by Sean Westergaard
Nikhil Banerjee was one of India's great sitarists, having studied with the legendary Allaudin Khan (who also taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, his son). Here he performs &Raga Bageshree,& recorded in a German studio in 1971. Banerjee is reported to have felt confined by studio recordings, preferring live performances (which were often recorded and released), so this is a bit of an anomaly for him. It's easy to see that he likes to stretch things out when the 17-plus-minute alaap portion is referred to as a &short alaap.& After unfolding the alaap, Banerjee is joined by tabla and tamboura for a medium-paced seven beat gat and a fast gat in tintaal (16 beats) to close the performance. His technique and phrasing, as always, are impeccable. Nikhil Banerjee may not be well-known to more than a handful of Indian music aficionados, but that's not because he doesn't deserve it.