Sanjay at SIFA, Bay Area - 21st September

[Sindhuja]

1. Varnam - Sahana, Ata Thalam -
2. Vinayaka ninnu - Hamsadhwani, Adi - Sengottai Ramakrishna Bhagavatar - S at paramakrupa
3. Ninnu sevinchina - Yadukula Kambodhi, M. Chapu - Subbaraya Shastri
4. Shive Pahimam - Kalyani, Adi - Thyagaraja - R; N&S at characharamayi
5. Kalangadhe maname nee - Ragavardhini, Adi - Koteeswara Iyer
6. Vazhi Maraittirukkudhe - Nattakurinji, M.Chapu - Gopalakrishna Bharati - R; N&S alternating between utuu parkka satre vilagadho maadu and vazhi maraittirukkudhe
7. Anupamagunambudhi - Athana, K.Chapu, - Thyagaraja
8. a. RTP - Abhogi, Khanda jathi Triputa thalam (I might be misremembering) - "sabhapathikku veru deivam samaanamaguma" (words might have been slightly different); swaras in Abhogi, Jog, Darbari Kanada
b. sabhapatikku veru deivam - anupallavi onwards - Abhogi, Rupakam - Gopalakrishna Bharathi
9. Dasara nindisabeda - Rageshri, Adi - Purandaradasa
10. a. Paaril uyarndha nilam - Viruttam - Saveri, Anandabhairavi, Begada, Patdeep
b. en thaai vaazhgenum - Patdeep, Adi - Bharathi (?)
11. Mannu pugazh - Ragamalika - Pahadi, Lalitha Panchamam (?), Hameer Kalyani, Hindolam, Nilambari; Rupakam -
12. Pavamana

Someone please fill in missing composers and any wrong details...

Some thoughts...
This was one terrific concert. Power packed, right from start to end. When he started the RTP, there was a feeling that the concert had just started a few minutes ago - his voice showed the same vigor. And what an impeccable shruthi shuddham! The highlight for me was Nattakurinji. Being one of my favorite ragas, this was an absolute treat. Sanjay's meticulousness in handling the sahithyam with sensitivity was particularly seen in the neraval. Even someone like me, who is guilty of being relatively careless about the sahithyam was forced to sit up and pay attention to the words as the meaning and bhavam oozed from his carefully chosen sangathis in the neraval.

I think rendering the kriti after the RTP was an on-the-spot decision - it seemed like he needed to vent the bursting energy still remaining after the RTP Whatever it was, was a nice idea.

Sanjay's concerts almost always have some rare (thamizh) kriti in an equally rare ragam and this was no exception - Ragavardhini sounded beautiful (of course, I must admit that I didn't know the ragam and had to look up using the swaras).

I love Sanjay's voice, shaareeram, creativity and his fun demeanor; yet am not a die hard fan for the single reason that there are sudden spurts in his singing where modulations in his vocalization and enunciations of swaras and syllables (done intentionally) become aesthetically less appealing. While this concert was standard Sanjay fare, this aspect was noticeably less frequent, making me enjoy it even more.

All in all, one helluva concert to remember.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for your lovely review, Sindhuja.

#3 would be ninnu sEvinchina in yadukula kamboji.
#5 is by Koteeswara Iyer

I love Sanjay's voice, shaareeram, creativity and his fun demeanor; yet am not a die hard fan for the single reason that there are sudden spurts in his singing where modulations in his vocalization and enunciations of swaras and syllables (done intentionally) become aesthetically less appealing.

I completely agree with your assessment. I have followed Sanjay's music very closely for almost 15 years or so now. I have known him for much longer, we were contemporaries in our high school days.

CM owes much to Sanjay for leading a renaissance of sorts. He has undertaken special efforts in cultivating a devoted, knowledge-seeking, educated audience for his music in addition to turning a number of people on to the art form (especially my generation and younger). All of this while pleasing the puritans, prudes and Mylapore mavens alike. His music had been constantly evolving (almost in parallel with his audience) till recently.

