Taufiq Qureshi. File Pic (right) Sangeet Haldipur 

The music, the flautist adds, will cross a genre from classical to semi-classical and fusion. “It is suitable for the audience in a city like Mumbai where every listener will enjoy it,” he says. Incidentally, the group has not rehearsed yet. With Ustad Zakir Hussain still to fly down from the United States, practice has been limited to sharing pieces on a WhatsApp group. But all of them are familiar with each other’s style.

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Taufiq Qureshi shares, “We have performed with each other for so many years. Vijay [Prakash] and I have been performing for several years in India and overseas, the same with Rakeshji and Sangeet [Haldipur]. So, it is not like we need multiple rehearsals to get in rhythm.” However, this is only the second time that the group will be on stage, after the Pune performance. 

Although some of the pieces are defined, and familiar combinations, a majority is improvisation. “Our music is 75 per cent improvisation. It cannot be rehearsed. We simply jam to tighten the set,” says Qureshi. Chaurasia notes, “This interaction is at the root of classical music. People underestimate how much we communicate through simple eye contact. That is what makes the experience unique.”

Also Read: Head to a weekend of Hindustani classical music in Goa this August

Few enjoy this mischief of changing rhythms like Ustad Zakir Hussain. Chaurasia recently returned from a series of performances in London with Hussain and Louiz Banks, and shares, “That was a completely different combination. For instance, I have played with Louiz uncle [Banks]. I know his pieces, and I know what he will add and where. But when you throw in the combination of Zakir bhai and Shankar Mahadevanji improvising on these pieces, it becomes a different ball game. The game might change, but the pitch remains the same. You have to stay on your toes as a musician, and as an audience,” he laughs. 

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