Jayanthi Kumaresh @ BTM on 22.2.14

[kssr]

Jayanti Kumaresh - Veena
No mridangam
(Guru) prasanna - Khanjira
(Giri) dhar Udupa - Ghatam

1. Nattakkurinji varnam (Adi- 8 beats)
2. Hidden 7 - Nattai
3. Sri. Subramanyaya - Kambodhi - Rupaka -6 beats
4. Gowrimanohari Ragam- Gurulekha - Swaram - Special thani - Khanta chapu- 5
5. Song in Chayaanattai - Giri request
6. RTP- Hamsanandi ragamalika swaram- Bhairavi, Begada, ---, ----, Hamsanadham, Revathi (Pls correct if they are wrong). Thani again.
7.Thillana - Sivaranjani- by LGJ

The concert was good. Emphasis was on the percussion. Supposed to have been initiated by Guru. varnam was a regular good start.
Hidden 7 is supposed to have mishram hidden. It was just the percussionists who played initially with Jayanthi strumming veena like a guitar. Then she also played something pleasant to the ears. The announced ragam Nattai was also hidden. Influence of fusion music.

A compact Kambodhi kriti - no prefix or suffix.

After a standard gurulekha, the P-pair went on a preliminary thani. Guru, at the end of it explained the speciality of it. Good to get educted bit by bit in laya aspects as well.

RTP was the main piece. To stretch Hamsanandi so elaborately, robbed a bit of its beauty, IMHO. It was definitely well rendered. Thaanam was excellent and so was the seamless switch between ragas in the pallavi section. Jayanthi, no doubt is a superb artist. Then came a looooooonnnnnngggggg thani, although very well and interestingly presented. There was the extensive vote of thanks which consumed most of the time left. Concert ended with a swift thillana.

We did not miss the mridangam to a great extent. The P-team was out to prove a point which they did. Giri could play alongside the main artist similar to the mridangam and he really has a huge variety of strokes in his kitty. During thani he came up with a special "bus horn sound BOYNNN". Wonder how he managed it with his pot!! I felt that this kind of competent P team can be employed for other instruments' concerts, like violin or flute as well because sometimes the mridangam gobbles up the subtlety and beautiful nuances of the main instrument.

Overall a satisfactory evening.

[Rsachi]

I felt that this kind of competent P team can be employed for other instruments' concerts, like violin or flute as well because sometimes the mridangam gobbles up the subtlety and beautiful nuances of the main instrument.

KSSR
Interesting point. I have myself opined before that mindless mridangam play robs the musical experience especially for female voices and surely subtle instruments. One step is of course to rehearse the pieces and the second is set up the mikes well.

Veena players like ghatam. Violinists prefer mridangam. I don't know about flutists. Of course finally it is down to the individual percussionists to do the right thing at the right time.
I was just hearing a recording of UKS accompanying Ravikiran some years ago. Here is indeed a role model!

[gardabha_gana]

kssr sir - saw you sitting in the first row A different kind of concert. I may be in the minority, but I long for traditional varnam to tillana concerts. I wish the Kambodhi was an elaborate one and the nattai went past me. I am weak in laya and couldn't appreciate the aspects as much as the folks in the audience, went over my head. Well, there is lots to learn!
Playing w/o the mridangam reminded me of my dad who used to mention to me that in his younger days Veena used to be accompanied by ghatam, especially he used to mention Vilvadri(?) Iyer.
BTW, the chayanatai piece was Ithi Samayamura and was the first raga ananda bhairavi or bhairavi - I may be mistaken.

[arasi]

Gardabha_gana,

Vilvadri Iyer it indeed was! He was fun to listen to (like you, I still do not know much about laya but love to hear fine percussionists). He played ever so many concerts when I was a child. Whenever I saw his name in a concert announcement, I'd exclaim: there! He's playing yet another concert!
I also thought he had an exotic name

[gardabha_gana]

Thanks arasi m'am. You made my day!! Many of these anecdotes that my dad used to tell me, keep coming back. Yeah - the percussion was very enjoyable. It was a good evening. I listened to Gurulekha back to back - what a nice song (See my RKS memorial list).

[mahavishnu]

That name brings back such memories for me. Vilvadri Iyer and my grandfather (Kalpathi Ramanathan) used to give laya vinyasam programs on the AIR of the 1940s and 50s. I'm sure some old timers have heard this combination during live broadcasts.

Vilvadri Iyer was a student of Chathapuram Subba Iyer, who was PMI's first guru before he went to Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer. In fact, there is a street named after him in Palghat.

And yes Vilvadri is such a pukka Palakkad Iyer name. The other famous namesake used to run a very profitable tiffin restaurant in the Salem area called "Vilvadri bhavan".

[cacm]

DELETE POST

[cacm]

Dear MV,I was fortunate to listen to the combo of Kalpathi R & Vilvadri Iyer MANY TIMES. In retrospect I HAVE to say that in addition to the MAIN Artists the ACCOMPANISTS CONSIDERABLY ADDED TO THE WEIGHT OF THE PRESENTATIONS. MS used to subltly beam & MMI used to OPENLY ADMIRE & APPRECIATE THE ACCOMPANISTS; There was NO SUCH DISTINCTION as Pakkavadyasm & Upa-pakkyavadam in those concerts as EACH ONE was a GIANT in his own right.
The TEAM WORK UTTERLY LACKED EGO which made recalling those concerts even today UNFORGETTABLE.....VKV

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Interesting discussion!

I have read that veena performances were sometimes accompanied by tabala (instead of mRdanga or GhaTa)
One example here:

[Rsachi]

Sreeni
I have attended concerts -vocal and Veena- of Smt. Chennamma, accompanied by Vid Seshappa on Tabla.

[kssr]

was the first raga ananda bhairavi or bhairavi - I may be mistaken.

It was indeed ananda bhairavi. I had scribbled in a paper A.Bhairavi and when I wrote here missed the "A"!! But was not feeling comfortable because I did not remember any Bhairavi in the concert. Thanks for pointing out.

[kssr]

With so much discussion on the P teams of yester years, let me mention that during the initial introduction by Guru, he said that he was inspired by earlier concerts of Veena balachandar- Harishankar? - Vinayakaram and later another concert where the accompaniment was only of Vyasavittala? and Sukanya Ramgopal and yet again in a concert of Mysore Nagaraj-Manjunath, as a mridangam vidwan fell ill, it was only kanjira and ghatam. He took pains also to say that they are NOT doing it to show that mridangam is not necessary- but just as a change to the normal pattern.

[rasikashironmani]

I remember over the last few years a couple of concerts held at Ragasudha hall in Chennai where there were vocalists performing an entire concert without the mridangam but with a ganjeera and a ghatam only. I unfortunately missed both of them. Can anyone shed light on it?