Chandrakant Kamat

Chandrakant Kamat (November 26, 1933 – June 28, 2010) was a Hindustani classical tabla player of the Benares Tabla Gharana.^[2]

Early life and training

Kamat was born in Dhule to a Saraswat Brahmin family with strong musical traditions. His father Shantaram Kamat was a renowned Natyageet musician. Kamat started as a child artist in the Natak (musical plays) of his father's theatre company, Anandvilas, and began learning the tabla at a young age. Kamat learned from gurus Raghunath Shivalkar, Rambhau Vasht, and Digambar Yamaji Kadam, and he also trained in Indian classical dance.

Performing career

In 1952, Kamat shifted his base to Pune and became among the most trusted tabla accompanists for Kathak dancer Rohini Bhate. In 1964, Kamat became a gandabandh disciple of Samta Prasad of the Benares gharana.

From 1956 to 1991, Kamat also provided tabla accompaniment in Sangeet Nataks (Marathi musical plays) that featured artists like Hirabai Badodekar and Jyotsna Bhole. During this time, Kamat also worked as a staff artist for AIR, Pune.^[2]

Kamat was among the preferred choices for tabla accompaniment for India's top musicians, including Bhimsen Joshi, Begum Akhtar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Bal Gandharva, and Kumar Gandharva. Kamat's performances also extend to programs on Bhavgeet, Lavani, Thumri, and most notably Geet Ramayan.

He holds the record for performing at the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival for fifty consecutive years.^[3]

Awards and recognition

• 1999 - Sangatkar Puraskar
• 2001 - Vasundhara Pandit Puraskar

Students

Pt.Chandrakant Kamat has taught tabla to many students including two sons, Subhash Kamat and Bharat Kamat, who are also Tabla players carry on his legacy. Other students are Yogesh Awlaskar, Sameep Kulkarni and Nikhil Parchure.

Death

On the morning of Monday June 28, 2010, Kamat died of a cardiac arrest.

References

External links

• Chandrakant Kamat's obituary - The Times of India