Till two days ago, I had only heard the name Pt Nikhil Bannerjee. Since then I have been listening to his wonderful performance for hours. Many thanks.
Nikhil Bannerjee is one of the few sitarist who was willing to learn from many different teacher masters. From my experience in India ,I have heard it said that he learned from Jon Gomesh (student of Enayat Khan), Radhika Mohan Maitra (my teacher) possibly Mushtaq Ali Khan, Allaudin Khan and Ali Akbar Khan. His playing style reflects this diversity and had been an influence on may sitarists.
The Greatest Sitari Player this world has known and generations will return to his way of offering Sitar Sounds to the world and wonder in amazement at his way of connecting to the very core of human hearts.
nikhilda was inspire all young artist of bengal in early eighties .his tonal quality, ragdari vister aanga like amir khan.5noats meend overall presentation till unparalall.-purnendu banerjee N.I.T Durgapur.
Nikhil Babu was a very silent matured Sitarist.What a Serene presentation of Bharavi ! One tends to go ina trance while listening to such compositions.
Thank you Daz - The pictures bring tears to my eyes as I listen. Thank you sir for making this. Keep on doing what you do. You have many fans friend. Keep this stuff alive brothers and sisters and thank people like Daz for the work he put in making this. As yes I know someone will possibly say -"The real work was done by Nikhil-Baba" -- but without these homages, if you will, especially in today's digital age... I don't know how this music would survive. Thank you again
In some concerts the tabla provides a cushion to the sitar or other instruments;in others, a complement; in still others, a friendly rival. Here it is a cushion making the sitar comfortable enough to shine; it doesn't overwhelm the sitar. That's just the way I like it. Very precious. Thanks for the post,daz199md.
It is difficult to believe that his alankars were wrong when he went to baba for the first time. Baba definitely an inparallel musician of all times. Now, we have to realize that he was a sarod player and definitely he did not know the intricate style of sitar playing. Traditional sitar players also find these lackings in Pt. Ravi Shankar.
Arijit1-Well, Baba did know how to play almost every north Indian musical instrument... I'm sure he knew his way around a sitar better than practically anybody even though he primarily played sarod... Can anybody tell me if he played rudra veena? I have seen pictures of veenas he's owned, but I know that Wazir Khan, his guru of the Indore Beenkar gharana, refused to teach him . . . Hmmm, interesting...
As far as I know Mr. NB learnt from legendary Ustad Mustaq Ali Khan for 10 years before he went to Baba. He is from Senia Jaipur Gharana found by Sangeet Samrat Tansen. Unlike Pt. Ravi Shankar, he follows traditional sitar stroke and style. I find his playing more moelodious.
I have read much about the history of NB. He learned originally from his DAD. He arrived at Baba's already technically brilliant;(except his "ornaments were all wrong") according to Baba! That is why Baba knew he had to teach NB differet than RS. It was at Baba's that he learned classical Indian music and the rest is history.
I try not to get into the who is better routine. They were different and we are all glad that they were both here.
Can someone help me understand something? Is this a raga, because the tabla begins quite early on in the song? I can't distinguish alap, jhor, jhala. Also obviously the length is too short for a raga. So what do you call this?
Has anyone Nikhil's Bhairavi from BBC Radio around 1973/4 Also same Radio performance Rag Charukeshi? I have on tape but quality isn't good. I think tabla accompaniment Kani Duuta.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This guy plays very nice. Ravi Shankar has alot of students. I hadn't heard of this student of Raviji. Thanks for posting man. It is very nice of you.
ajrahi, you have gone mad. stop calling every great sitarist, as ravi shankar's student. ravishankar cant even come close to nikhil da in quality. the only thing he is good is, in woowing goras, who anyways know nothing.
Who is a gora? -- correct me if I am mistaken (I can tell you are the type who savors such opportunities) but I sense the smallness of a bigot and supremacist behind your words.
by gora, no racist term meant. what i mean is largely western audiences, who are undereducated in the means of indian classcial music but get wowed by the mystical sounds. this is not to say the western culture doesnt understand music or that their love for indian music is false. but rather an acceptance of the fact that, this music requires years of training and learning, to be appreciated. so by gora i include indians who come to concerts of zakir bhai or raviji just because it is cool.
also, i agree to your comments about myself exhibiting supremacist and bogoted tendencies. i must say, my last comment "in woowing goras, who anyways know nothing." is not in the best of lights. but the chap ajrahi, goes to every sitar youtube video and calls everyone raviji's student which is irritating.
come on. just enjoy the music, if u prefer nikhil banerjee, no prob. he is one of the greates musicians, just because zair and ravi are more famous and did a lot of works with others, and westerns love to listen to them you can't put the down. this is your frustration that your favorite musician is not as famous as these people even though he is such a great musician.
