Sitar - Hidayat Khan
Tabla - Monir Hossain
The Sitar Concert will be preceded by a performance featuring the Chhandayan Tabla Ensemble:
Eric Phinney, Todd Miller, Mike Magilligan, Chris Caroll, Rajesh Shenoy and Ethan Fox
Hidayat Khan
“A daring dedicated performer. His fans fondly say he plays the sitar through strings that sing” an apt description by Vibe for the sitarist/ vocalist Hidayat Husain Khan.
Rolling Stones praises him and his music as “Jazzing up the sitar. Khan adds new shades to the music with his mastery.” He has been described, as “born to play” by Montreal Times.
“Charismatic, charming and fun, Hidayat Khan plays with the audience” by Off Beat.His music has been praised by Le Mond De as “Divinity” and “His music was transporting, piercing the soul till the last drops of emotions were flowing through the body.” By Khaleej Times. He is one of the rare sitarist who adds a soulful voice to his performance which Music-Online captured it well in “Dazzling bursts of amazing taans followed by mesmerizing vocals”
He has been fortunate to have performed at The Black Ball Charity in NYC with Alicia Keys and has collaborated with such illustrious musical names as Ndugu Chancler, Ronnie Woods, Usher, Zakir Hussain, Pete Townshend, Will.I.Am, Jay Z and Darryl Jones.
Few upcoming performances and albums include a musical theater with Danish Hussain which will premiere in October 2018 in New York City. “Music and Story” book release with author Namita Devidayal on the life of Ustad Vilayat Khan in fall 2018 will be interesting book reading with live performance. He has ongoing “Art of Sitar” lec/dem on creativity and music. His new Single “ Anjane Raste” with Carls Low and Amit Inderdo is to be released with a music video in July 2018.
His group album “Melodic Intersect” has been included in Grammy Ballot for the best World Music Album since 2016 where his music has been praised by The Chase as “Khan’s solo builds the intensity, with quick lines and flurries, leading the ensemble into a climax that is both musically satisfying and leads to the ending statement..” The ensemble’s recent sold out concert at the IndoJazz festival at The Jazz at Lincoln center was “ the most eclectic act, the group eschewed slow and steady melodic development for a mercurial pastiche of changing moods and modes” by The NYC Jazz World. The ensemble has garnered a lot of praises, described as a “Giant step forward in the richly growing discography of this cohesive and empathetic ensemble.” By The Jazz world and by SeattlePi as “The result is a world music that soothes and challenges simultaneously.”
His solo album “Ziver” was voted “One of the best world music albums of the year” by MTV music charts and “Beautiful and unconventional to the core” – Midday. His talent is not restricted to albums and live performances, he has lent his versatility in several film score compositions, the most famous being “Kamasutra.”
He harbors a rare, creative brilliance that effortlessly takes him across all genres and nuances of music and can seamlessly transition from the very classical playing the intricate meands (slides) of the Etawa/Vilayatkhani Gharana to the very colloquial. This is best reflected in The NYC Jazz World’s quote “performing in a style, which, while patently steeped in Hindustani (North Indian) influences, defied facile categorization” and in Jazz Weekly describes his music as “If you want to know true “world music” Khan might do it for you.”
It is not a surprise to know that he is a direct descendant and proponent of one of the most treasured lineages of eastern classical music. Youngest son of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, globally acclaimed as the greatest of all sitarists. The London Times aptly describes Hidayat as "the tradition carries on impeccably."
The following are few of his live performances:
Classical
1) Hidayat Khan live in concert: Raag Shahana
2) Hidayat Khan live in concert: Raga Gawti composition by Ustad Vilayat Khan
3) Hidayat Khan and Pandit Swapan Chaudhary : Raga Jogkauns and Khamaj
4) Live at Meteropolitan Museum, NYC
Jazz/Fusion
1) Sitar in the hills of Darjeeling with Hidayat Khan
2) Sitar Blues with Hidayat Khan
3) Melodic Intersect: World Fusion Group: Lovers’ Call ( LIVE RADIO, USA)
4) Melodic Intersect: World Fusion Group: Samosa (LIVE Radio, USA)
Monir Hossain
Monir has established himself as a dynamic tabla performer both as a solo and as an able accompanist with numerous prestigious performances to his credit.
He was born in a musical family, son of ustad Hafiz Hossain and grandson of late Ustad Kader Bux of Murshidabad, West Bengal. He is a senior disciple of Tabla Maestro Pandit Samar Saha.
Some of his notable performances are with Sarod Maestro Pt. Budhadev Das Gupta, Legendary (Late) Ustad Villayet Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Budhaditya Mukherjee, Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, Lakshmi Shankar, Ustad Fateh Ali khan, Pandit Rajiv Taranath, recently with sitar Maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez and numerous other musicians.
Some of the major venues include the Simthsonian Institution, Washington Conservatory of Music (WCM), Toronto Public Library, Colombia University, University of Alabama, Statson University, University of Maryland (UMBC) and numerous other prestigious venues. Monir also performed tabla solo in Berhampore, West Bengal, India on the occasion of his Grandfather (Late) Ustad Kader Buksh's birthday. Some of the noteworthy vocal performers from Pakistan and Bangladesh that he has performed with include Pakistan's Pop sensation Alamgir, Shahanaj Rahmatullah, Sabiha Mahboob and Fatema Tuz-zuhrah among many others.