Bageshwari | Pundit Debasis Chakroborty | Indian Slide Guitar | Music of India | Purvi Festival 2023

Pandit Debasis Chakroborty, a Senia-Maihar Gharana exponent, performed Raag Bageshwari on Indian slide guitar at the Purvi Festival 2023 in Motihari. With over 25 years performing Hindustani classical music, he has taken the slide guitar to concert halls across Australia, the USA, and Europe.

Raag Bageshwari belongs to Kafi thaat and suits the late evening hours. Its melodic character centres on the movement between komal Gandhar and Madhyam, with komal Nishad giving the descent its particular weight. The raga favours slow, sustained development: phrases that circle back and deepen before resolving.

On slide guitar, the raga's komal phrases sustain through the portamento between notes, each glide across the fretboard tracing what a vocalist would carry in a single breath. Sandipan Mukherjee on tabla provides rhythmic accompaniment throughout the 8-minute set. From measured melodic opening, the performance draws into a more animated close as the two players tighten the rhythmic exchange.