"I can tell you are the type who savors such opportunities"....hahhaha i liked your sarcasm..i agree with u, people should really refrain themselves from such comments and only enjoy the music
Dear..thats what he is saying- Nikhil Bannerjee's learned music from 'Baba,' that is the nick name for Baba Allaudin Khan Sahib,who is also the teacher and ex-father-in-law of Ravishankar.
@ajrahi : It's not a crime if you hadn't heard Nikhilbabu who was ranked among the foremost of modern Indian sitar-players. Nor is it a crime if you thought he was a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He is after all of the Maihar Gharana, having studied with his father initially then he studied with a number of masters, including the Guru of Ravi Shankar, Baba Allauddin Khan and later with the Ustad's son Ali Abkar Khan, and also With Khansaab's sister, Annapurna Devi ( Ravi Shankar's first wife).
Beautifully done friend. You are a real lover of this man and we all are (Sitar and music lovers), and that should be enough for us to get along in this wicked world. Keep it up. You rock. I love how the drones are thuned to MA in this piece as well as Bannerjee's "Pa" are too tuned to Ma. Beautiful.
Nikhlda we miss you but the heavens are lucky.
achatterjee1920 1 week ago
Till two days ago, I had only heard the name Pt Nikhil Bannerjee. Since then I have been listening to his wonderful performance for hours. Many thanks.
hrshenoy1 1 month ago
What recording does this piece come from?
valdae 4 months ago
very nice indeed ;beware those with dibetes ; drink with care
drenched in sweet honey
shrewdfox1 7 months ago
wowwww..just wow..
utsabdas 7 months ago
love this dude!
wagishwa 8 months ago
Amazing!!! Pt. Nikhil Banerjee-- what a sitarist! Thanks for posting this amazing video
ThePranavKRao 11 months ago
beautiful music! but if you two are going to argue like this every 2 or three years im not going to post another comment........
chimoio100 1 year ago
the best wah wah subhanallah.
HMansur65 1 year ago
not heard before its too too touching justheavenly
chamannigam 1 year ago
he s acctually singinggg ...its sounds tat megnanimous.....Much better than Ravi shankar..
girishvocal1 1 year ago
notice how wicked intense the tabla introduces the melody at 125 you almost miss it cause the sitar is just so a desperately beautiful at that point
questions613 1 year ago 2
was this guy murdered??
machaud1 1 year ago
@machaud1 no, he died from heart failure in 1986
ManiDProductions 1 year ago
Can anyone tell me which album this is on i wanna buy it on itunes!
dontbeabetch4 1 year ago
@dontbeabetch4 i don't think you'll find it on itunes..but you can probably find a program to get the audio from this youtube video
ManiDProductions 1 year ago
Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece.
TheVitalstatistix 1 year ago
The Best ~ The Best ~ Dear God ~ Dear Multi Verse ~
anandvyasorg 1 year ago
Only Sitari Player I'll listen to...
hwichmann2007 1 year ago
Simply divine music
dpkelkar 1 year ago
Thank you very much for this upload!
gsm1950 1 year ago
How sweet it is. There is nothing like beautifully played Sitar supported by tabla.
bzulqarni 1 year ago
How sweet it is. There is nothing like beautifully played Sitar
bzulqarni 1 year ago
love, gratitude and sheer joy.....
Cypher88888888 1 year ago
Nikhil Bannerjee is one of the few sitarist who was willing to learn from many different teacher masters. From my experience in India ,I have heard it said that he learned from Jon Gomesh (student of Enayat Khan), Radhika Mohan Maitra (my teacher) possibly Mushtaq Ali Khan, Allaudin Khan and Ali Akbar Khan. His playing style reflects this diversity and had been an influence on may sitarists.
jshsitar 2 years ago
he had impeccable timing.
LionsLair8000 2 years ago 3
The Greatest Sitari Player this world has known and generations will return to his way of offering Sitar Sounds to the world and wonder in amazement at his way of connecting to the very core of human hearts.
VISHUDDHATMA 2 years ago
awesome....yhnks for posting and sharing it ! rgds
terjumawala 2 years ago
I read a journalist call Pandit~Ji's playing "profoundly sincere"
It is... I love this man and his music
anandvyasorg 2 years ago
simply marvelous!!!
