Bombay Jayashri - Austin, June 19, 2010

[Enna_Solven]

Accompanists:
H.N. Bhaskar – Violin
N. Manoj Siva – Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya – Kanjira

Saturday, June 19, 2010 (5:30 pm)
St Edwards University–Jones Auditorium, Austin, Texas

1. siddhi vinAyakA arulpurivAi - nAttai (S)
2. Sri vEnkata girIsham - Surutti
3. Ananda natamADuvAr thillai - pUrvikalyAni (RNS @ tAnandam illAda)
4. teliyalEru rAmA - dhEnuka
5. Ee vasudhA - sahAnA (RNS @ bhAvukamu kalgi)
6. santhAna gOpAla krishnam - khamAs
7. inji morabba RTP in Mohanam-Ranjani (jagan mOhana muralIdhara gOpAlA - muraharA giridharA) ragamalika swarams in malayamArutham, hindOlam and I think I missed one more. She moved so fast from one ragam to another. It was truly a mAlA.
8. Kanden Seethaiyai - Bageshri
9. Viruttham enthAyum enakkarul thandaiyum followed by Koovi AzhaittAl - Valaji
10. Thillana taka dhim ta dhim - ? (ninaiyE eNNi nidamum EngiDum enaiyALa vanda mannavanE)
11. pavamAna - mangalam.

Mr. Nagarajan announced that the campus security gave him a citation for initially letting the audience go beyond the auditorium capacity. So popular is she that people came from Dallas, San Antonio, Lubbock and Amarillo! He had to turn people away after getting the citation

It was an excellent concert (about 3 hours long). Jayashri was restrained till the end of the main as all the krithis sung up to that point were serious/sedate/soft but she became very energetic halfway through the RTP. It was a cascade of beautiful swarams in different ragas, seamlessly spun together and sung full-throated. The concert came to a conclusion just when she was in full flow

Highlights of the concert were the sahAna main and the RTP. Concerts like this convince me that that pre-programmed CD's are no match for live performances. Her ability to sing melodiously throughout her voice range is so enriching to the listener. Her mOhanam essay was so, so sweet. Valaji was fantastic (I like this rAgam very much.)

H.N. Bhaskar's accompaniment was outstanding. In fact he was the first to get an applause during the RTP. Jayashri picked up pace after that! His raga sketches were wholesome and very evocative. (thAlA dept = my knowledge is 0)

[rshankar]

Enna_Solven - Thanks for a lovely review. What is 'inji morabba'? I think Smt. Jayashree is one artist who doesn't tour the US as often as some of the others do. That makes her concerts all the more sought after!
She is one of the few (Sri GS Mani is another) who sing kaNDEn kaNDEn kaNDEn sItaiyai in bhAgESrI, which, IMO is most appropriate for this song - which although triumphantly describes hanumAn's success, also needs a depth of pathos to bring out the pitiable state he finds sItA in...(pani kAla vArijam pola pale, and ready to give up her life, etc...)
Smt. Jayashree's tillAnAs are to be assumed to be composed by her guru, Sri LGJ, unless proved otherwise.

[hamsadhwani]

>> inji morabba RTP in Mohanam-Ranjani (jagan mOhana muralIdhara gOpAlA - muraharA giridharA) ragamalika swarams in malayamArutham, hindOlam and I think I missed one more. She moved so fast from one ragam to another. It was truly a mAlA.<<

There was malayamArutam, hindOLam, hamsAnandi and sindhubhairavi. Though her changing of ragams within seconds was impressive, I am somehow not a big fan of the mish-mash RTP I would have preferred a good full mohanam or a ranjini and then a raga malika.


Smt. Jayashree's tillAnAs are to be assumed to be composed by her guru, Sri LGJ

Yes. Most of the thillanas she sings are composed by Sri.LGJ. The one she sang yesterday was Madhuvanti.

Could be due to the fact that she was performing after a long time, but never has it happened that they had to turn people away because the auditorium was filled to capacity since I have been a member in the last 3 years. :tmi:

[Enna_Solven]

Enna_Solven - Thanks for a lovely review. What is 'inji morabba'?

It is the Ginger (inji) - Sugar candy that is prevalent in many states including Tamil Nadu. Ranjani = Ginger , mOhanam = Sugar

I think Smt. Jayashree is one artist who doesn't tour the US as often as some of the others do. That makes her concerts all the more sought after!

In fact Mr. Nagarajan complained about her coming back to Austin after 6 years.

BTW, Bombay Jayashri had a mini-Tanpura that she was strumming herself all through the concert. She supported it with her head and her head was tilted to one side. I was afraid that she was going to get s stiff neck at the end of the concert. She kept light thalam with her left hand occasionally on the Tanpura itself. How many artists did play the Tanpura themselves those days and how many do it now?

[mohan]

I think Smt. Jayashree is one artist who doesn't tour the US as often as some of the others do. That makes her concerts all the more sought after!

I understand that Jayashri was last featured in the Cleveland festival in 1995 (the one I attended). Why is this so?

