As the leaves start to turn to striking hues of yellow, orange and red and the nights engulf us earlier, we turn away from the daytime delights of huge music festivals to the intimate gig. We let ourselves be challenged by new sounds on a autumnal quest for discovery.
My chance to hear something new was at the Musical Connection night at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Centre in Kensington. Under the direction of Shri Sanjay Guha, a disciple of Ravi Shankar, we had an unusual collaboration between Guha’s London Sitar Ensemble, the lute player Jamie Akers, the harpsichord player Katie Delamatter, tabla stars Nand and Puish. The theme was Early Music – European music written before 1750, big during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The collaboration was mesmerising and simultaneously curious in songs where all the 20 or so musicians onstage played at the same time. The tablas particularly transfixed me with the strong base and intricate rhythms woven throughout. At times the lute and harpsichord in the solo sections, seemed to emphasise the difference of the instruments a little too much . Still I was bewitched – I’ve never heard anything like it before.
Cherrydial 
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