Shek @ ganapathi sachidananda hall 7-1

[sureshvv]

CM is all about shaking

now todi ragam

[tiruvarur]

Funny!

[mahavishnu]

I am shaken and stirred. I thought Mysore Srikant and Anantha Krishnan were uniformly superb.
Approximate songlist recovered from a crackly recording:

1. sami ninne kori - sankarabharanam -varnam
2. okapari judaga - kalavati
3. samodam chintayami - suddha dhanyasi.
4. paratpara parameswara - vachaspati
5. kartikeya gangeya - Todi
6. adi neepai - yamuna kalyani
7. muddugare yashoda - kurinji
8. (sita) patiki harathi re - surutti

Suresh, please post more.

[srikant1987]

Is it a concert by Sheikh Mehbub Subhani & Khaleeshabi Mehbub? Had almost given up all hope of reading a nAdaswaram concert review here ...

PS: Weirdly, the second syllable in their name is separated out for censorship, so I had to re-spell it in a less intuitive manner.

[rshankar]

Srikanth, it's a concert by Sri Abhishek...! I had to laugh at your post though!

[Ranganayaki]

Me too.. That's funny..

Ramesh, good to have the song list.. but how did you get it - aren't you in Toronto?

Suresh, your post was funny, enjoyed it.

[mahavishnu]

Ranganayaki, the songlist is from a recording.
I am still here in winterland.

[sureshvv]

Sorry for the original outburst! It was kind of a eureka moment (or more accurately a eureka session) and I just had to get out and share the discovery

Mahavishnu has posted the song list so I will just add a few personal observations:

1. Concert started with Shek and team getting the sound system adjusted to their exact liking, humming breezy strains of sankarabharanam to help in the process. At the back of my mind I was cynically wondering why they were bothering as he was
going to move all over the place and away from the mike anyway. Happily this did not happen that much - may be just a little bit
towards the latter part of the concert. The audio was on the loud side and Shek repeatedly asked for it to be lowered on the monitor (for himself).

2. A brief overview of Kalavati preceded Okapari which left me longing for an elaborate alapana of the raga. Only time I have heard this live was when Pantula Rama sang this most excellently at MFAC in 2008. Kriti was capped with an intense round of swaras for which the audience gave a rousing applause.

3. Suddha danyasi alapana was done vey nicely. Neraval was at "syanandurga nagari shobhayamana geham". Neraval was done in 2 speeds with utmost clarity of the sahitya. Started quite languidly with an elaborate vilamba kalam round and with the misra chapu tala when he switched to the 2nd speed it felt like driving thru' the ghat section of the western ghats at high speed tapping the brakes lightly as needed (my thigh was sore by the end of the neraval ) - his tala kriya acting as a seat belt. Whole neraval left me quite breathless. This is certainly a most enjoyable part of Shek's concerts.

4. Vachaspathi alap seemed to have an extra electronic sruthi aid - almost felt like someone playing chords on a guitar in the background. Incidentally a manual sruti box was used for the concert rather than a tambura.

5. Kriti was sung briskly and most adorably with the words slurred for the last sangati for musical effect. A little before the neraval, the kriti rendering was moved to a slightly faster clip. Neraval and swaras were at Ari ayanaum kana parama jyoti.

6. Todi alapana went on for half hour and there was never a dull moment. It prompted my original outburst (had not planned on making the post since my internet plan had run out). Was reminded of a TNS todi at sastry hall from about a decade ago.
Kriti started at the anupallavi. Short neraval and bountiful swaras at Maal maruga muruga shanmuga guha.

[sureshvv]

PS: Weirdly, the second syllable in their name is separated out for censorship, so I had to re-spell it in a less intuitive manner.

Blame the admin buubs

[mahavishnu]

Vachaspathi alap seemed to have an extra electronic sruthi aid - almost felt like someone playing chords on a guitar in the background. Incidentally a manual sruti box was used for the concert rather than a tambura.

I think he uses an electronic swaramandal (some new apps like iTanpura come with it). The brain (née ear) has a tendency to group the first, third and fifth and this could produce a chord like effect.

Suresh, I couldn't agree more on your opinion of Abhishek's niravals. It feels like a rollercoaster ride, but with the security of a seatbelt; cognizance that the talam is going to be just perfect and it is all going to end at the right eduppu.

[vasanthakokilam]

hey, hey, blame the admin software buubs Creative workaround, Srikant!

I thought of adding Abhi to the title, but then the point of the first post will be lost!!

[sankark]

I was there till the raga sketch for yamunakalyani. The whole concert was very good. Percussion support for varnam & the okapari numbers weren't very interesting but it was superb from the next item onwards. This concert reset my expectations as compared to the Jaya TV one. Guess if the full version of the Jaya TV concert is available, it will give a better idea of the whole concert rather than the ~40min snippet showcased in Jaya TV.

Vacaspati alapanai - while I couldn't get enough of Todi even after a good ~20 min vocal, after 5 mins I felt, OK please move on. Not that I identified it as Vacaspati because at times it was like Hemavati but was not quite Hemavati.

Guess he is following what Sanjay said (paraphrased) in one of the Jaya TV concert - 'chinna vayasula irukkara ideas ellam velila kottidu, apparam vayasanapparam venungaradha/nalla vandhadha vechukkalam' (pour out whatever ideas you have while you are young, then once you get old retain what was good and what is appropriate). IIRC it that is what KSK told Sanjay. Youtube should have the clip in its archives somewhere.

Pakkavadyam players will have a tough time with him - what will be left for them to play after he showcases everything in a concert?

[Ranganayaki]

Suresh, nice review.. don't apologize for the "outburst" - it was great and I'm sure it brought a smile to all and made us anticipate the rest , nice trick, almost! This is turning out to be a "good mood" thread, with everyone laughing.

"Breathless" brings back exactly how I felt at the concert he held here. "Bated breath" actually, and involuntarily, and that left me feeling breathless too.

[sureshvv]

Thanks.

Just couple more observations and may be a question to round off the report.

7. Percussion accompaniment was really good with bold and clear strokes at amazing speed. Thani showed off this dexterity
in particular. Felt Mysore Srikant was a tad tired/slow and did not keep up entirely wrt energy level.

8. There was an ashtapadi(?) between Yamuna Kalyani and Kurinji that went "yaamihe kaviha sharanam". Sounded a bit like
sindhu bhairavi but not entirely. The piece itself sounded a bit like an ashtapadi but not entirely.

9. Closed with "pavamana" after the quick surutti piece which also was started at the anupallavi.

[SSGopal]

The yamihe ashtapathi was in natabhairavi. This piece was popularised by mbk. Abhishek sings this as well as any other one with a lot of aesthetics.

[sureshvv]

Thank you SSGopal.

This seems to be it.

http://www.tollynation.com/track/Yami-He1

[naarayanan]

did anyone attend his thiruvanmiyur asthika samajam concert? heard that bilahari alapana was outstanding that day followed by paridanam ichite(of course, which raga is not sounding outstanding when he is in full swing?)

[SSGopal]

The Varali he sang as the main piece with Kamakshi in misra chapu and then the tani that followed by Anand and Sundarkumar were the crowning glory of the evening. Whatever this "Shek" (let me also fall in line) does is beyond your anticipation but surely out of the world. There were other items like nenendu vedagudura, dudugugala, sapasya kowsalya and each one was gem and had the stamp of "Shek"