MUSIC & MUSICIANS on Nikhil Banerjee
"...the miraculously soft singing sitar tone he achieved in the solo musings of an alap in Raga Hemant in the first half of his Elizabeth Hall recital on November 12 was even surpassed in intensity during the much freer thumri-style exploration of the Raga Gara after the interval. Banerjee is surely one of the most introspective and poetical of all the musicians who practise this introspective and poetic art.
The variety and quality of sound he produces is at the same time refreshingly unusual in scope and yet entirely consistent and convincing in application. For example, his choice of intervallic movement constantly surprises and delights, and his use of the lower register, whether fleetingly or at length, is totally individual and an unmistakable feature of his very distinctive style. Yet he is never mannered, his improvisations always sounding completely natural and spontaneous."
