Bombay Jayashri / Nithyasree concerts this season

[gajaa]

Anyone attended the concerts of Jayashri this season? Any good reviews like last year's Bharat Kalachar concert from her?

Separately, Nithyasree still seems to be going through a rough patch with regards to her voice condition. I'm assessing from the jaya tv concert I caught on YouTube. But again, anything interesting from her this season? Would love to know.

[sureshvv]

Attended Jayashree at MFA. Sings mostly well worn out stuff. But the manodharmam parts & RTP were good. Pretty full house.

Attended Nithyashree at BVB pre-season. It was on the day of MBMK's demise. Spoke from the heart & presented some of his specials (like sunadavinodini). Acquitted herself well. Stayed for full concert until mangalam even though other close-by venues had good programs.

[Madras-Talkies]

Bombay Jayashree's concert was pretty decent at music academy. She sang all Carnatic ragas at academy after ages. Though her range was limited. From manodharamam stand point, she did absolute justice.

[sureshvv]

Jayashree's RTP ragamalika swaras section is so focused on speed that some ragas are given a strictly scalar treatment without staying on any one swara long enough for the raga swaroopam to come out. Unfortunately some other artistes are also taking inspiration from this

[rajeshnat]

Bombay Jayashree's academy concert was pretty decent at music academy. She sang all Carnatic ragas at academy after ages. Though her range was limited. From manodharamam stand point, she did absolute justice.

Madras Talkies,
What is your take on her Urmika RTP - which was way too short as mentioned in the forum . Qualify bit more when you say pretty decent- just curious there ?

[Madras-Talkies]

Well, the rtp was pretty short. Honestly, singing rtp for an hour doesn't mean anything to me. Artist can definitely do justice to rtp by allocating 20 mins time at music academy. 4-5 minutes of raga, 5 minutes tanam, 10 minutes for Pallavi that includes .. trikalam, anuloma and pratiloma(if they chose to deliver) along with few swara cycles.

[CRama]

I attended one concert of Bombay Jayasree- in Bharat Kalachar and it was very good. No voice issues. Started with Dasaratha nandana in Asaveri with swaras. Sub main was Nadupai with elaborate alapana, neraval at Vedasannuta and swaras. Tulasibilva in Kedaragowla was main. Kedaragowla main is always refreshing. Neraval at Karunato Nenaruto and elaborate swaras. The entire song excluding tani took 65 minutes. Then RTP in Rasikapriya. Though I am not a big fan of Rasikapriya, she did full justice to the RTP including all elements.

[gajaa]

I attended one concert of Bombay Jayasree- in Bharat Kalachar and it was very good. No voice issues. Started with Dasaratha nandana in Asaveri with swaras. Sub main was Nadupai with elaborate alapana, neraval at Vedasannuta and swaras. Tulasibilva in Kedaragowla was main. Kedaragowla main is always refreshing. Neraval at Karunato Nenaruto and elaborate swaras. The entire song excluding tani took 65 minutes. Then RTP in Rasikapriya. Though I am not a big fan of Rasikapriya, she did full justice to the RTP including all elements.

That list surely looks very refreshing to me. Taking kedarafowlai as main is not typical of her as we know .. she usually sticks to the big 5.

[Madras-Talkies]

Lol@ big 5. Kalyani, skbharanam, Karaharapriya, thodi and kambhoji ? Is that right?

[svenkat]

B'bay Jayashri has always been a safe player, not exerting herself beyond her musical and vocal range. It is rarely that she metes out classical treatment to anything. Even a Todi in her hands shimmers as it were, with her glossing over it so lightly!

Nithyasree, an incredible talent 20 years ago, will probably regain her music and form. Time for deep introspection and changes perhaps.

[sureshvv]

Nithyasree, an incredible talent 20 years ago, will probably regain her music and form. Time for deep introspection and changes perhaps.

I think you are under estimating the factors of age and wear & tear on health. The amount of hard work she puts in is very palpable in her performances & she gets a lot of appreciation for it.

[CRama]

B'bay Jayashri has always been a safe player, not exerting herself beyond her musical and vocal range. It is rarely that she metes out classical treatment to anything. Even a Todi in her hands shimmers as it were, with her glossing over it so lightly!