[rshankar]

Artists like Smt. Jayashree, Smt. Nityashree, and Smt. Gayathri have young families - may be one reason why they do not tour abroad as much as the others.

[mohan]

Ravi - yes I understand that they may prefer shorter tours but I find it odd that she hasn't performed at Cleveland for so long. Perhaps CACM can respond.

[cacm]

There are VERY GOOD REASONS but I am not willing to describe them in this forum. VKV

[thenpaanan]

...

[Bombay Jayashri] kept light thalam with her left hand occasionally on the Tanpura itself. How many artists did play the Tanpura themselves those days and how many do it now?

Very few concert artists even use a real tambura and no CM vocalist as far as I know plays tambura for themselves on stage. This is not only a great credit to her mastery but also to the accompanists' forbearance and rapport. Once I was being fancy and not putting talam explicitly on stage (for no good reason but to show off) and I caught the ire of both my accompanists and it was not their fault either. The violinist wanted to see my tALam hand for kalpanAswarams and the mridangist wanted to see it for the chowka kAla kritis. A couple of glares brought me back to my senses and I continued the rest of the performance putting tALam like a good boy.

-Then Paanan

[kssr]

Once I was being fancy and not putting talam explicitly on stage (for no good reason but to show off) and I caught the ire of both my accompanists and it was not their fault either. The violinist wanted to see my tALam hand for kalpanAswarams and the mridangist wanted to see it for the chowka kAla kritis. -Then Paanan

Is seeing the beat really that important? I wonder. What do they do if the main artist is a flautist , chitraveena , mandolin or sax? How does the great Sri.MC manage? Of course, it will help them to SEE the thaalam but I think good artists can manage without it.

[thenpaanan]

Is seeing the beat really that important? I wonder. What do they do if the main artist is a flautist , chitraveena , mandolin or sax? How does the great Sri.MC manage? Of course, it will help them to SEE the thaalam but I think good artists can manage without it.

Of course, whether you need to _see_ the beat varies according to experience and mastery. The great masters do not need to see thALAm, they can do it themselves but in Carnatic music we do not use obvious markers for various parts of the tALam and that can sometimes be a problem. There is the famous anecdote of Palghat Raghu playing an entire section of his thani at a _quarter_ off the beat not just not seeing the vocalist's thALam but actively *ignoring* it. It also depends on whether the group has good rapport so they are familiar with the numbers presented. A friend of mine sang at tiruvaiyyAru during the annual tyAgarAja aradhana many years ago -- she sang a fast paced rarely-heard kriti in Mishra chApu. But the way my friend puts mishra chapu is a bit unorthodox (she only uses two beats of her hand instead of the usual two). As a result the accompanists struggled to learn whether it was mishra or khanda chApu and by the time they understood it the kriti was over. It was not deliberate but such things can happen when you are singing with accompanists who are not used to your mannerisms.

Similarly in New Jersey many years ago, at a concert of KSG (flute) with MC violin, KSG (after the kAmbhoji ata tALa varNam) played mahA gaNapatim (nAttai) but was obviously using the non-standard Adi tALam. MC was meanwhile playing along (presumably assuming it was the usual chatuSra Ekam). The inconsistency became glaring during kalapanAswaram when KSG was putting tALam for the audience to see when MC was playing and MC finished in the middle of the Adi tALam. KSG, the supreme gentleman that he is, stopped putting tALam openly after that. For us in the audience it was a loss because there was no one putting tALam on stage, including during the rather complex pallavi. It was quite touching to see KSG explain the pallavi to MC on stage (and before the pallavi cooling some hot milk for MC from his own supply), putting the tALam on MC's thigh so he could tell what was what. Needless to say, MC needed to be told only that one time. He flew into the stratosphere during the pallavi not missing the beat even once. The matching virtuosity from flute and violin gave us all a rare moment when even time stood still.

-Then Paanan

[kssr]

Both great artists indeed. Especially moving when MC stands up to difficult strings, effortlessly.

[ragam-talam]

(she only uses two beats of her hand instead of the usual two).

The above sentence is not clear! Please correct/clarify.
The KSG-MC and PR stories were great, thanks.

[thenpaanan]

(she only uses two beats of her hand instead of the usual two).The above sentence is not clear! Please correct/clarify.

There are two ways in common use of showing mishra chApu. Using capital letters to denote the syllables marked with a hand beat and lower case for those not indicated, one is TaKita TakaDhimi where the first two hand beats are with palm facing up and the second is Takita TakaDhimi. In the first case there are four beats of the hand and in the second there are three beats of the hand. The first way of showing this tALam is a great clue for accompanists and audience alike because this is the only chapu that has beats with palm facing upward. My friend puts her mishra chapu as Takita Takadhimi with only two beats of the hand. To differentiate this from khanda chApu (TakaTaKita) one has to actually time the beats. For the audience this is relatively easy after a few Avarathanams but in a fast kriti where the accompanists have to figure this out while also playing for the kriti in a noisy environment (such as a stage), this becomes double, triple duty. That's all.

-Then Paanan

[drohit]

This was a wonderful concert by Bombay Jayashree.

