Kunnakudi BalamuraliKrishna@CCA on Jan 12th,2016

[rajeshnat]

Kunnakudi BalamuraliKrishna@CCA on Jan 12th,2016
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Vocal : Kunnakudi BalamuraliKrishna
Violin : Pakkala ramadAs
Mrudangam : Shertalai Ananthakrishnan
Kanjira : Nerkunam shankar

Nirvana - Evening II Concert - ticketed

1. shree vignarAjam bhajE(S) - gambeera nAttai -OVK
swaras for 2 mins

2.sukhi evarO - kAnadA - T
3.shree mAthrubhootam (RS,S) - kannada- MD
swaras for 6 mins

4. bhAgayyanayya (R,N) - chandrajyothi - T
7 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
neraval for 8 mins in phalamu nIku danaku lEdani
5. mA ramanan - hindOlam - psivan
6A. koluvai unnAdE (R S T) - bhairavi - T
12 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
9 mins swaras
6B. tani for 12 mins

7. sreenivasa tiruvenkata - hamsAnandi - psivan
8. nee nAma

It is atleast 4 years since I heard if I recall correctly the last i heard was his nayaki -kotturpuram concert. My experience to hear him started as early as 2004 or 2005. KBMK started with gambeera nattai the rare OVK krithi -gambeeram was there in the voice to start with with few glitches but the sound system was not conducive at all. Lots of corrections were done but i missed little more dose of swaras or a bit more assertion like an aruna sayeeram who sings this song shree vigna rajam very well.

The next was sung as a standalone piece and i definitely enjoyed the sukhi evarO , missed few ga ga or any swara patterns in kAnadA but no cribs as the song was sung very well- what a master piece by sadhguru it never lets any musician down.Volume was needlessly jacked up again very ballistic volume almost till the end of shree mAthru bootam - particularly the volume of KBMK and Shankar/Anantakrishnan was way too high a real bootam with only pakkkala ramadas volume was a bit of mAtru bootham. Quite a few in audience ranted with one of his friends rightfully adjusting the volume which was right from the end of kannada .

Chandrajothi as a ragam gives a general serene mindset when you hear - but KBMK had a share of brigas little more than what that raga and krithi usually prescribes . I am not sure if i have heard a neraval for this song - my memory was bit hazy but I liked his expansion in neraval. The hindOlam filler was just good and he started with a lovely alapana in bhairavi . The indications in alapana sounded as though it was bala gOpalA. The main koluvai unnadE usually has the hit the ground running speed but I found his start was bit of a drag . He did an excellent keezh kala swaras with few lovely patterns and i enjoyed but i wished he went more with more koraippu swaras and in general a little more madhyama kAla to Mel kala swaras . But koluvaiunnAde was bit excessively measured . In the tukkadas he could have given a share of emote possibly a touch and go with viruththam / slokham would have been nice , sreenivasa tiruvenkata had a nice sangathi azhuttam -it is sivan masterpiece and sivan never lets any body down with this krithi.

The accompanists were all caught with law of average. Ramadas had a share of noticable slips in alapana return but in krithi returns he was good . Shertalai usually an energetic sarvalaghu had to adjust with a bit of dragging sangathis and for a considerable half his volume was bit jacked up . Sankar was more cleaner and bit more pointed . Tani could have been better

One thing positive about KBMK in general is his sangathi azhuttam - certainly he sings with a lot of assertion . I am hearing a shade of TN Seshagopalan a lot in his music .

If there is any thing negative , in general i find a shade of higher usage of brigas(especially during krithi rendition) which produces a shade of more roughness in voice. During those times I am missing the aesthetic connect that i usually have with most concerts.Brigas are double edged sword - at no point one should bring hoarseness in voice. He could have gone for another 15 to 30 minutes it is evening open ended slot - he was faithfully closing at exact 120 minutes.

The most positive aspect is few years back he was excessively exhaling into the microphone -which surely was not there . I am glad he has put that annoyance behind .

Overall a good to very good concert for 2 hours.

[CRama]

I knew that KBMK has got some problems with his voice hence skipped his concert in the last two seasons. But the concert in whch he paired with Abhishek Raghuram showed that voice problems are thing of the past and now he has got a melodiousl and clear voice. Hence I was waiting for an opportunity to hear him. This delayed season concert helped me. But I feel there is still a bit of roughness in his voice. But it is tolerable and never comes in the way of your enjoyment of the concert. The meddling with the mike spoiled the first two songs. I would have loved hear a few avartanas of swaras in Kanada. Bhairavi was rendered excellently. In the swara segment, in the first kalam, there were many avartanams ending at ri nii da paa which was most enjoyable part. Second kala swaras were measured , obviously due to time constraints. I should hear more of hs music.
The company of Rajesh provided better enjoyment of the concert. Thanks Rajesh for the review.