SITAR music has the unfortunate reputation of being associated with flocked wallpaper in Indian restaurants, but 25-year-old Niladri Kumar, the fifth generation of a family of sitarists making his UK debut, has changed all that.

Kumar and 28-year-old Anuradha Pal - who has the distinction of being India's only ''female professional tabla player'' - are part of the new generation of musicians injecting fresh blood into the Indian classical music scene.

After a lot of tweaking to

get the acoustic levels right, Kumar began the introductory piece, Raag Shree, a serene and serious evening raag in a 10-beat cycle.

He cradled the instrument as if it was a rock guitar attacking the strings with vigour. That first piece lasted for more than an hour, the sound ranging from gentle ripples in water to thunderous rain falling on a corrugated iron roof.

At times the notes were almost flying away into space, but Kumar would capture them and bring them back to begin the next phrase.

Following his introduction, Kumar and Pal engaged in a friendly question and answer session: one would throw a melody and the other would respond. When Pal plays solo, her hands race over the tabla like a train on a track.

The second piece was not a conventional raag. The beats were fixed into a seven-beat cycle, but, the melody - rich in warm tones - was improvised. If there is one criticism, it is that the audience did not get to hear more of Pal. If this live performance was captured on disc it would blow your woofers to pieces.

n Niladri Kumar and Anuradha Pal will be performing at the Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, on Friday.