Tabla Accompaniment: Gurdain S. Rayatt
Live at The Music Room - London 16 February 2019.
About the Instrument:
Indian slide guitar was first introduced to Indian classical music by Pandit Brijbhushan Kabra in the early sixties. His instrument was a Gibson Super 400, modified with a drone string and a high nut to raise the strings off the fret-board like a lap steel. Seated on the floor in the traditional style of Indian musicians, Kabra played his guitar horizontally, using a finger-style plucking technique and a short steel bar to contact the strings. His approach set the standard for virtually all Indian slide guitarists. His instrument gained more popularity with his album, CALL OF THE VALLEY, which was released in 1967 and was a huge success around the globe, where he played with the Santoor maestro Pt Shivkumar Sharma and the flute maestro Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia.
About Mnish Pingle:
Born in the family of music lovers, Manish was introduced to Indian classical music by his parents. After a few years of learning basics of classical vocal , he started his initial training in Indian slide guitar from Late Shri Vishnu Waliwadekar. Manish is one of the senior disciples of USTAD SHAHID PARVEZ, the famous sitar maestro of Itawa gharana.
A strong urge to create quality music and rich sound, Manish experimented with altering the string arrangements and varying his playing techniques. Inspired by Masters such as Pt. Brijbhushan Kabra, Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, and Taalim and blessings from his Gurus, Manish developed a unique right hand picking style, blending it with powerful left hand slides. His mastery over the development of a Raga and the intricacies of Taal (rhythm cycles) comes from the years he spent studying with his Guru, the sitar maestro, Ustad Shahid Parvez.
Manish was awarded the Title ‘SURMANI’ by Sur Sringar Samsad, Mumbai. He also received an exclusive honor from the WORLD BOOK OF RECORDS, London. Manish is an artist of All India Radio and Television. He has won many accolades performing Solos, Duets and Fusion concerts, collaborating with fellow musicians from India and also international musicians like Blues legend Michael Messer and Saxophone maestro George Brooks. Manish has recorded music albums with International maestros like Hector Zazou (IN THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS), Michael Messer (CALL OF THE BLUES).