0nman 2 years ago 4
nikhilda was inspire all young artist of bengal in early eighties .his tonal quality, ragdari vister aanga like amir khan.5noats meend overall presentation till unparalall.-purnendu banerjee N.I.T Durgapur.
panudevsharma 2 years ago
Nikhil Babu was a very silent matured Sitarist.What a Serene presentation of Bharavi ! One tends to go ina trance while listening to such compositions.
aniruddhacdeshmukh 2 years ago 2
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Actually he learned completely DIFFERENT STYLE form the same teacher. Baba Alluadin Khan
anandvyasorg 2 years ago
Thank you Daz - The pictures bring tears to my eyes as I listen. Thank you sir for making this. Keep on doing what you do. You have many fans friend. Keep this stuff alive brothers and sisters and thank people like Daz for the work he put in making this. As yes I know someone will possibly say -"The real work was done by Nikhil-Baba" -- but without these homages, if you will, especially in today's digital age... I don't know how this music would survive. Thank you again
anandvyasorg 2 years ago 15
thanks for the comment! its my pleasure
daz199md 2 years ago
@anandvyasorg totally agreewith you
chamannigam 1 year ago
@anandvyasorg thanks bhai
ManiDProductions 1 year ago
God resides within these gr8 musicians....have no words to express....
KathakSangita 2 years ago
This is just the best.
Shriner66 2 years ago 2
really i got wordless on this great artist's approach......... LAAJWAAB
mousiqui 2 years ago 2
Drumming is also spectacular. Love this music.
phvalue323 2 years ago 2
In some concerts the tabla provides a cushion to the sitar or other instruments;in others, a complement; in still others, a friendly rival. Here it is a cushion making the sitar comfortable enough to shine; it doesn't overwhelm the sitar. That's just the way I like it. Very precious. Thanks for the post,daz199md.
chamogaa 3 years ago
My name's Nikhil!
DarthNikhil 3 years ago
this is my favorite sitar player so far, .very nice
davidinfo13 3 years ago 4
ULTIMATE..........mind blowing!
guruji1 3 years ago
It is difficult to believe that his alankars were wrong when he went to baba for the first time. Baba definitely an inparallel musician of all times. Now, we have to realize that he was a sarod player and definitely he did not know the intricate style of sitar playing. Traditional sitar players also find these lackings in Pt. Ravi Shankar.
Arijit1 3 years ago
Arijit1-Well, Baba did know how to play almost every north Indian musical instrument... I'm sure he knew his way around a sitar better than practically anybody even though he primarily played sarod... Can anybody tell me if he played rudra veena? I have seen pictures of veenas he's owned, but I know that Wazir Khan, his guru of the Indore Beenkar gharana, refused to teach him . . . Hmmm, interesting...
CarnaticConnection 2 years ago
As far as I know Mr. NB learnt from legendary Ustad Mustaq Ali Khan for 10 years before he went to Baba. He is from Senia Jaipur Gharana found by Sangeet Samrat Tansen. Unlike Pt. Ravi Shankar, he follows traditional sitar stroke and style. I find his playing more moelodious.
Arijit1 3 years ago 5
Nikhil Banerjee did learn from Ravi Shankar albeit very little, but he did. He plays wonderfully thats what counts.
The starting seem a bit rushed, however after 1 minute and a half he's on.
27jackets 3 years ago
Comment removed
anandvyasorg 2 years ago
I have read much about the history of NB. He learned originally from his DAD. He arrived at Baba's already technically brilliant;(except his "ornaments were all wrong") according to Baba! That is why Baba knew he had to teach NB differet than RS. It was at Baba's that he learned classical Indian music and the rest is history.
I try not to get into the who is better routine. They were different and we are all glad that they were both here.
TarponBonefish 3 years ago
Can someone help me understand something? Is this a raga, because the tabla begins quite early on in the song? I can't distinguish alap, jhor, jhala. Also obviously the length is too short for a raga. So what do you call this?
samaroh 3 years ago
this is just a 'dhun'
a shorter melody
it's in the raga bhairavi
a raga is defined by its notes/phrases etc.
it's often presented in a longer style, alap jor jhalla, but ragas are just melodic frameworks
they can be used for shorter pieces like this, where there just a short alap first
daz199md 3 years ago
Has anyone Nikhil's Bhairavi from BBC Radio around 1973/4 Also same Radio performance Rag Charukeshi? I have on tape but quality isn't good. I think tabla accompaniment Kani Duuta.
clemalford 3 years ago
He did learn technique from Ravi Shankar, and Bimelandu Mukherjee
But the bulk of his training came from Ali Akbar Khan.
