western and Indian classical music - anything from jazz, ghazals to classical particularly Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Rashid Khan besides the flute maestros of the South, Mahalingam and N. Ramani. While playing the flute Rakesh endorses there is a spiritual connection with Krishna. "You can feel the contact and this inspires you," says this talented artiste, who is inching his way up the musical horizon.

RADHIKA RAJAMANI

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

An evening with maestros

The Falaknuma Palace came alive with lines of poetry read by Javed Akhtar and musical notes by Louis Banks, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia and Sabir Khan. RADHIKA RAJAMANI reports on the event, 'Maestros at the Palace'

UNDER THE open sky in the lawns, a gentle breeze blowing through the resplendently lit Falaknuma Palace with reverberations of poetry and music - this 'royal' ambience provided the perfect setting for a reading of poems by none other than poet, script-writer, lyricist Javed Akhtar and an evening of music set ablaze by a quartet who performed in Hyderabad for the first time. Louis Banks, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia and Sabir Khan along with Javed Akhtar were the Maestros at the Palace - an event presented by 100 Pipers in association with Taj Krishna. While liquor flowed freely accompanied by the hors d'oeuvres, the rustle of crepes and silks at the soiree and conversation streaming forth from people huddled in groups - the atmosphere of Falaknuma was enlivened. And when Javed Akhtar started his presentation it transported the audience to the 'medieval' ages where such poetry sessions were the order of the day. Falaknuma came out of the pages of history to create another history. But there was a difference. The traditional sitting arrangement as in 'mushairas' gave way to plastic chairs and of course modern sound equipment made its presence. Gone were the 'literary' men and instead the cognoscenti took their place. And they had to wait quite some time standing on their toes to enter the 'literary arena' as it was opened up late. The late start was nothing new considering the Hyderabadi penchant for delayed starts. Once Javed Akhtar came on stage after an elaborate introduction by the compere, his first comment created a rapport with the audience. "This is flattering but frightening because it is usually bestowed posthumously," he said before stating "these are confused times. Prime Minister is writing poetry and poets are giving speeches," before quickly going on to his job. The next one-hour (almost) was one of good lines laced with intermittent humour (which certainly broke the monotony and endeared the audience to him). One certainly felt that a transparent screen would have been a suitable backdrop instead of the dark black one, which obstructed the grand total view of the palace. As he started reading from his internationally-acclaimed Tarkash, there was pin-drop silence which was interrupted by wah wahs and claps. Nazm after nazm followed and when a plane flew overhead it invited Javed to say "Thank god we are not in Iraq". Chaste Urdu was interspersed with English lines. Mujhko yakin, Yeh khel kya hai (written recently), Do raha (dedicated to his daughter) Gehra sannata hai (fasad ke baad which also stimulated quite a few artists to translate it on to the canvas. Rina Singh, Parvez Ahmed, Shuchita Sharma and Dinesh Rai conveyed the trauma of emotions through mostly abstract works filled with colours) and more followed while the audience savoured every moment of it.

MESMERISING MUSIC: The quartet provided scintillating moments. — Photos: Mohd Yousuf Javed Akhtar's voice besides the words, has a mesmeric quality and he used both to the hilt. He has travelled a long way since he first read poems many years ago with his father-in-law in this very city. "I started reading with shivering legs in Kaifi Saab's presence," said this seasoned writer, who has since then, surged ahead in the literary field. The tribute to his father-in-law Kaifi Azmi (whom he described as a great poet who practised what he preached) - Ajeeb aadmi tha who - written after his death was powerful and poignant and elicited a warm applause from the audience. He wound up his reading with his last nazm Waqt. Javed Akhtar's fondness for the city was reflected in his statements on how beautiful the city looked on each visit. The only thing, which baffles he said was when people ask him "paani nahaye kya?" (laughs) to which he feels like replying doodo nahao. A question answer session only exposed Javed saab's sharp wit. He certainly has a way with words. When a person asked him to complete the sentence Maine zindagi se seekha hai he replied "zindagi ek club hai where you get a membership at birth. So one should contribute before you cease to be a member," evoking loud claps. But one aspect he exhorted was poetry should not just entertain but also make people think. The second half of the function after a short break was just music all the way. The quartet of Louis Banks on the keyboard, Taufiq Qureshi on the drums, Sabir Khan on the tabla and Rakesh Chaurasia on the flute provided some scintillating moments with their fusion of rhythms. The initial 'sound hiccups' notwithstanding, they entertained for more than an hour sadly though to a depleted audience towards the end. The stage had the required paraphernalia - coloured lights and coloured smoke billowed onto it creating a magical effect. After two 'abstract' untitled compositions (where the ripples of sound, the chirping of birds, the melody of the flute and rhythms of the tabla and drums wafted through the air and made some close their eyes to enjoy) Taufiq gave a small demonstration of different sounds - like breath, rhythm, breaking a champagne bottle, the sound of the train and the arrival of people, horses and others on arrival at the palace on the drums reflected his dexterity (which is in his genes - he is the son of Ustad Alla Rakha and brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain). The rhythmic fusion had a good 'dialogue' between the flute and percussion while the keyboard provided the background music.

The surprise package of the evening was Raza Ali Khan, grandson of the late Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who provided the vocal element. Raza Ali rendered a shlok Mahadev... a composition of his late grandfather with verve. He sang at a high pitch though one thought that for fleeting seconds he lost control of the sruti at the higher pitches. While the rendition (which he dedicated to peace and harmony) was pure, the music was a confluence of various sounds. It seemed as if the background music took a backseat to the lyrical rendition. This was followed by Chashme purave uspe bhi jigar jalte hain (kakaroon sajni) before Raza Ali sang a ghazal of Javed Akhtar Dard ke phool bhi khilte hain, bikhar jaate hain... which was the musical translation - the finale. One walked out of the palace almost at midnight with the lines and notes echoing in the 'starry' atmosphere.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

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Posted: 19 years ago

Instrumental Duet
	Rakesh Chaurasia Flute Abhijit Pohankar Indian Classical Keyboards Pt. Vijay Ghate Tabla
Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is today amongst the front ranking disciples of his guru and shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy into the next millennium. Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flutist. Abhijit Pohankar, son of well-known vocalist Pt. Ajay Pohankar, is an eminent classical instrumentalist in his own right. Abhijit plays hindustani classical music on the keyboard. Abhijit received his early training from his grandmother, Dr.Smt.Susheela Pohankar and his father Pt.Ajay Pohankar. Currently, Abhijit is being groomed by the great Santoor maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma. Pt. Vijay Ghate is considered by vocalists, instrumentalists, and by classical dancers as one of the best of the young tabla players of India. Vijay learned his art at a very early age under under the tutelage of Pt. Suresh Talwalkar. Even at the age of 16 he became well-known for his scintillating solo performance, as well as, accompaniment with vocal and instrumental music and kathak dance. Vijay is known for clarity, dexterity, and purity of various complicated, tabla compositions.