EAST ANGLIAN, Daily Times

   ESSEX UK 30th April 2005

   Calcutta Connection. By Andrew Lindsey, EAST ANGLIAN, Daily Times. 30th April 2005.  

THINK of India music and for many the first sound that springs to mind is the characteristic timbre of the sitar - certainly not the guitar.
 
As for the distinctive, slippery, steely sound effects of the slide guitar, these mainly conjure up the world of American blues MUSIC.
 
It seems far-fetched that slide guitar could hole associations with Calcutta. Yet there is a connection.
True, I do not claim to have specialist knowledge of Indian music, but or me it was intriguing to discover that the Riverboat Records label is launching an album called Calcutta Slide Guitar.

 
It was even more fascinating to gather that the guitarist featured on that new release is currently doing the rounds on his first UK tour specifically to promote the CD, and tomorrow he appears on our very door step, at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford, 7.30 pm.
 
Indian Guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya, pictured, specializes in slide guitar. He calls his recital a " trinity of guitars" because in the course of the performance he plays three different instruments belonging to the guitar family.
  
Apparently , Debashish himself invented the Chaturangi, a 24-string hollow-neck guitar.
Then there is the 14-string Gandharvi, which holds the longest glissando, and the Anandi, a four-string side ukulele, to be heard at the end of a performance.
 
All three instruments compile aspects of the western guitar with elements of traditional India instruments. Their origin dates back to the 1930s when Hawaiian musician Tau Moe introduced the lap steel guitar to India. The rest s history.
 
Debashish, a pioneer of Indian Classical guitar, has developed a distinctive three-finger picking style. Past performances displaying have technique have included Jhon Mclaughlin and Bob Brozman. 
 
Having studied under the legendary Brij Bhushan Kabra, popularly dubbed the Godfather of India Classical Guitar, here really is no way to describe this astonishing player short of seeing him live.
 
He will be accompanied on tabla by his talented brother Subhasis, who has regularly performed in most major India music festivals and has recorded four albums with Debashish and seven with Pandit Ajoy Chakrobarti.
 
Together, this extremely personable and gifted duo will take us on a timeless journey through the history of Indian classical music, bringing it into the 21st century, with detours into the blues and Hawaiian music as well. This promises to be a concert that will delight and amaze.