Nagpur: Legendary saxophonist
Manohari Singh was the main arranger for RD Burman and played for hits like ‘Gaata rahe mera dil’. For a befitting tribute to his guru, multi-instrumentalist Prakash Khandale brought instruments from the US specially for a programme organized in the city on Monday.
The programme, conceptualized by Khandale, was organized by Awesome Musical Group in association with Dr Dande Foundation. At a time when electronic musical instruments are replacing brass band ones, the organizers wanted to showcase the beauty of attending a live performance and seeing different types of saxophones viz tenor and alto.
Khandale’s nephew Prashant, who has been trained by him, also performed at the programme. “This show is the first of its kind for audiences in Nagpur and I hope they appreciate the beauty of a live brass band,” said Khandale.
The applause got louder with each presentation as the group performed numbers like ‘Gulabi aankhe’, ‘Tum jo mil gaye ho’, ‘O hansini’ and ‘Chahunga main tujhe’.
Nasir Khan compèred the show and kept the audience engaged through expressive poetry. On the Hawaiian guitar was Yogesh Thakkar, Sanjay Barapatre on drums, Prashant on tenor
saxophone while Khandale played the alto saxophone, Prakash Chavan acoustic guitar, Tillu Gave the trumpet, Ashok Dhoke the tabla and Kalyani Gokarna minor percussion instruments.
Singers included Sagar Madhumatke, who along with Shruti Chowdhary left the audience in a trance with their rendition of ‘Kya yahi pyaar hai’, Veena Upunde and Vijay Chivande.
The group believed that Bollywood only focuses on singers or music directors and often ignores the hard work and brilliance of instrumentalists. Through this event it hopes to develop respect and appreciation for them.
Singer presenting songs at the musical event on Monday