My own enthusiasm for his fare has waned over the last few years for some of the reasons you mentioned. But there are some other reasons as well. He has become a bit repetitive, plays with the same accompanists (why is that?), and has started flirting with the aesthetically less appealing aspects of delivery (as Sindhuja mentioned). There are, of course, significant positives too after his tutelage under Semponnarkoil. But I miss the Sanjay of the 90s and the early naughts. I miss the Sanjay that pioneered the wonderful natarajar pattu, beautiful viruttams, the tamil compositions of P. Sivan, Desikar, the moovar and all those exciting RTPs in vivadhi ragams.

Before the Sanjay die-hards come charging, I want to clarify a couple of things. I think Sanjay is immensely talented and his intellectual appetite knows no bounds. I am hoping there is a continued evolution in his music and that he comes out of his present "local minima".

[arasi]

Sindhuja,
Thanks for your very good review.

A few corrections in the lyrics:
9: dAsara nindisa bEDa
10: pAril uyarnda nilam (niRam is perhaps how one can hear it too, since thangap pachai--gold and green--are the words which follow!).

Now, aren't voice an sArIram the same?

Mahavishnu,
I agree that Sanjay's virutham-singing makes a concert of his even more special. Then of course, his tAnams. The vivAdhi rAgams, even more so.
As you say, the experimenting goes on, and as all experiments go, the trials and travails don't succeed every time. We need staid artistes who keep the precious old tradition intact (Sanjay is one, as we agree) and we also need the ones who take music further into the future, giving it new dimensions with responsibility (Sanjay leading the pack in that).
Yes, you may call me a fan

[mahavishnu]

Arasi, I like your expression "trials and travails" of experimentation. This describes Sanjay's music perfectly

I dare say the best thing about Sanjay is that he has made peace with the fact that his experimentation meets with varying degrees of success each time. The spontaneity and uncertainty that this brings is alone worth the ride.

RE: voice and sAriram. I take the former to refer to primary qualities including tone, depth, timbre etc. and latter to mean something more functional (the singing voice) that includes range, compliance, malleability etc. In Sanjay's case, one could add vocal stamina and power to this list as well.

Perhaps a language expert like you might think that they are not different after all? May be the topic of another thread...

[arasi]

Ramesh,
True to your assumed name, you are a vishNu, mahA vishNu at that! Can one with a vision be called a vishuNu in tamizh as Viswanathan is called Vichu?

And you call me a language expert!
Your (erudite) kind is entitled to that title--pas moi.

I was wondering why you say that Sanjay sings with the same accompanists. True, Varadarajan and Venkatesh play for him often. On a tour, it works better, I suppose. I think he's one of the few vocalists who is heard with many different violinists and percussionists. At least, that's my experience. Kerala and Karnataka artistes accompany him when he sings in those parts.

[annamalai]

My own enthusiasm for his fare has waned over the last few years for some of the reasons you mentioned. But there are some other reasons as well. He has become a bit repetitive, plays with the same accompanists (why is that?), and has started flirting with the aesthetically less appealing aspects of delivery (as Sindhuja mentioned).
I am hoping there is a continued evolution in his music and that he comes out of his present "local minima".

Yep. I agree with you totally. Among the current generation of musicians, he probably has the best understanding and grasp and has assimilated the music of the yesterera of musicians - and at best, his music can be an amalgamation of - GNB, Ramnad Krishanan, Musiri ... Now, that crowds are overflowing and there is a tendency to play to the gallery - " Janaganalkku thirillinga irukkuthumma ". Occasionally, there are also these filmy interludes, I distinctly remember a fantastic opening of kalyani - 5 or 6 GN-like briga laden phrasings, but transitioned to TM Soundararajan-esqe kalyani - (sindhanai sei maname ...)

I have fond memories of the 1999 MA concert - Ankarakam (Surati), Pakkala Neelabadi (Karaharapriya), Kana Kannayiram (Neelambari) and had the fortune of being on a fly on the wall for several of his concerts - Paruvam Parkka Nyayama and Paradevatha (Dhyansi) , RTP - Thodi - Siva Sankara Mahadeva, Sadasiva or Janani Pahi Sada (Suddha Saveri), Evarimata and Sree Subramanyaya (Kamboji), Enduku Peddala and Bagumeera (Sankarabaranam) and electrifying Slokams - Janathi Rama thava nama or Sruthva Gunan Bhuvana Sundara ... and Dasaratha Sutha (Jonpuri).

