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This Website is dedicated to all the fans of Anindo Chatterjee and is intended as a back up of  Anindo Chatterjee Websites since many have disappeared over the years.

A Compilation of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee Bios 

Original Anindo Site Anindo Chatterjee started studies at the age of five under Ustad Afaq Hussain Khan of Lucknow gharana and then had thirty years of training under the famed Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Today, Anindo leads his generation of representatives of the Farrukhabad Gharana of tabla founded by Haji Vilayat Khan Sahib.  Anindo apart from being one of the greatest performers is respected as one of the most important tabla makers, teachers and researchers . Anindo's performances are marked by clarity of tone, very crisp and clear bols and an intutive sense of rhythm and melody.

Since 1972, Anindo has performed solo as well as accompanied leading artists all over the world. Among those who he has accompanied are Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta (sarod), Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur (voice), Budhaditya Mukherjee (sitar), Ustad Rais Khan (sitar), Gangubai Hangal (voice), Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (santoor) among many others.

Anindo's knowledge of various tabla gharanas and their styles knows no bounds and he is a dedicated teacher as well. Many of his students have achieved national and international recognition. Among them are Bhooshan Munja, Anindo Gangopadhyay, Sanjay Jhalla and Anil Datar.

Original Website Anindo Chatterjee is recognized as one of India's most eminent tabla players. He was inspired to take up tabla by his uncle, the sitar player Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee, when he was just four years old. At five he was All India Radio's youngest artiste. At six Anindo became a disciple of Padmabhushan Gyan Prakash Ghosh, and studied with him for over twenty years. Gyan Prakash Ghosh was well known for his extensive knowledge of all tabla gharanas, as well as his own Faroukhabad gharana. His guidance gave Anindo's art a firm foundation. As an accompanist, he is known for his sense of balance and proportion, crisp tonal quality, modulation of sound production and rapport with soloists. Anindo has accompanied all of the top musicians and has toured with them all over the world. He has received numerous honors including Presidents Award in 1970. Anindo was the first tabla player to perform in the House of Commons in 1990.

MTVIndia.com

MTVIndia.com's Seema Bhatia caught up with Tabla maestro Pt. Anindo Chatterjee at Jan Fest (the classical music fest held at St. Xaviers, Mumbai) after a performance that would make Ricky Martin Shake his bon bon.

The Pandit didn't beat around the Tabla on any issue and came straight to the point.
Here are his views on the glamorous Zakir Hussain, fusion music and what should be done to get aam junta like you and me interested in Indian classical music.

 

MTVIndia: Anindoji, what made you take up the Tabla over any other instrument?
Pt. Anindo: As a child, I went around beating things around the house. This probably made my parents think that I had fancied rhythm and therefore I started on my Tabla training.

MTVIndia: In an age where people demand pop music, where does the future of classical music seem to be heading?
Pt. Anindo: Demand for pop music is tremendous because it is pop music. Classical music may not exactly be popular with today’s young audience today simply because there are very few agencies trying to promote it. We need to instil a liking for classical music through more effort.

MTVIndia: And how do you suggest we do that?
Pt. Anindo: Spic Macay (an NGO that promotes Indian culture and tradition) has been doing a lot of work for awareness of classical music amongst youngsters. I think we need to have more agencies like that to sustain this movement.

MTVIndia: Tabla has become an instrument to reckon with worldwide. Do you attribute that to the glamour that Ustad Zakir Hussain has attached to it?
Pt. Anindo: Zakir Hussain has done well for the instrument, which is normally seen only as an accompaniment. I am glad he has the media attention focussed on this instrument that can be very enchanting if it wants to.

MTVIndia: But does that not take away the limelight from artistes of high calibre such as you?
Pt. Anindo: The media attention that Zakir gets is because of a special trait he possesses. He has a way of holding his audience - he can command their attention.
I do not think that is bad at all. If it is bringing fame to the revered instrument, why should these things bother me?

MTVIndia: Everyone is talking fusion music today. What are your views on it?
Pt. Anindo: Fusion music is a good thing. I have dabbled in it myself.
It provides for widening of one’s musical experience and lets you experiment which is very important to keep the world of music moving.

MTVIndia: But a lot of music is passed off as ‘Fusion’ or ‘World Music’. How do you decide what is good and what is not?
Pt. Anindo: All instruments may not necessary gel together. For example, the Cello and the Sarod just cannot gel because of the nature of the sounds they produce. This music will sound funny, like it has been forcibly glued together and therefore cannot classify as bad music. It loses all harmony and therefore cannot be termed as music.

Humble beyond words and talented to the core,
we couldn’t help notice a long line of admirers waiting to speak to him.
So we let the Pandit charm them with his warm smile and unassuming grace.

 

 

More on Pandit Anindo Chatterjee
Anindo Chatterjee looks very different from a music maestro. He speaks warmly with every admirer with equal enthusiasm even after a lengthy solo tabla performance. There is this air of impeccable humbleness about him that one just cannot forget. His genius may not evident from his countenance but it quietly creeps into the way he weaves an intricate pattern of beats on the tabla.

Pt. Anindo Chatterjee, who was born in Calcutta, India in 1953, is regarded as one of the most versatile Tabla Nawaz in India today. He is not only a leading exponent of the Farukhabad gharana, but has also incorporated styles from other tabla gharanas such as Punjab, Lucknow, Delhi, Ajrada and Benaras to increase his repertoire.
Born into a musical family his training began at the early age of four, inspired and groomed by his uncle Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee.
At the tender age of six, legendary Pandit Padmabhushan Jnan Prakash Ghosh accepted him as a disciple.

He won the All India Radio music competition at the age of seventeen and received the title of best young Tabla player of the year from the President of India.
He has not looked back since, performing the world over, both as a solo artiste and with classical greats including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Late Ustad Allarakha and Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia.


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