Unfortunately at times I end up taking seats in the concert where my nearby audience decides to sing along the main artist! This was no different.

There was a lady out with a notepad just a couple of seats away from me. She was taking down the song list etc. But, most annoyingly, she was singing alapana phrases and some songs along with/right after the main artist. VERY ANNOYING.. Casting glances her way seemed to have given her a wrong signal of going at it stronger. I would be happy to attend her own concert wherever that would be if she shuts her mouth in future concerts. It was very distracting and since the hall was almost full there was no way to escape from the same seat either.

[mohan]

she was singing alapana phrases and some songs along with/right after the main artist.

I've been unfortunate to experience this as well. You could have tried one of the following lines:

"Why don't you sit on the stage while singing pin paatu?"
"Next week you can give the main concert, but this week can we listen to Jayashri sing on her own?"
"Is this an auditorium or the shower?"
"The karaoke bar is down the road"

8)

[kssr]

More polite way would be to give a hand signal to lower--lower her voice (waving hand from up to down), with a sweet appreciative smile, to indicate that no offence is meant about his/her wonderful saareeram. Remember the smile is important!!

But what do you do to people crushing the biscuit packet cover after finishing off the contents, the nice grinding sound of teeth working on potato chips or the sound of cheap plastic carry bag when the water bottle (sometimes coffee flask) is extracted? To be polite to these people we can of course request them to time it according to the thaalam

[arasi]

Mohan,
Some good ones there!
sAma dana bhEda daNDams of other kinds have been discussed by us in--how many threads?
I am not trained in bharatanatyam but gestures from 'a smile' and a 'please' to start with when the 'singer', 'conversation-carrier' begins--to frequent looks at her/him with the smile absent, and if all this goes unheeded, then a gesture of despair and an audible sigh from me is the next step. If all these moves fail, I write out in my notepad and display this: please, let's listen to the music!. That has worked a few times. I like your lines. Will use them this season (yet, hope the occasion doesn't arise

[kssr]

Or take a scotch tape?!!

[cmlover]

Or ear plugs

[thenpaanan]

...
There was a lady out with a notepad just a couple of seats away from me. She was taking down the song list etc. But, most annoyingly, she was singing alapana phrases and some songs along with/right after the main artist. VERY ANNOYING..

In some concerts in NJ you can see not one but a whole bunch of mostly young members of the audience singing along. Not to be alarmed -- this was because it was their teacher who was on stage. It was amusing to notice that said audience members were not just mouthing/humming the kritis but also entire sections of the kalpanAswaram.

I did not mind it one bit but then this was not a paid ticket concert but a community event and the point of the event was precisely to engender participation among youth. I guess the difference is not always clear to everyone.

-Then Paanan

[kssr]

In some concerts in NJ you can see not one but a whole bunch of mostly young members of the audience singing along. Not to be alarmed -- this was because it was their teacher who was on stage. It was amusing to notice that said audience members were not just mouthing/humming the kritis but also entire sections of the kalpanAswaram.

-Then Paanan

Group singing of "kalpana" swaram?!! Even kalpana (creativity) seems to be a practised one. Of course anything is possible.

[thenpaanan]

Group singing of "kalpana" swaram?!! Even kalpana (creativity) seems to be a practised one. Of course anything is possible.

It is ok. It was only the elaborate kOrvais at the end that were group sung. Except for some top tier artists, kOrvais tend to be kalpitaswaram anyway. Why pretend otherwise?

-Then Paanan

[hamsadhwani]

This was a wonderful concert by Bombay Jayashree.

Unfortunately at times I end up taking seats in the concert where my nearby audience decides to sing along the main artist! This was no different.

There was a lady out with a notepad just a couple of seats away from me. She was taking down the song list etc. But, most annoyingly, she was singing alapana phrases and some songs along with/right after the main artist. VERY ANNOYING.. Casting glances her way seemed to have given her a wrong signal of going at it stronger. I would be happy to attend her own concert wherever that would be if she shuts her mouth in future concerts. It was very distracting and since the hall was almost full there was no way to escape from the same seat either.

Oops....drohit, that could have been me, if you were sitting in the last row, right near the door I was noting down the songs (on an evnelope, not a notepad though). I don't remember humming after the alapanais, but did certainly hum along for Ee Vasudha and Santhana gopalakrishnam! And if someone was giving me the looks, I certainly did not notice it. Well.... even if it wasn't me, I will make sure I don't do that hereafter during concerts now that I know it annoys people! My, I didn't realize people could hear me do that

[VK RAMAN]

umm - hamsadhwani turned himsadwani

[hamsadhwani]

umm - hamsadhwani turned himsadwani

Haha... indeed.

[PUNARVASU]

'Hum' sadhwani?

[arasi]

Punarvasu,
Nice to hear your hum again!

[rshankar]

kammiyA 'hum' paNNinAl adu 'kamsadhvani' AgumA?

[arasi]

If one's singing is bad, 'kum'sadhvani would be a relief (of course, Punarvasu doesn't belong there!). Original kamsa dhvani? It would have made everyone shudder--except for Krishna!