Palghat Ramprasad at BGS - December 15

[CommonMan]

Sanjeev - Tvm Balaji - Name of Ghatam artist?

Entered during Jaya jaya - nattai, and not sure if he sang anything before that. Few rounds of swarams, which in my opinion did not add much value. Enne gaanu rama in panthuvarali followed; am hearing it after many years. Neravals and swarams in what I call GN sir's "rama rama rama" - I recall GN Sir giving so many variations in that line even before embarking onto the neraval. PRP utilized his vocal strength to traverse trhough the octaves with ease - especially the melkala nervals in the upper sthayee was extremely enjoyable. Sanjeev tried his best to keep up in swaras, and TB has a very good raport with prp - the combination was simply superb.

Then SSIs masterpiece - lokavana chatura - ragam was short and crisp; though I like it to be more eloborate - but giving the benefit of doubt for time's sake. Thani was very enjoyable - I like the sound from TBs mridangam - the balance between edam and valam was perfect, and the ghatam was supportive.

Then PRP took ranjani for RTP - I have always loved his thanams - his thanam metrics are superb with an intrinsic rhythm in it. I particularly love the way he combines those metrics with sangathi patterns that keep changing every few seconds. Sanjeev fell short in it, I felt. "Ranjani mridhu pankaja lochani...pamara jana palini" 1st half was chatusram next half was kandam in adi thalam (someone correct me if I am wrong). Thrikalam was exciting, followed by swara ragamalika in bhairavi, saranga, and suruti - followed by kanaka sabhai.
Yet again, a fullfilling concert - soaked in tradition (for tradition lovers like me) - no excesses, no frills or unfollowable complexities. Lovely voice, great accompaniments - and an amazing synch with the mridangam, in particular. Missed the last few of his - so this was a good compensation.

[sankark]

sarasUda in sAveri was the opener before jaya jaya.

first ever time I got to listen to PRP, +voice (would it be too much of a stretch to say he has a chembai like vengala voice?), +tempo (madhyama kAlam), +terrific kalpanaswaras; - is also tempo IMO, needs to sing some slow paced items and slow down a little.

[mahesh3]

Varnam and Panthuvarali both A class - Begada kriti and swarams were too good. Team was solid - balaji and sanjeev showed value of experience. Really appreciated the tempo he picked for this particular concert.

[CommonMan]

+voice (would it be too much of a stretch to say he has a chembai like vengala voice?), +tempo (madhyama kAlam), +terrific kalpanaswaras; - is also tempo IMO, needs to sing some slow paced items and slow down a little.

IMHO, I rate him on par with any musician best in the business for slow tempo. I wish you were present for his BK concert; his dhwijavanthi "tharuneenyaan" was "really" leisurely, and so was sukhi evvaro. I find that artists like PRP who have a deep voice and and a flair for kozhaivu are naturally talented in presenting slow tempo items. But you are right, sankark - there was no such number in this concert, though!