Drum roll

By Nilanjana Debnath

At times you thought they were talking to you in loud bursts of bols. At others, you thought you heard thunder. With an array of drums and five pair s of deft hands, the evening of 26th August was a treat to those present at the ICCR auditorium, Kolkata. The packed hall witnessed Pandit Shankar Ghosh presenting the performance of The Calcutta Drum Orchestra as part of the 'Live in' series that is being curated by percussionist Bickram Ghosh.

In a short speech before the programme , Bickram Ghosh situated The Calcutta Orchestra as a significant influence in his personal history and a chief influence behind his musical interests. He preferred to call it an ensemble that his father and guru Pandit Shankar Ghosh had started in the late Fifties. Pandit Ghosh had just retuned to India then, leaving the promise of a career abroad, only to find suitable musicians for his orchestra. Once here, Bickram Ghosh recalls how their house was used as the studio with all the various kinds of drums housed there.

The show began with a choutaal composition, Devotion. The group of five, well-seasoned hands belted out pieces such as Garland and Happiness. Happiness opened with a burst of dhaak bears that, without doubt, matched the rhythm of anticipation of the festival of joy in the Bengali hearts. The 77 year old maestro was on stage throughout, tirelessly directing the tabla players who had been introduced by Pandit Shankar Ghosh as a handful who remained of the original troupe. The players on stage poured their hearts out and worked their magic on percussion instruments such as tabla, pakhwaaj, dhol, drum sets and others. Accompanying the louder notes were the sharper and milder ones from jaltarang. The audience listened, in awe of the men on stage, and at one point, when vision became inferior to the sense of sound, the tablas literally seemed to be on fire as smoky white haze accompanied every single strike on the diaphragm.