According to AAshish Khan (the grandson of Allauddin khan)
Nikhil learned only for about a year with Allauddin Khan
scottybuddha 3 years ago
he is the greatest of all time....
subshrub 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This guy plays very nice. Ravi Shankar has alot of students. I hadn't heard of this student of Raviji. Thanks for posting man. It is very nice of you.
ajrahi 3 years ago
He's not ravi shankar's student..they were both student's of ustad allaudan khan
daz199md 3 years ago 8
ajrahi, you have gone mad. stop calling every great sitarist, as ravi shankar's student. ravishankar cant even come close to nikhil da in quality. the only thing he is good is, in woowing goras, who anyways know nothing.
shankyxyz 3 years ago 4
There's no greatest among the greats.
valentin80 3 years ago 2
Well said. Nikhil-da cannot be touched!
iloveagoodbrew 3 years ago
Who is a gora? -- correct me if I am mistaken (I can tell you are the type who savors such opportunities) but I sense the smallness of a bigot and supremacist behind your words.
Kinbote123 3 years ago
by gora, no racist term meant. what i mean is largely western audiences, who are undereducated in the means of indian classcial music but get wowed by the mystical sounds. this is not to say the western culture doesnt understand music or that their love for indian music is false. but rather an acceptance of the fact that, this music requires years of training and learning, to be appreciated. so by gora i include indians who come to concerts of zakir bhai or raviji just because it is cool.
shankyxyz 3 years ago
also, i agree to your comments about myself exhibiting supremacist and bogoted tendencies. i must say, my last comment "in woowing goras, who anyways know nothing." is not in the best of lights. but the chap ajrahi, goes to every sitar youtube video and calls everyone raviji's student which is irritating.
shankyxyz 3 years ago
Zakir is amazing, don't put him down-top quality musician right there!
CarnaticConnection 3 years ago
come on. just enjoy the music, if u prefer nikhil banerjee, no prob. he is one of the greates musicians, just because zair and ravi are more famous and did a lot of works with others, and westerns love to listen to them you can't put the down. this is your frustration that your favorite musician is not as famous as these people even though he is such a great musician.
pearl1729 2 years ago
@Kinbote123
"I can tell you are the type who savors such opportunities"....hahhaha i liked your sarcasm..i agree with u, people should really refrain themselves from such comments and only enjoy the music
piklusamanta 2 years ago
Dude do your homework before wrecking the internet with your knowledge (or lack thereof)
Nikhil Bannerjee learned music from the same teacher Ravi did. And he played... well sublime
learnsitarorg 3 years ago
Dear..thats what he is saying- Nikhil Bannerjee's learned music from 'Baba,' that is the nick name for Baba Allaudin Khan Sahib,who is also the teacher and ex-father-in-law of Ravishankar.
classicalperformer 3 years ago
nikhil although trained under various gurus learnet composition ellaboration from ustad ali akbar khan
tripuraprem 3 years ago
Comment removed
Arupkant 2 years ago
Comment removed
anandvyasorg 2 years ago
@ajrahi : It's not a crime if you hadn't heard Nikhilbabu who was ranked among the foremost of modern Indian sitar-players. Nor is it a crime if you thought he was a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He is after all of the Maihar Gharana, having studied with his father initially then he studied with a number of masters, including the Guru of Ravi Shankar, Baba Allauddin Khan and later with the Ustad's son Ali Abkar Khan, and also With Khansaab's sister, Annapurna Devi ( Ravi Shankar's first wife).
TheVitalstatistix 5 months ago
Beautifully done friend. You are a real lover of this man and we all are (Sitar and music lovers), and that should be enough for us to get along in this wicked world. Keep it up. You rock. I love how the drones are thuned to MA in this piece as well as Bannerjee's "Pa" are too tuned to Ma. Beautiful.
learnsitarorg 3 years ago
If this world were wicked, neither the sitar nor Pandit Banerjee would have ever existed. The world is beautiful and good.
Kinbote123 3 years ago
Agreed. But I am talking about the totalitarian GW Bush regime.
learnsitarorg 3 years ago
yes..i didnt notice the pic of ravi until after i posted this! good eye
daz199md 4 years ago
i like hisold round sitar!
princessjesus 4 years ago
nice photos, but....there is one photo of ravi shankar there?(after purabi kalyan )
srigeo 4 years ago