Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Remembering musicians of the recent past
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thanjavooran
Posts: 2972
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:44

Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by thanjavooran »

Smt N Kesi flutist [ 1919 - 2015 ] Kalaimamani, Sangeeta natak Academy Awardee passed away on 14 06 2015.
I have attended her concerts during high school days. Must be an AIR artist. One of her disciples is Vedaranyam Kanakambujam . RIP
Ref today's Hindu.
Thanjavooran
16 06 2015

pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by pattamaa »

sorry to hear... i have heard her performance in radio many many years ago, she played often. condolences to near and dear.

cacm
Posts: 2212
Joined: 08 Apr 2010, 00:07

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by cacm »

WHAT A LOSS! To give an idea of what a great& PERFECT ARTIST she was let me recall a memorable occasion. When I tried to get MALI to come to N.A. ON a concert tour after the LGJ-RAMANI HISTORIC TOUR IN 1971 HE SUGGESTED I should get SMT.KESI INSTEAD OF HIM as he was unsure whether he could reliably perform the number of concerts need to financially make the tour possible. THIS ALONE gives an idea of her greatness if MALI suggested her as a replacement!.......Another of the TRULY GREAT ARTISTS who will be lost as far as GREAT BUT UNRECOGNISED CM ARTISTS ARE CONCERNED.....VKV

thathwamasi
Posts: 274
Joined: 12 Aug 2006, 01:15

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by thathwamasi »

Indeed a great loss - I learnt from Smt. N.Kesi briefly in the mid nineties. She was a warm person who treated all her students like her own children. She had great technique and wonderful sound. She has played innumerable concerts along with Mali. Such sweet memories of my weekend classes with her - first the darshan of the huge anjaneyar in alamelumangapuram and then class at her house opposite to the temple. I used to look forward for those classes all week.

May her soul rest in peace.

Regards
T

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by arasi »

Thanjavooran,
She lived to a ripe old age. It was the music in her which nourished her body and soul, is my guess. Had she been born half a century later...she would have been known to many more for her sweet sound.

VKV speaks of the quality of her music in the words of Mali.

tatvamasi,
Yes, you were fortunate in learning from her and in knowing her.

N.Kesi joins the rest of them in the other world of CM.

Do we have a picture of her? I recollect the way she looked.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by rshankar »

Condolences to her family, friends and disciples! May her soul RIP!

Looks like everyone should be celebrating her life which appears to have been filled with music.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by rajeshnat »

arasi wrote:
Do we have a picture of her? I recollect the way she looked.
Check this url arasi
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... rAodE4cNNA

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

I echo VKV's sentiments--re; Mali's high regard for Smt Kesi--I have heard people mention that she was related to Mali----albeit in a distant way. She had a sweet sound and strangely she has had a long career performing at the AIR(one could predict with precision her concert schedule in the AIR's Vanoli--a timetable that was only next in importance in our household to the Railway timetable!!(I am sure Arasi could relate to this publication!!!).Her concert appearances however were very sparse--although at that time she was ranked a tad higher than Sikkil sisters who had more concert opportunities.
From the sentiments expressed by our forumites I gather that she was a great teacher!!
may her soul RIP!!

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by mahavishnu »

Sincere condolences.
IIRC, our forumite Sri Ajit was also her disciple.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by arasi »

Yes, MKR! (I don't say Ramesh because you two Rameshes have posted one after the other :)).
The vAnoli was a class act. Ananda Vikatan and Kalki made me stand at the corner of the street waiting for the paper boy there before he reached our place (so that I could read Devan and Kalki's serialized novels before anyone else did!).

Vanoli (Air Sounds), the magazine (bi-monthly?) was different, like kalaimagaL. You turned the pages at leisure, taking in all the programs, even marking them. I can still see the simple lay out and the quality paper that they used. Even can smell it! I am sure Maduraimini is in accord ;)

Indeed, Kesi's concerts were a regular feature, and I might have seen her picture in vAnoli.

Thanks to Rajesh for the picture, but I have the young image of hers in my mind. I remember being impressed with the confidence with which she seemed to play!

