Abilash Giriprasad@Pozhichalur On Dec 16th,2016

[rajeshnat]

Abilash Giriprasad@Pozhichalur On Dec 16th,2016
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Vocal : G Abhilash , disciple of AS Murali,who is PSN's disiple
Violin : B Ananthakrishnan
Mrudangam : Kalpakkam Venkatesh
Kanjira : Papanasam Sethuraman
Concert Type : Nirvana - no concert to follow and Free concert
Day/Duration : Friday 3 hours and 10 mins with 10 mins speech

Sabha : Trimurthy Sanageetha Sabha , Pozhichalur

1A.Om namah pranavaTAya- slokham -???
1B. ninnu KOri - varnam - mohanam - Poochi

2. dudduku gala (R,S) -gowlai - T
2 mins alapana with no violin return
5 mins swaras

3. shree kamaLAmbikAyah (R)- sahana - MD
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return

4. teliyalEdu rama (S)- dhenuka -T
8 mins swaras

5. HimAdri sutE(R N S)-kalyani -SS
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
7 mins neraval in shyama krishan sODhari gowri paramEshwari
3 mins swaras

6. kA vA vA (Ragasketch,S) -varAli - psivan
swaras for 8 mins

Last week Sunday it was prior to Vardah that I attended a concert here. I decided to attend abilash for a very long time and I was hunting for a longer concert and atlast i got this . Every upcoming vocalist needs a god fatherly support from an established accompanying artist . Historically even established PMI used to be a great god father to aspiring KVN . History repeats with a venkatesh-abhilash combo like a PMI-KVN in this century. For neyveli venkatesh ,this sabha is one very close to his heart. Venkatesh has nurtured it from ground up. Late Krishnamoorthy eloquently spoke about venkatesh in the first concert that I attended many years back when he paired with the same ananthakrishnan-that day was a kapinaryani pallavi. The joy of the keyless head turner venkatesh was a joy to see and hear. Kudos to venkatesh in supporting this aspiring artist.

The concert had to start at 05:45pm but got delayed to a 6 pm. I just dont know what is there to adjust with respect to sound for this sabha. Incidentally there were 3 mikes and the violin was a contact mike that was directly fed to the sound board(I am not complaining that it was a contact mike) . Abilash started with a ms amma trademark slokham and moved on to a fine varnam from the movie agni natchatram. Ninnu Kori was sung with gusto and there was a very clear demarcation of both speeds , venkatesh was brimming atleast 100% from there on.

THe second in gowlai with a sadguru pancharatna was superb . Thyagaraja numbers in early concerts adds so much of aesthetic comfort zone for all the accompanist - laya enhances raga bhavam is assured with pancharatna . I have not heard a pancharatna sung distinctly in second speed . He did that in satulakai konna ???,abilash moved from 3rd gear duddukula to a 5th gear . The 3rd gear speed with no sag and zero exhale in swaras at the end for 5 mins was superb . His anchor in gowlai ending with ri pa ma mA, ni ni pa mA, sa sa ma mA gave a semmangudi electric viswaroopam .

The contrast of fast gowlai was tempered with a lovely sahana. Sahana alapana was measured and he avoiding brigas and anchoring only with serene jiva pidis of sahana was lovely. Krithi was sung well but not consistent with a serene touch , his voice was bit struggling for the sustained pure note.

The semmangudi was jettisoned in teliyaleru and aurally TRS and Hyderabad brothers were lapped up in teliyelaleru . Lovely rendition with superb swara poruttam and as usual venkatesh was rolling with his head shaking in synch and going with killer patterns.

The kalyani alapana was way too short . He sang the krithi very well and the neraval was just steady .I felt his kalyani swaras did not zone to a very comfortable zone of sustained aesthetic spread.

What a joy to hear this ka va va in varAli. After a long sarvalaghu swara swirl of varali swaras and a lovely diction in this sivan masterpiece , so much of TNS like sangathis and his laya skills were exemplary. Thanni kamichan , even venkatesh was gasping for a bit of lung space which is a truly phenomenal achievement.

