Planet drum
Get ready for a rendezvous with rhythm at the Mahindra Percussion Festival on March 23 and 24 in Bengaluru
After the fabulous response to its inaugural edition held in Bengaluru on March 18, 2023, the Mahindra Percussion Festival (MPF) returns as a twoday event this year. The venue will be Prestige Srihari Khoday Centre for Performing Arts.
To be held on March 23 and 24, the festival features a formidable lineup including ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram, djembe exponent Taufiq Qureshi, mridangam players Viveick Rajagopalan and Charu Hariharan, drummer Darshan Doshi and Bengaluru band Swarathma. Going by this list, it’s evident that there will be enough variety as the musicians collaborate to create fresh sounds. This has been the trend at such drum fests, whose popularity has increased over the years.
Says drummer Darshan Doshi, who is performing with the group Rhythms of India, “Besides the regular western drum kit, one can hear different types of percussion, from Hindustani and Carnatic to folk and Bollywood.”
The concept of percussion festivals isn’t new. Taal Vaadya concerts and Guru Purnima events dedicated to percussion teachers have been popular for a long time. The annual Barsi concert held in Mumbai, as a homage to legendary tabla artiste Ustad Alla Rakha, has featured many Indian artistes and wellknown international drummers such as Billy
Cobham, Vinnie Colaiuta, Pete Lockett and Simon Phillips, Congrero Giovanni Hidalgo, Sikiru Adepoju and Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto.
In 2016, drummer Gino Banks launched Mumbai Drum Day, inspired by a similar event organised by Modern Drummer magazine. “Though the focus was the western drum kit, they also had different genres. I wanted to do the same in India. Over the years, we have attempted different themes. In 2023, we had a western drummer play an Indian percussion instrument. This year, with Ustad Zakir Hussain in the lineup, we focused more on world music,” he says.
“Festivals such as MPF help turn the spotlight on drummers. In a regular concert, they get noticed only during their solos,” says Gino, who performed in the 2023 edition.
After Mumbai Drum Day found the right groove, the concept moved to other cities. Drummer Arun Kumar began curating the Bengaluru Drum Fest in 2019. Last year, tabla exponent Subhen Chatterjee and his drummerson Sambit Chatterjee, curated the first Kolkata International Drum Festival.
These events feature percussionists from across the country. The audiences are a good mix of connoisseurs and lay listeners. Says Darshan, “Different people relate to drumming in different ways. The diverse lineup enhances the appeal.”
Says Taufiq Qureshi, who has adapted Hindustani rhythms to the African djembe, “I’ve seen people taking a sudden liking to the djembe after seeing me or my son Shikhar Naad Qureshi play on stage. Many youngsters now want to learn this African instrument. After the pandemic, online classes have become regular.”
At MPF, Taufiq Qureshi will lead his group Surya, which has taken on many avatars since its formation in the late 1980s. The forthcoming show will feature him on the djembe, Shikhar Naad on the drums and djembe, Abhay Nayampally on the guitar, Sarang Kulkarni on the sarod and Kaushiki Joglekar on the keyboards. Rhythms of India will have Darshan on the drums, B.C. Manjunath on the mridangam, Varijashree Venugopal on vocals and the flute, and Pravin Rao on the keyboards and tabla.
Multipercussionist Charu Hariharan has an interesting set. Her main quartet features her on the mridangam, vocals and assorted percussion, Pranay Verma on the guitar, Shalini Mohan on the bass and Manonmani on the sarangi. Says Charu, “The show is a threelayered presentation — the quartet, Kozhikode Nanthalakootam folk musicians from Kerala and tribal musicians from the Jenukuruba honeycollecting community of Nagarhole in Karnataka.
“The folk musicians have tudumba, a big bass drum like the nagara, and tudi, an ancient drum. The Nagarhole tribal musicians use kotta datte, using three rows of bamboo, the burude, a gourd used as a shaker, and gajje, which is like a manjira. They also convert a lot of plastic items as drums. There is also something called ‘disu’, which is basically a dish antenna, played with sticks,” says Charu.
Viveick Rajagopalan will perform with two different sets — ‘Two Summ’ with mridangam artiste Anantha R. Krishnan, which will blend Carnatic rhythms with electroacoustic sounds, and Ashtanayika, a fusion of Surdas’s poetry, Kuchipudi dance and the raw narratives of rap with assorted rhythms.
Vikku Vinayakram’s Ghatam Ensemble will feature his son V. Selvaganesh on the kanjira whereas in the Swarathma Percussive Experience, members of Bengalurubased folkfusion band Swarathma will be joined by different percussionists, including Karthik Mani, Thavil Raja and Beat Gurus.
Percussionists now are open to new sounds. For instance Charu Hariharan, who after learning the mridangam from Mannarkoil J. Balaji joined slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya’s project ‘O Shakuntala’. Her mind opened up to global sounds after participating in the Ethno Sweden World Music Camp, and later joining the world folk ensemble, Varldens Band. “I am also keen to discover drum sounds closer home.”
According to Vikku Vinayakram, such festivals can help young drummers broaden their perspective and take in new ideas. He says, “I have always told my students to approach music with an open mind. Keep adding to your repertoire and allow your style to evolve. It’s important to adapt to every situation.”
Adds his son Selvaganesh, who was part of ‘This Moment’ that won the Grammy this year, “instrumentalists, especially percussionists, have never had it so good. Over the past few years, I have learnt more by interacting with musicians from around the world. Believe in your training and make the most of the exciting opportunities coming your way.”
The rhythms never stop flowing on Planet Drum.