Thursday, October 2, 2008

Music brings good people together

It was our great pleasure to have Abe Thomas and Steve with us in Ahmedabad from 25th to 27th September 2008. From the airport we went directly to host Bansi Gujjar's residence, where we were to practice for the next day's programme. Before a small group of music lovers Abe played 'lag ja gale' and won the hearts of everyone present there.
Next day Presh Bhatia and Manohar Vaidya took them to 'Akshardham' and 'Gandhi Ashram'.
Abe was able to mesmerise the crowd with his style of playing. I would like to quote what he has written without his permission...
'Dear Nachiketa-bhai and Tapan-bhai...,
What great passion you all have... and what great pleasure to get involved with your group. A week after a by-pass surgery... and Nachiketa-bhai, it is great to see you playing the harmonica... Music surely has the power to heal...
Steve and I thoroughly enjoyed our time there and hope to return to Ahmedabad next year to continue our musical relationship.Thanks for arranging our stay at Gandhi-ji's Ashram. There is some incredible energy I cannot describe in words!...Kind regards, Abe'

Lag Ja Gale

All of us celebrated the beginning of a never ending relationship.

"As a scientist, I am convinced that the nature functions as a rhythm whether it is a rhythm of the heartbeat, movement of electron in orbitor the high/low tides of the sea. Everything is rhythmic and musical"

- A P J Abdul Kalam, President of India. Feb, 1, 2006.

3 comments:

AARKAY SABNAVEES said...

HATS OFF TO YOU Mr ABE. YOU ARE BENDING THE NOTES PERFECTLY.I AM WRITING THIS AFTER LISTENING TO YOU 4 TIMES. I AM QUITE UNFORTUNATE THAT I COULD NOT BE THERE TO ATTEND THIS MARVELOUS FUNCTION.BUT STILL MY HEART GOES FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THERE ON THE STAGE.

I BOW MY HEAD TO THE GREAT ABDUL KALAAM SIR FOR HIS EXCELLENT ANALYSIS.MUSIC IS DEVINE & ITS THAT RHYTHM WHICH KEEPS THE BLOOD FLOWING IN US & ITS THAT RHYTHM WHICH BINDS US TOGETHER WITH LOVE , FRIENDSHIP, AFFECTION & WHAT NOT. FINALLY ITS THAT RHYTHM WHICH TRACES EACH OF US FROM THE PERIPHERY OF A CIRCLE & BRINGS US TO THE CENTRE OF THE CIRCLE. I PROUDLY SAY THAT THE CENTRE IS ' THE HARMONICA CLUB OF GUJARAT '

Chandrashekhar said...

Mr Abe, I fortunate to have heard you play this song at your place while sitting face to face with you. It was indeed a memorable experience for me listening live to blues style of playing first time ever in my life.I think your performance would definitely inspire a lot of players to explore this style of playing which allows the player to reach smoothly from one note to other like "gamak" in hidustani or carnatic music.Looking forward for more such performances from you.

amjadkhan786 said...

excellent mr. Abe..there is no need of a cromatic organ when u can bend a note to such a good extent..marvelous dont have words to describe it but indeed hats off. Amjad khan, vadodara ,gujarat