Jeyaraaj and Jaysri - Naada Inbam - 2 Aug 2013

[bilahari]

Sri Jeyaraaj and Smt. Jaysri - vINai
Sri Tanjavur Kumar - mrudangam
Sri Pudukkottai Ramachandran - ghaTam

Thatha's Memorial Concert Series
Duration: 2h 35m

Approximate Songlist:

calamELa - nATTaikurinji - Adi - Mulaiveedu Rangaswami Nattuvanar
pancamATanga - malahari - rUpakam - MD (S @ pallavi)
brOcEvArevarE - srIranjani - Adi - T (R, S @ pallavi)
srI mATrubhUtam - kannaDa - miSra cApu - MD (Sketch, S @ pallavi)
dEva dEva jagadISwara - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - ST (R, N @ caraNam, S)
evari mATa - kAmbOji - Adi - T (R, tAnam in sAvEri, bilahari, bEhAg, brindAvana sAranga, S @ caraNam, T)
syAmAmbikE - AnDavan Pichai
tillAna - ?
nI nAma rUpamulaku - sowrASTRam - Adi - T

It was a nice concert. I really enjoyed J and J's rendition of pancamATanga, with interesting gamakas around the panchamam. The way they played 'Tanga' in the pallavi was extraordinary. Smt. Jaysri's srIranjani ragam had clear vision and particularly pleasing phrases around the dhaivatam. I enjoy the kharaharapriya crossover in this raga, and Smt. Jaysri brought that into reaching the tAra shadjam. The entire kannaDa presentation was my highlight of the evening, from Sri Jeyaraaj's brilliant sketch of the ragam to their presentation of the kriti with a unique flavour, and the crisp swaras after. KannaDa always sweetens a concert considerably. Smt. Jaysri's pUrvikalyANi was classical, and I heard ST's composition for the first time and enjoyed it. Sri Jeyaraaj sang the neraval line, but I couldn't make it out from the back of the hall. The neraval and swaras were both very concise. Sri Jeyaraaj's kAmbOji ragam had many of the time-tested phrases and the tAra stAyi exploration was moving and reminiscent of the MA Kalyanakrishna Bhagavatar recording Radhika Rajnarayan had uploaded some years ago on the forum. I particularly enjoyed Sri Jeyaraaj's bEhAg and Smt. Jaysri's brindAvana sAranga in the rAgamAliga tAnam. I was expecting a neraval in evari mATa, but time was running short and they skipped to swaras. Overall, I enjoyed J and J's clarity of vision in playing alapanais and swaras, their presentation of kritis, and the very relaxed gait of their music. They also have great understanding.

The percussionists were both great. I particularly relished Sri Kumar's playing for kritis, with his impeccable sensitivity to each syllable and sangati. In particular, his playing for panchamATanga and srI mATRubhUtam was extraordinary. In the charaNam of the kannaDa composition, Sri Kumar allowed Sri Ramachandran to start tapping, and then gently melded into the sound of the veenais and the ghaTam. It was so well done. His playing for kArvais in both kriti and swaras was very appropriate as well. Sri Ramachandran enjoyed good rapport with Sri Kumar and came to the fore in neraval and kalpana swaras. The tani was brief but I enjoyed the final kOrvai.

The audience numbered about 40-50.

It was a very pleasant evening.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Thanks for the report!

Sounds like a nice concert! I think you meant to type kAnaDa but ended up spelling it kannaDa?

[arasi]

Sreeni,
Sri mAtrubhUtham is in the rAgA kannaDa, and not kAnaDa.

Bilahari,
Good to know the concert was a fitting one to celebrate your grandfather.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Arasi avare,
Thanks! I should stop logging on to the Forum and posting even before I am fully awake!
I was thinking how could Bilahari make a mistake while it was I who was making a mistake!!

Bilahari,
I hope you will be able to post some audio/video clips!

[arasi]

Sreeni,
On the other hand, I shouldn't be posting late at night, sometimes including debris of sentences which I would have edited as I went along and had not remembered to erase

[bilahari]

Hey! I am more than capable of making gross errors in raga identification. Need I remind anyone of my PK/PV struggles? So please continue to ask questions, especially now that my live listening experience is limited to a couple of concerts every other year or so.

Sreeni, Sri Jeyaraaj has kindly permitted upload of the concert, so as soon as I get the recording, I will put it up.

Additionally, I hope Rajani, whom I met at the concert, will come forth with her scholarly views about this beautiful concert.

[Nick H]

Another lovely concert in memory of Bilahari's Grandfather.

It was so nice to see J & J again, after what feels like a long gap.

[rshankar]

Sounds like another fabulous trade-mark concert from J&J! Look forward to Rajani's description!
pancamAtanga is a rarely heard kRti...and I have not heard the composition by ANDavan picci before.

[pattamaa]

so nice of Jayaraj. eagerly waiting for the upload...

Bilahari - thank you so much for organizing the concert series, and also for sharing the recording. please continue the good work in upcoming years also :ymapplause:

[Rajani]

Bilahari - Thanks a lot for organizing all this. I have nothing more to add , just that I too enjoyed the concert, especially the Sriranjani and Kannada. The Tillana was a composition of Muthiah Bhagavathar in Hamsanandi.
The Neraval line ( sung by Sri Jeyaraaj first ) was " daarita - Magadha - maheepa" in the Purvikalyani kriti.