[rajeshnat]

7A. RTP in mohanam for 57 mins
27 mins alapana with vocal and violin taking turns
non metered taanam for 9 mins

Pallavi line was popularied by mahavidwan TK Rangachari
THe pallavi line was ---->>> lalithE vinuthE mAmpAhi bhagavathi gunavathi jagathjanani

pallavi and swaras for 21 mins with mohanam and revati ragamaliga

7B. tani for 23 mins

8A. slokham - vasudeva sutam devam - kAPi - bhagavath Geetha
8B. ThA thA thA thA ninnna PAda thai thai thai thai yennuku?? - kApi - mysore vadiraj

9. oruthi maganAi - behag - andal tirruppavai
10. thillANa ...nAdha vinOdha kunthala varAli rAga vaibhava - kuntalavarAli -Dr BMK

11. praklAda -sowrashtram + kali theera sethu bhandana - shree ragam

THe varnam and pallavi were in same ragas . The alapana had two rounds of violin returns. His grand paramaguru Semmangudi has sung very less of mohanam even though there is one rare RTP in mohanam by SSI.I found more patterns of his great grand paramauru maharajapuram vishwanatha iyer . The brigas were sparkling with ideas pouring . Taanam was non metered and sung well , but i would have loved if he had used his trump card venkatesh there.

The pallavi was sung by one of the finest unknown mahavidwan TK Rangachary. His enthu to pick up a TKR pallavi and sing that speaks of his brilliant analytical mind in taking what is good and great . Pallavi line neraval was lovely , he segued into revati neraval and his voice anchored with the assertive revati . Usually musicians sing atleast two ragamaliga ragas , i was surprised with only one (revati). He later clarified that as the power went off during pallavi neraval (backup was still on),he just decided to wind up with one raga. He again sang mohanam trikalam and power came up , mohanam did not dry and his patterns in swaras were well done.

KVN came in during Kapi.His voice has tremendous strength even in mid to lower octave and he gets his excellence even for slow moving krithis . He told that the kannada language krithi was by Mysore Vadiraj and I liked his rendition, the sangathis were very much like a jagadhodharana of KVN.
Andal tiruppavai gave a bounty of patterns for the percussion team .The pick of tukkadas was indeed Balamurali thillana . This BMK thillana is one of a kind , IIRC this is the first time I am hearing the kuntalavarali thillana, THis has more vishayam then even many krithis . with jathis getting rotated by vocalist and violinst thillana was not a time pass but it had a charm of a great bhogeendra sayinAm with swara downpour . Quite frankly I enjoy balamurali compositions sung by Non Balamurali schoool vidwans , even balamurali or any of his disciples are not giving that clean finish.

After neenama there was also a small turnaround in shree ragam. THe violinist B Ananthakrishnan was accompanied in the gallery by his brother and also his father Balaji . This is the first time I am seeing vidwan Balaji, we lost a lot of his music as he was settled in baneras , it is a joy to hear kAsikku pOgAdha ananthakrishnan. His returns were concise and most importantly he avoids any unwanted flash, he shows assertion in one or two ragas and gives more lung space for most of the krithis - there is more common sense than sense there. Particularly I liked his smile and pass in gowla alapana .I thought he was getting sabotaged by abhilash-venkatesh when he sang the kuntalavarali thillana when there were complex jathi patterns that were long , but anantha was cool and gave a really great return. As I walked out he told me he was so motivated with Neyveli venkatesh- I just nodded and checked my stiff neck but failed to get the circling nod of venkatesh.

Papanasam sethuraman kanjira was clean in most part and he like all of the artists were enjoying venkatesh play. He showed his skill in tani , rest were given with the shruti pradana vadhyam

Can we call Neyveli venkatesh as kalpakkam venkatesh:
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THe lignite supply is dwindling and neyveli is even shutting down. But venkatesh from neyveli was an atomic power , he is so continous with energy . His angams will stand out as one of the fastest ones , at times when there is longer sangathi he gives atleast 150%. His energy to play by varying volumes was superb. Venkatesh is a brilliant mrudangam artist of our era , his professionalism was the pick of the whole concert. He has played for so many artists and he especially knows how to play for vocalist who have taken up chartered accountancy as a profession(both completed CA's and aspiring CA's). Abhilash is doing articleship in CA. It is a joy to watch his head spinning faster than his hands, he inspired the team to produce greater music.

