Chandrakant Kamat was a Hindustani classical tabla player of the Benares Tabla Gharana.
Background
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.
Career
Kamat learned from gurus Raghunath Shivalkar, Rambhau Vasht, and Digambar Yamaji Kadam, and he also trained in Indian classical dance. 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 Associated Independent Recording, Pune. 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.
1999 - Sangatkar Puraskar On the morning of Monday June 28, 2010, Kamat died of a cardiac arrest.