Regarding the accompaniments, as a listener, it provides diversity and I would think the musician would also adapt to the accompaniments - for e.g. listening to Madurai Mani Iyer with TNK and Vellore Ramabhadran is one experience and it seems different when you listen to Madurai Mani Iyer with Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai and CS Murugaboopathy.

Anyway, as you have rightly said, hopefully, it is a transient phase.

PS: mahavishnu, you have some guts !

[mahavishnu]

Arasi: It may be from my limited sampling and you may well be right. I have heard Sanjay more times with Varadarajan and Venkatesh in the last few years than with anyone else. But especially over the last two years I get the feeling that Nagai Muralidharan and S Varadarajan have accompanied him on most occasions. He does feature others (Nagai Sriram, Sanjeev, Vinu, Gopinath, Mysore Nagaraj, Srikanth etc) but not very often.

On the mridangam it is mostly Venkatesh or Guruvayur Dorai; although every now and again you see Patri, Tanjavur Ramdas, Easwaran and Srimushnam. I haven't see Arun Prakash with Sanjay for a few years now. You are right that when he is in Kerala he is often seen with local talent (Edapally Ajith, Palghat Mahesh Kumar, Nanjil Arul etc), especially at the Trivandrum festivals.

As Annamalai mentions the role of accompanists in his last post, I am reminded of the two best Sanjay concerts that I have ever listened to among the hundreds I have attended (and several hundreds more that I have on iTunes).

One was at the Astika samajam with Nagai and Trichy Sankaran (circa 2002: Shanthamulekha main) and other was with MA Sundaresan and Karaikudi Mani (circa 2005 at KGS with Sri Rama Ramani manohara and Rishabapriya RTP). The accompanists inspired Sanjay to reach dizzying heights on those days. Heights that he seems reluctant to climb in the last couple of years. Hence my earlier comment.

[mohan]

I'd too would love to see him in more concerts with mrudangam artists like UKS, Trichy Sankaran, Karaikudi Mani, KV Prasad & Bhaktavatsalam.

[Ramam]

This violin and mrudhangam team could be one that is fixed from overall practical and financial aspects. The practical also includes in following the manodharma of the main performer, I suppose.

The said target would be good when mridhangam could have been Trichy Shankaran, KV Prasad or M Eswaran.

I do not want to enter a controversy yet I place my observation.I have noticed this on many occasions. Venketesh smothers with deft sollukattu when the voice goes reaches higher octaves during sangathis with a birga particularly for the first time. Here as the head is inclined upwards, the birgas are there but lack clarity. The total effect makes it vanish. Another artist who does the same while accompanying Sanjay is PSatish .

[sureshvv]

Mahavishnu:

The propensity of human beings to desire what they cannot have knows no bounds. If Sanjay were to play with a different team for each concert you will be pining for something else Would you ask Kobe Bryant to play with a different center each time just for the sake of variety?

Sanjay today is not the artiste from the 90s or the 00s. As happens to everyone, he has matured and knows his strengths and weaknesses much better. He has also laid out a style for himself and is pursuing it vigorously. If you expect to be deliriously surprised each time, it is less likely to happen now than it might have a decade ago. My advice is to seek comfort in that he is still engaged in serious pursuit of the art - most of all for himself than the fugacious rasika!

[Sindhuja]

Thanks all for the very interesting discussion.

Mahavishnu and arasi, made all the corrections - thanks!

Voice vs shaareeram: I have been under the impression that shaareeram includes vocal stamina (as Mahavishnu pointed), and overall sustained depth and energy - after all, doesn't it come from "shareeram" meaning body?

I don't think I mind the same set of accompanists - I kinda look at them like a "band". The group as a whole has characteristics that a listener might like especially when the artists share a rapport with each other. I don't particularly care for variety there - unless something clearly doesn't work in the "regular" group.

Excuse my naivete, but I'm honestly curious as to what "experimentation" means in Sanjay's context That word brings only one name (among vocalists) to my mind, and I don't think I need to mention it Singing in a "filmy" style can definitely be classified as experimentation, but does he do that often? And what else, besides that? May be extra emphasis on thamizh kritis, deviating largely from the trinity's compositions? But haven't there been quite a few yesteryear artists who did that too? As far the unappealing delivery/ diction/ vocalization goes, I thought it was just his style - although intentional, for it comes in bursts and is not present the entire time...