I was not an avid admirer of Bombay Jayasree afew years back. It was very light. But now, her voice has acquired some weight and music too. I hear maximum one concert of hers in any season. Nothing in between. and I do not have any big collection of her music. But this year concert in BK was really good. I do not have any recording. That Nadupai, Kedaragowla were really well presented with no less classisim. Elabrate alapanas, neravals, swaras all were great. Rasikapriya RTP was also very classic with all ingredients of a good RTP It was fairly elaborate as the concert was for full three hours.

[HarishankarK]

Nithyasree, an incredible talent 20 years ago, will probably regain her music and form. Time for deep introspection and changes perhaps.

I think you are under estimating the factors of age and wear & tear on health. The amount of hard work she puts in is very palpable in her performances & she gets a lot of appreciation for it.

Didn't realize carnatic musicians too have die hard fans.
My heart goes out to Nithyasree but I don't think that she should perform until her voice is back in good shape. Last year in Sydney her concert was very embarrassing for everyone. No doubt that even five years back she was in top form, her voice and music reigning supreme. Because if her performance is not good she will also loose her fans. I am only speaking out of concern. If the situation does not change then people will only remember her in a bad way. Sincerely Hope and pray that her voice comes back in shape. Shruthi Shudhdham is very important.

[HarishankarK]

And I think that the main issue with BJ voice is audibility and comfort in higher notes.

[Vocalist]

I think a lot of artists are having issues with their voices these days. Sowmya, Ranjani Gayathri, Priya Sisters, and Sudha ought to be added to this topic too. Sadly, the list of names only seems to grow.

[svenkat]

I think RaGa's voice loss was only seasonal, and they seem to have recovered. The others seem more long term. One of the Priya Sisters has had voice problems for many years now.

[gajaa]

Speaking of voice losses of seasoned artistes in their prime, whatever happened to the (once) mighty Unnikrishnan? Did he take a break this year? Did not catch any of his programs on TV / any reviews her as well? Hope he returns in much better form.

[Vocalist]

I thought the issues were less with his voice and more with other features (such as mangling the sahithya of compositions)? He did perform this year from what I can recall in the listings, though I did not attend.

[melam72]

I didn't attend a Nithyashree concert this year, though no one needs to. All they need to do is stand next to open windows anywhere in the world and they can listen to her! Windows, never mind! They will all crack by the time she sings the thara gandharam of Vathapi Ganapathim! Location, also doesn't matter! Her singing is so powerful, it can be heard from North Korea to Nandanam, and Mylapore to Medellin!

Bombay Jayashree - I did attend one concert by her in Narada Gana Sabha. Paying money for a Bombay Jayashree concert is honestly not worth it, because, with the exception of the RTP, you can hear all the krithis she rendered in concerts rendered so much better by almost all musicians of past and present. Her lack of a jalra (a la Vijay Siva), is the only aspect of her concert preventing her from being renamed 'Bombay Bhajana-shree'! She also tends to use falsetto a lot in her concerts. Now tell me, is that absolutely necessary? Why does she need to bring it in a kachcheri? While she has a good sense of modulating her voice, she isn't very good at changing techniques to suit renditions. She is extremely suited for light music or light classical, but heavy classical? I think I'll pass.

[MaheshS]

I didn't attend a Nithyashree concert this year, though no one needs to. All they need to do is stand next to open windows anywhere in the world and they can listen to her! Windows, never mind! They will all crack by the time she sings the thara gandharam of Vathapi Ganapathim! Location, also doesn't matter! Her singing is so powerful, it can be heard from North Korea to Nandanam, and Mylapore to Medellin!

Konjam illa, idhu romba over. North Korea?

[melam72]

I didn't attend a Nithyashree concert this year, though no one needs to. All they need to do is stand next to open windows anywhere in the world and they can listen to her! Windows, never mind! They will all crack by the time she sings the thara gandharam of Vathapi Ganapathim! Location, also doesn't matter! Her singing is so powerful, it can be heard from North Korea to Nandanam, and Mylapore to Medellin!

Konjam illa, idhu romba over. North Korea?

Why else are they developing nuclear weapons in North Korea??

[devan]

Melam72,your observation about Jayashri and Nithyasree is absolutely spot on.