If any act were to actually levitate this weekend, it would’ve been locals Gourisankar & Indrajit Banerjee.
The Indian duo’s performance began unassumingly. The mustachioed, Afro’d musicians took the stage in colorful Kurtas and sat impossibly cross-legged on a platform with bare feet prominently displayed. While Gourisankar powdered his hands and inspected the tension of his tabla drums with a small metal hammer, Indrajit Banerjee adjusted the myriad of tuning knobs movable frets on his sitar.
Smiles throughout, they projected sunshine under Saturday’s dark clouds.
Without a word, Banerjee began tickling the strings of his sitar. Up rose an enchanted drone as he danced his digits the full length of the fret board. Picking up pace on the 13th century instrument, his slippery riffage, complete with the occasional drastic downward note bend, began to resemble the technical prowess of a prog-metal guitarist – except every note was in the service of beauty.
It was Gourisankar who drew the first applause. The tabla maestro, who teaches at UT, took a solo on his hand drums that was so otherworldly fast it appeared as though the bones had escaped his hands. He soaked in the acclaim with a modest head wobble and smile.
The two internationally renowned musicians, who Austinites have seen perform together in world music ensemble Atash, rang in Levitation’s second day with such allure that the spectator count grew from dozens to hundreds throughout their 45-minute performance. Their experimentally-skewed take on traditional Indian music afforded them room to show off their prodigious chops frequently.
Even then, the happiest moments were when the pair would land a hard accent on the same note, then lock eyes with a satisfied smile – like the spectacular beauty evoked in their music amused them as much it did us.
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This article appears in May 8 • 2015.