Special shout out for pozhichalur sabha
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From Monday with Vardah the suburbs of chennai was badly hit , they did not have power for atleast 3 to 4 days. 5000 transformers and electric lamp post were flying , but how is this sabha with just a casaurina and bamboo sticks just standing firm with its aadhara shruthi.It is a miracle for this sabha which is housed at the first floor independent house . You all have to come see and hear once to see how 600074 challenges 600004.


Few things Abhilash can watch out:
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1. In gowlai pancharathna he was trying to rotate citta swara part to violinist . THank god anantha signed back to Abhilash that he does not know the swaras. Stop this violin egalitarian moves

2. While he assisting violinist in dhenuka during violin return singing the same ending pattern was some what ok, but he singing again during kalyani alapana was not okay. I am pretty sure the violinist does not need your crutches that too for kalyani alapana

3. At times when he sings in madhyama - keezh kalam longer patterns , his voice strength and ideas are amazing and there is a real brahmippu. But with he again changing the contours in swaras or raga alapana there appears a slightly high dissonance of getting the right shruthi enabled pure notes . May be it is his excessive heavy texture of his voice that Lord Brahma has gifted him that acts a block or may be his voice is just breaking up as he is an adolescent . I am assuming it will go away with Late Krishnamoorthy sir's blessing

All said manodharmam is in plenty with this vidwan. OVerall an excellent concert for 3 hours and 10 minutes.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Didn't get it at first. You say Kalpakkam Venkatesh, and I wondered if it was a young player. Then your Pazhani reference made me wonder. I see you refer to talaiyATTi chithar--as Aravinda Mudaliar calls him--our man from Neyveli

[rajeshnat]

8B. ThA thA thA thA ninnna PAda thai thai thai thai yennuku?? - kApi - mysore vadiraj

The composer name is vaadiraj swami of the begha baaro - maand krithi fame . I made a mistake . Mysore Vadiraj is an upcoming mrudangam artist and a student of tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam

[rshankar]

10. thillANa ...nAdha vinOdha kunthala varAli rAga vaibhava - kuntalavarAli -Dr BMK

Rajesh, the only kuntalavarALi tillAnA of Sri BMK's I know has the following caraNa sAhityam:
"asamAnamaina tillAnA muraLi gAna vinodamiana tillAnA kuntalavarALi rAgamainadi"
Is this another tillAnA by the maestro in kuntalavarALi?

[rajeshnat]

10. thillANa ...nAdha vinOdha kunthala varAli rAga vaibhava - kuntalavarAli -Dr BMK

Rajesh, the only kuntalavarALi tillAnA of Sri BMK's I know has the following caraNa sAhityam:
"asamAnamaina tillAnA muraLi gAna vinodamiana tillAnA kuntalavarALi rAgamainadi"
Is this another tillAnA by the maestro in kuntalavarALi?

Ravi the words were fast , possibly I did not get it right or when he split musically i wrote it bit juxtaposed. ALso lot of thillanas i have noticed some internal words are not 100% the same when musicians render. I really doubt if BMK composed two thillanas of Kuntalavarali- very likely I have not written it right.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
I see 'Kalpakkam' Venkatesh still in your review heading. Is it because Neyveli V resides there?

[sridhar_ranga]

Arasi, it's a Rajeshism.

Neyveli = lignite based power which has evolved into a super-critical, efficient, clean kalpakkam nuclear power!

[arasi]

Ah, got it!
Are you attending concerts? Any reviewing, reporting?

[Vocalist]

How was his voice overall? I liked Abhilash's voice when he was younger (his open-throated singing, pitch perfection, and range) were amazing. Not sure I can say that this year but as his voice may still be breaking, hope to see his voice back in form over the next couple of years.