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When Baba Allauddin Khansahep, the "Great Guru" of Music, accepted Nikhil Banerjee as a disciple, he told his young student "I will teach you in a different way" thus Nikhil Banerjee's unique style. Baba Allauddin Khan (1862-1972) is said to be the greatest musician of his time, unfortunately few recording of his survived ( 1959-60 All India Radio recordings which are available on Ali Akbar College of Music's site www.aacm.org , archival material, poor sound quality ), however Baba had produced lots of great musicians including Ali Akbar Khan(his son), Annapurna Devi(his daughter), Ravi Shankar, Timir Baran, V.G.Jog..... all the descendants of Maihar Gharana, the scool of music established by Baba. Teaching was an another kind of art in Baba's hands and his last and top most product tells : Nikhil Banerjee.

In this recording master Nikhil Banerjee plays Raga Surdasi Malhar. Surdas is an ancient Indian poet and Malhar is a common form of raga for rainy seasons. Another superb performance by Nikhil Banerjee.

A beautiful performance of a beautiful but little-known raga, Surdasi Malhar. Pandit Nikhil Banerjee's 70-minute rendition is very lyrical and elegant, with thrilling accompaniment by tabla player Abhijit Banerjee. The sound is superb, one of the best live concert recordings I've heard. It's as if the musicians were sitting in your living room.

If you are a fan of Banerjee, you will want this: it's one of his very best recordings. If you have never heard this great artist before, this is an excellent place to start.

Surdasi Malhar is a Raga which few people play. In this recording, Nikhil Banerjee uses his unique style to play it. The performance is full of beautiful and elegant musical phrases. Great! Indian Classical music lovers should pay attention to this master of Sitar, especially those who are only familiar with Ravi Shankar.

Particular Indian ragas are associated with a given season or time of day based on the emotion evoked by unique scales or modes. The Malhar group, for instance, are performed in the wet, monsoon months. In this lovely and beautiful performance by Nikhil Banerjee, we hear Raga Surdasi Malhar, which because it is infrequently performed or recorded, makes this recording even more special. Indeed, this is among the final concerts of Banerjee, taking place at the University of Chicago in October 1984. The sound quality is excellent. The improvisations of the 15-minute alap and 35-minute first (medium fast) gat are powerful and mesmerizing. The final and unusally long (21-minute) very fast teental gat is an exciting steady crescendo, and when the galloping jhala with the highly accomplished master tablist Abhijit Banerjee (not related) is reached, the listener is nearly exhausted: a 73-minute raga tour de force that makes you want to step outside into the rain (or Chicago's famous wind) and cool off! Banjerjee is famous for his subtle and meditatively rich improvisations, but here he is intense and hot. His fans will certainly want to add this blazing recording to their collection.

This was Pandit Nikhil Banerjee's last performance in USA. And what a performance! I feel he was improvising his own style in later part of his career. The fluidity of the performance is magnificent. The final part is unusually stirring and charming, contrary to his usual subtle treatment. One of my best favorites. If you are looking for Indian Classical music recordings with great melody, this is the one. Very highly recommended.