Renowned tabla artiste Subhankar Banerjee dies of Covid complications

Renowned percussionist Pt Subhankar Banerjee died after battling Covid-19 for two months at a private hospital in Kolkata, his family said on Thursday. He was 54.

Banerjee, who died on Wednesday is survived by his wife, son and daughter, they said.

His son, promising percussionist Archik, posted on Facebook, "Lost".

Several classical musicians from Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumder, Pt Purbayan Chatterjee, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt Bickram Ghosh are slated to attend Banerjee's last journey with Covid-19 protocols on Thursday from Sangeet Research Academy where his body was kept.

Banerjee, who had done jugalbandis with all legendary classicists from Pt Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan to Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, had been admitted to the hospital on June 20 and was on oxygen support for months.

Legendary tabla artiste Zakir Hussain said on Twitter on Wednesday night "I will miss him, world of tabla will miss him, Indian music will miss him. RIP Shubhankar bhai."

He was a recipient of Sangeet Samman and Sangeet Maha Samman by the West Bengal government.

He had performed in this year's Dover Lane Music Conference when concerts at venues were allowed and also organised a classic concert in memory of his mother.

At the age of 3, Mukherjee, born to singer-composer Kajalrekha, was trained under Pt Manik Das of Benaras Gharana. He then learnt music from Pt Swapan Shiva of Farukkhabad Gharana for 25 years.