Next Sabir Khan takes us back to tabla dialog with his son Arif Khan, his paternal pride lighting up as he points to his son and makes an incredulous face to the audience as the younger Khan mimics and then embellishes on his father's compositions. Sabir then does impersonations of the different tabla gharanas and starts recalling Alla Rakha kayadas as if he were recollecting the jokes of an old adored uncle. Each time, his son takes the que and traces over his father's tabla licks like a dutiful scribe. One cannot help but picture Alla Rakha sitting with his sons and disciples tutoring the oral tradition of tabla in the same fashion.
In the final concert of the night, we are started off with a ceremonious trio of Zakir on tabla, Ustad Sultan Khan on sarangi and U. Srinivas on mandolin. Fazal and Taufiq join on the kanjira and djembe respectively to accompany the qawali-like vocals of Shankar Mahadevan. Bombay based drummer Ranjeet Barrot steps onstage and the four percussionists start a duel of vocal bol chanting that borders on rap. Leonard Eto next takes centerstage again for a solo followed by percussionist Trilok Gurtu on a modern drum set. Eto and Gurtu duel playfully and all drummers present then join in for a tag-team collage of styles with Srinivas and Mahadevan providing an ecstatic melodic backbone.
With an ovation, the concert ends and the audience disperses with toes and hearts tapping. All felt that there could never be enough with such a star-studded collection of India's elite musicians. Each musician passed on to us a hint of their influence from and love for Ustad Alla Rakha whom they affectionately call Abbaji. We witnessed a miriad of ways in which Abbaji's lives on as echoes in the hearts and beats of his disciples and friends.
Though "barsi" commemorations are typically held only once, the year following the anniversary of a loved one's passing, Zakir and family plan to hold the concert for Abbaji every year on February 3rd in the years to come. Performances will likely be webcast from www.momentrecords.com in the ensuing years. Though Zakir admitted to the press that he would prefer to honor his father at home alone, playing before his picture, he acknowleges that one of the consequences of having such an influential and beloved artist for a father is that he must be honored by a concert of esteemed maestros.
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