[sureshvv]

Excuse my naivete, but I'm honestly curious as to what "experimentation" means in Sanjay's context

I agree with you that it is not immediately obvious and often quite subtle.

In this particular concert, the singing of the abhogi kriti immediately following the abhogi RTP could be considered an
experiment. Of course in my mind it has been conclusively proven to work already

[annamalai]

In this particular concert, the singing of the abhogi kriti immediately following the abhogi RTP could be considered an experiment.

This is what GN used to do in his RTPs - GN in his RTPs would sing suddha dhanyasi swaras as the last in the raga malika swaras and then after the pallavi start with Himagiri Thanaye hemalathe or sindhu bhairavi swaras and sing Smara varam varam - Sadasiva Bramhendral krithi.

[sureshvv]

Interesting! Thanks for the info. Was not aware of the precedent but not surprised either.

[gardabha_gana]

Nice discussion - wish I could understand what is being said well Sanjay has sung song after RTP raga quite often here in Bangalore. Though SV accompanies him a lot, I have heard Mysore Nagaraj, MR Gopinath, Nagai (the great) muralidharan have accompanied him in the last couple of years in Blr. However, I haven't seen RKS or HKV accompany him - though I believe they have accompanied Sanjay a lot in the 90s.

Also, one good thing I have seen is RTPs recently have been in more traditional ragas like thodi, kambodhi rather than hindustanish ragas such as Ragesri.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

I would like to see a dAsara pada other than dAsara nindisa bEDa / enna rakShisO on the list of items presented!

I have an album from 1990s where he has sung rAma nAma pAyasake, and it is quite good!

[rajeshnat]

Nice points about sanjay.While the passion of presenting new numbers is indeed there with Sanjay, I am not sure if one can callibrate sanjay's music with shruthi suddham attribute as mentioned by sindhuja. I personally feel sanjay accompanied by Neyveli Venkatesh and Varadu is the best thing that has happened to his music . Varadu is precise ,crisp and has extremely high shruthi sowkhyam, imho varadu is the best in the market . With Venkatesh fast rolling fingers it gels well. Personally Sanjay has blocked two very good accompanists and in my opinion that strategy is indeed the best instead of rotation of accompanists.

Sindhuja
Vinayaka ninnu brOChutaku is by EV Ramakrishna bhagavathar (not shenkottai ramakrishna bhagavathar that you mentioned before). Tx for your review.

[sureshvv]

Another recent "experiment" comes to mind...

We all know how a virutham can be presented in lieu of a raga alapana. In a recent concert, Sanjay went on to present the virutham in the style of tanam with wonderful electric effect. This was in Todi ragam and brought out an entirely new "fast and furious" dimension of Todi. Annamalai sir may be able to tell us if this has a precedent.

[annamalai]

sureshvv, I have not heard this before; please, I am not the gatekeeper for new experiments. BTW, all artists, by their nature and as an expression of their creativity experiment in their concerts and some experiments succeed and stand the test of time.

[hari2810]

IIRC, the RTP was adi talam (chaturasra triputa), 2 kalai (16 beats).
The sahityam was as mentioned. Eduppu at 1.5 beat. The word "deivam" in the sahityam was stretched ("dei..vam") so that "vam" fell at the start of the second half (arudhi?).

[arasi]

Sreeni,
Yes. As you say in post #16, it's nice to hear more dAsara padas in concerts.
I have heard Sanjay sing nanda tanaya gOvindana and kaNDe na gOvindana. I listened to his singing rAma nAma pAyasake once which I have heard Srikantan and M.S.Sheela sing--and I love the song.
The surprise was when this spring in Bengaluru, Sanjay sang gOvinda, ninnAnanda sakala sAdhanavu' in madhyamAvathi as a sub-main! It was sung beautifully.

Sureshvv.
Your "than to please the fugacious rasikA' and the rest in post #10 makes a lot of sense. Fugacious is a new word for me, and it's appealing!