Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, 27th Oct

There is so little and yet so much to say about this electrifying performance from this much lauded Ravi Shankar disciple, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. The man likes his slide guitar, but it's not really Indian enough, so he adds a few extra strings - 14 of them and one of they gourd things that makes it resonate. Thus is born a guitar/sitar/veena hybrid called the Mohan Veena which has a strange sound, both a combination of various instruments and sometimes just like a guitar.

As with a lot of these concerts, a short explanation is needed to prepare the ignorant Westerners for what they are about to experience. This is a Rag, this is how it goes, there is this melody and I am going to make some things up and see what happens. What happens, is a slowly building deeply atmospheric and emotional rollercoaster as father and son bounce ideas off each other, working themselves into a frenzy of sliding and virtuosity, reaping an almost infinite variety of sounds from their instruments which are increasingly appearing to be so much an extension of themselves... And relax.

When the tabla player joins in, the effect as these three weave around each other, playing games, repetition, showing off, pushing each other, trying to catch each other out we are all transfixed. Her hands are a blur and she more than matches the two guitarists, complementing their every moving and adding several new dimensions to the music, which is amazing on so many levels. I struggle to find the beat, the taal and the development of the rag often becomes so complex. Really I just give up in the end and let the music wash through me and carry me along with it. I'd have to practise to understand it like the true afficionados do.

After two hours we emerge blinking into the night, which seems strange and new, as if I have undergone a great catharsis of the soul. This has certainly been the best of the three St Georges Concerts by quite some way.