RaviSri
Posts: 512
Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by RaviSri »

Kesi was a cousin of Mali, so were N.Ramani and the Sikkil Sisters. All of them cousins on their respective mothers side.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by rshankar »

Wow! Very interesting, indeed.
So, the ability probably was embedded in the mitochondrial DNA, then, given the matrilineal connection!

cienu
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Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 11:40

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by cienu »

Heartfelt condolences..

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by ajit »

Had not logged in for sometime. So missed this. Yes, I was a disciple of Smt. N. Kesi from 1987 to 1993. I have also had the privilege to perform
with her on a few occassions in Chennai. I cherish the concerts that i played with her on New Years between 1990-1993 right below her house in front of the Anjanyar kovil.She was a very encouraging teacher. I was learning flute in madurai. I came to Madras looking for a teacher. Someone who knew her took me to her house. She asked me to play something. Then she started playing Viribhoni and asked me to follow and that was it. She accepted me as her disciple. As thathwamasi pointed out, the Anjanyar would be right in front of our eyes from her house when we sit to play.
Her husband, Mr. Narayanaswamy encouraged her music. He used to encourage all her students as well. The sound from her flute was sweet and her flute was more towards white in color than brown. She was from Pazhamaneri. May her soul rest in peace. One of her senior disciples Sri G. Sridhar teaches in Singapore. I think Navin Iyer, who plays for Rehman was her disciple too if i am not wrong.

I will try to post a picture of her with her students at that time.

ajit

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by arasi »

Please do, Ajit! Also a picture of her when she was young, if possible.

Thanks, Rajesh. You obliged with a picture, but her image as a young person is still vivid in my mind...

It's news to me that all of the flautists we cherish are from the same family!

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by ajit »

I will try to find a picture when she was young.

I am having trouble posting the picture I have - can someone help?

ajit

maduraimini
Posts: 477
Joined: 22 Sep 2009, 02:55

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by maduraimini »

Sorry to hear about Smt.N.Kesi. I remember her name very well and have heard her on the Radio. I don't think I heard her in person. Sympathies to her family and students.
Like Arasi says we can smell even the paper of the magazines. Our memories are still green even if our hair is grey! Those were the days when we cannot wait to see the weekly magazines like Anandavikatan and Kalki and fight with the siblings to be the first to read the serials.

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by varsha »

pl use tinypic.com

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Arasi/Maduraimini: OH!! How nostalgic were those days--especially Kalki and AV--Kalki's epic historic novels,Devan's social satire,Lakshmi's family sagas.
Re: AV--I would like to know whether they have been any books of some of the cartoon panels that appeared regularly in AV-the Seema Series,Araikurai Padamum Avasara Pichuvum . Also the Syama-Sastry-Bhagavathar "exchanges"

Do any of the oldtime Chennai residents still living in Chennai know whether AV maintains these old archives that one can "browse" at their premises?
Pardon me--this has nothing to do with the Late N.Kesi !!! But by now forumites should have gotten used to my "Mudikondan-style digressions"!!!!!

parivadini
Posts: 1190
Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 22:44

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by parivadini »

MKR - AV mainitains a wonderful archive. Unfortunately, it is not open for public. I got access to it once as I was writing a biography of GNB for their publications. If you want to access archives in Chennai, Roja Muthiah Library is the best bet (which is what I used for my second book - on PSP).

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Parivadini: Thanks. I will follow-up.Are u in Chennai--I expect to be in India(Chennai) during the Nov-Dec period. and I would very much like to meet with you--I think the last time we met was in Ravikiran's house for our Rasikas meet.My e-mail id is mkram38@gmail.com.

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by ajit »

Image

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by rajeshnat »

ajit
Are You are seated at extreme right in full pant ?.Was this photo taken in chennai or madurai?

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by CRama »

Thanks Ajit for that nice photo. In the latest issue of Sruti, there is a write up about Kesi and some nice photos of Kesi in her young days.

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by ajit »

Rajeshnat - Yes. I am seated extreme right. This photo was taken in Smt. N. Kesi's house in Alamelumangapuram, Chennai.

If any of her other disciples in the photo are in this forum, can you please identify yourself?

thanks,
ajit

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Re: Smt N Kesi Avl Flutist

Post by ajit »

CRama,
Would it be possible for you to send me soft copy of the Smt. N. Kesi's pictures in Sruthi?

thanks,
ajit

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