World renowned virtuoso Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya has pioneered the Hindustani slide guitar and is the undisputed master of this demanding technique. With a career spanning over 45 years, Debashish has performed live and recorded with Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Ravi Shankar, John McLaughlin (who said that Debashish “has no equal” among slide guitarists), Jerry Douglas, Derek Trucks and many other renowned musicians.

Through exhaustive research and experience, he has designed and patented four guitars for raga music all played lap style, with a small steel bar and finger picks: Chaturangui, a 24-string hollow-neck lap steel guitar that blends the features of a sitar, sarod, and veena; Gandharvi, a 14-string slide instrument; Anandi, a 4-string lap steel ukulele/mandolin and Pushpa Veena, a 25-string slide instrument featuring an animal-skin top.

In the venerable Indian tradition of families passing artistic skill down through generations, Debashish’s son Suryadipta has developed impressive musicianship under his father’s tutelage and will join his father for this event.