Pandit Anindo Chatterjee

Percussion Tabla

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee

3 minute read

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee is one of the most accomplished tabla players of the modern age, known for breathtaking speed and extraordinary clarity of stroke. Aged five he became All India Radio’s youngest performing artist, and soon after entered the gurukul to train under Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. He studied with his guru for three decades, learning the intricate grammar of the Farukhabad gharana before branching out to others.

His long career has included accompaniment slots with almost all top Hindustani artists, including a long association with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Today he plays a gharana-blending style that balances traditionalism with modern freedoms, building on the open-minded approach of his guru. Outside performance he is a respected teacher, researcher, and tabla maker.

Chatterjee has been a regular performer at the Darbar Festival. In 2006, he delivered a captivating solo performance. In 2016, he engaged in a memorable jugalbandi (duet) with Pandit Kumar Bose, showcasing their mastery in a dynamic interplay. In 2024, he performed a much-awaited tabla duet with his son, Anubrata Chatterjee, accompanied by Dilshad Khan on sarangi. This performance was noted for its technical brilliance and emotional depth, leaving the audience profoundly moved.

“Roses don’t get their fragrance overnight…some bloom soon, some a bit later, it takes time and toil for them to bloom into fragrant flowers!”

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Rakesh Chaurasia & Pandit Anindo Chatterjee | Raag Jog

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2016, on 16th September, at Royal Festival Hall, at London's Southbank Centre. Musicians: - Rakesh Chaurasia (flute) - Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (tabla) Alap, Jod, Jhalla & a composition in Matta Taal Raag Jog; Thaat: Kafi; Samay: Night Raag Jog comprises one of the most enduring musical mysteries of all time in Hindustani classical music. Its meend-laden phrases and the chromatic use of the pure and flat 3rd (shuddh and komal Ga) is a heady combination that creates a trance-like state in the listener’s mind. Acclaimed the world over for his superlative melodic mastery, sharp sense of rhythm and an astonishing ability to embrace, dive into and reinterpret music across wide range of genres, Rakesh Chaurasia’s approach to ragas is eclectic. In this concert from 2016, he presents an alap, jod, jhalla and a composition in Raag Jog. Accompanying him on the tabla is the veteran from of the Farrukhabad gharana - Pandit Anindo Chatterjee - who is deeply respected the world over for solid aesthetics and his rich contributions to the gharana. Chaurasia keeps the alap technically simple but breathes life into the phrases by interconnecting octaves through invisible threads between the phrases to weave layers of harmonies. He arranges the major and minor tonal sentences by pairing, intertwining and binding them with each other to create a grandiose structure of Jog. He plays a madhyalay composition in a 9-beat cycle called Matta Taal. Pandit Chatterjee’s tabla accompaniment starts with a calm and easy delivery whereby he delves into the immersive intimacy created by Chaurasia. The intricately woven rhythmic phrases intersperse the spaces in between Chaurasia’s melodic discourse and are delivered with unparalleled technique and regal gait. A pleasing and popular raga, Raag Jog is a more recent addition to the pantheon of Hindustani ragas – it is about one hundred years old. The most popular version of this raga employs both shudh and komal Ga (G and g) and komal Ni (n). It is similar to Raga Nattai in Carnatic Music. Jog is derived from Khamaj thaat and its jati is audav-audav. Its vadi swar is Ma and the samvadi swar is Sa. Jog omits Re and Dha (2nd and 6th) altogether from the scale. Its arohana and avarohana are as follows:     S G M P n S’ S’ n P M G M g S The other version of the raga deploys shuddh Ni (7th) as well. The treatment of the raga, as visualised by Ustad Amir Khan, lays great emphasis on Ma (4th) that adds deeper shades of pathos to its intrinsic desolate mood. In recent times the chromatic use of both Ga is in vogue. This is not permissible in Hindustani classical music, but a judicious phrase is accepted as the ‘poet’s liberty’.  