RhythmMusic
January/February 1997
Nikhil Banerjee: Rag Malgunji Nikhil Banerjee, sitar; Anindo
Chatterjee, tabla. The death of Nikhil Banerjee in 1986, at age
55, left a terrible gap in Indian music. Besides Manilal Nag,
there are few today who exemplify the sitar tradition in which
the ancient dhrupad style and the frenetic khyal are so perfectly
balanced. Raga Records has released many of Banerjee's concert
performances, which find him at his best. This 79-minute raga
comes from a Munich recital in 1980. "Malgunji' is similar
to the sweetness of "Rageshri" and is a rare variant
of the work. Banerjee and Chatterjee are in top form, and the
sound is superb. Raga plans more releases of Banerjee and has
a website (http://www.raga.com.) detailing past and future projects.
A remarkable document. -- Allan Evans
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