“Very soon I will be doing something in the domain of Rabindra Sangeet… Kolkata besides being the native place of my guru Pt Ravi Shankar, is also where my Mohan Veena was made by a master karigar. I have been playing it for the past 38 years,” Bhatt told PTI recalling his deep rooted association with the Kolkata.
“My Mohan Veena resonates with the sur of Kolkata where children from every second household get talim in music and you can hear harmoniums in the evening as they practise,” he added.
Regretting he could not do a project on Rabindra Sangeet for so long despite being mesmerised with Gurudev’s ‘sur’ and ‘bhab’ due to lack of time, he said “It (the album) will be a blend of vocal and instrumentation.”
Since different genres of music are now more accessible on mobile, the compositions could also be available on the digital media, said Bhatt, who was in the city to perform a tribute to Pt Ravi Shankar at the ongoing Behala Classical Festival.
Asked if fusion was diluting the spirit of classical music, Bhatt said “In classical music there is no fusion. We cannot accept any fusion. In raag there is always a purity.”
Fusion music, he said, is a different genre. “It is meant to give a new dimension to a musician’s talent by combining other forms of music.”
The classical musical event also witnessed performances by Begum Parveen Sultana, Aman Ali Khan and Kumar Bose.
PTI