Arif Khan Concert in Tokyo

Celestial Tunes and Vibrating Rhythms

13 May 2012

     Following his visit in Japan, a young tabla player of the Farukhabad school, Arif Khan appeared to the audience in Japan. Voluntary supporters in Japan established the 2012 Arif Khan Japan Concert Executive Committee to facilitate his visit. The audience enjoyed his performance, of only chance, in Tokyo.

     It was a fun to listen to the Indian classical music at Small Theatre of Fukagawa Edo Museum filled with old down town Tokyo atmosphere, where audience can usually enjoy traditional Japanese music from the Edo period.

     After a smart introduction to Indian music by Jimmi Miyashita on Santoor, the program started with a full performance of Rag Bageshri, rendered in Alap, Jod, Gat in Rupak tal [7-beat], and Gat in Tintal [16-beat] for about 30 minutes. Miyashita presented the Gat in Rupak with rich layakari (rhythm variations) in beautiful sounds, though the instrument slightly went untuned. As an accompanist, Arif Khan well followed Miyashita's rhythm work and anticipated the santoor's melodic flow even taking an initiative. His flexible and dynamic combination of rhythms colored their performance.

     Arif Khan showed significant improvements of his drumming technique to a full extent in his tabla demonstration stage, directly after the first Rag. Specifically, his dynamic tabla sounds from lower left-hand bayan and higher right-hand tabla came from his perfectionistic attitude to acoustic equipment including the musical instrument, microphones and speaker.

     After the performance on May 12, they will appear to the audience in Tohoku and Tokai areas. For details, visit http://bit.ly/arifkhan2012 (In Japanese).