Category Archives: Music

Guitar

The year 2005 was when I first listened to Prasanna’s guitar in a concert of his at Music Academy during the December Season. Though I liked the concert, it wasn’t until I got a chance to listen to a couple of songs from his album, ‘Peaceful’ – ‘Peaceful – The Cause’ & ‘Peaceful – The Effect’ (his own compositions) – that I fell in love with Carnatic music on guitar. The next December Season saw me going for some 3-4 concerts of his. It was after that, that I first listened to his ‘Bliss Factor’ – a beautiful composition in Ananda Bhairavi & Sahana. After that, it wasn’t just Prasanna’s playing or Carnatic on guitar, but the very sound of guitar itself started fascinating me like never before. The guitar interludes in July Maadham suddenly seemed more beautiful than before. 😉 Meanwhile, I happened to listen to a Dwijavanti played by Sai Prasad on guitar, which, I must tell you, was awesome!
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Time flies!

Or so it feels like when I see the date of my last post here. So what’s been keeping me away from blogging?

Wanting to try some author I haven’t read before, I borrowed a couple of books of Sudha Murty from the library on the Monday before last. I first started reading ‘The Old Man and His God’ and liked it so much that I finished reading it at a stretch on the same evening. Finding ‘The Wise and Otherwise’ too equally engrossing as the previous book, the next day had me reading it at every possible free moment I could get. I can’t remember the last time I found a book as inspiring as these two! Reading those books made me do some serious thinking about a lot of things.
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It’s raining! :)

It’s raining here! Yay! 🙂 Thunder, lightning, cool breeze, maN vaasanai, semma mazhai! Listening to the thunder and rain pouring, I am now happily singing

thandhaane thandhaane maega kooTTam thandhaane
iDiyellaam taaLam dhaane
mazhai thuLi maNNil vandhu sindha chindha ezhugiradhe oru vaasam
adhu ennai vaanavillil koNDu saertthu viDugiradhe sila naeram

😀 Veyil had been unbearable for the past 2 days with the temperature crossing 42 degree celsius. And now what a super weather! 🙂

Kannathil Muthamittal Revisited

Watching the last half an hour or so of Kannathil Muthamittal on K TV today morning, I remembered the post of mine that has been lying unfinished in the drafts for a long time now.

Sometime in June last year (this post has been in draft from that time!!), there was this thematic concert of T.M.Krishna that I went to. The theme of the concert was ‘Relationships’. As I heard a moving rendition of Mahakvi Bharatiyar’s ‘chinnanchiru kiLiye’(which he had chosen for the relationship between a father and his daughter) by TMK – how does he manage to bring so much bhava in everything that he sings! TMK rocks! 🙂 –, I couldn’t help remembering the movie ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ the moment he sang those lines in the song. 🙂 As my thoughts drifted towards the movie, the first thing that came to my mind was what an apt title Mani Ratnam had chosen for the movie!
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I want to go for a Sanjay’s concert!

Can there be a better way to relax than reading a good book with some good music for company at the end of a day, a major part of which saw me being in an irritated mood? Am now reading P.G.Wodehouse’s ‘Service with a Smile’ (a Blandings story) and listening to a recording of a concert of Sanjay.

It has been really long since I listened to a full-length concert recording of Sanjay and that has made the listening experience even more blissful now! I have already started reminiscing about the Dec Season 2008. 🙂 Those amazing Darbari Kanada, Madhuvanti, Chayaranjani, Saramati, Chandrakauns, Abheri and Desh RTPs, those fast-paced Aarabhi swarams, Yadukula Kambhoji & the brilliant Todi at Narada Gana Sabha, the brigas-laden (or so I remember it was) Purnachandrika alapana & the Vakulabharanam & Kanada pieces at Kalarasana, Shanmukhapriya at Indian Fine Arts, Ravichandrika Alapana at Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Janaranjani alapana at Kartik Fine Arts, Kapi at Krishna Gana Sabha, the Hamsanadam piece at Margazhi Mahotsavam, tunbam nergayil, nijagadasa and that veryyyy beautiful ninnaye rati (in Bhageshri) at Music Academy! I want to listen to it all again!! With a concert of Sanjay on what seemed like every other day and all the concerts turning out to be equally brilliant ones and me spending most of my waking moments listening to just Sanjay’s recordings, what an absolutely blissful and most satisfying month it was!!! I, now, so very badly want to go for a Sanjay’s concert! Somebody please organize a concert of his soon! 😛

P.S.: With the P.G.Wodehouse book providing some laughter in the form of some humorous moments and Sanjay’s awesome singing providing that indescribable and unsurpassed magical experience, I see no signs of my irritated mood anywhere near me. 🙂

Songs to cherish

  • Mandolin Srinivas’ Enta Muddo
  • Mandolin Srinivas’ Giriraja Suta
  • Roja Janeman sung by Hariharan
  • Kanava Illai Kaatra from Ratchagan
  • New York Nagaram
  • July Maadham Vandhaal
  • Rahman’s ‘Spirit of Unity Concert’ Music
  • Guitar Prasanna’s ‘Peaceful – The Effect’

These songs will forever remain some of the most cherished ones in my life. The memories that these songs hold are special to me! 🙂 It’s amazing how songs can capture so many memories so vividly!

Uyirum Neeye

Listening to Ravi sing this song in Super Singer today, I immediately wanted to listen to it and that’s what I am doing now. This song is one of my most favourites! Unni Krishnan singing the very beautiful lyrics, set to an even more beautiful music by the inimitable Rahman, with such an amazing feel makes it a song which seldom fails to touch my soul every time I listen to it! This is a gem of a composition indeed!

T.M.Krishna’s Concert

At Youth Hostel, Indra Nagar (Hamsadhwani) on 21st March

Accompanists:
R.K. Shriramkumar – Violin
K.Arun Prakash – Mridangam
B.S. Purushothaman – Khanjira

Songs List:
1. Sri natadi guruguho – Mayamalavagowlai – neraval at maya, swarams at maya, marakoti
2. Sri varalakshmi – Sri – Alapana; neraval & swarams at charumati
3. Teliyaleru – Dhenuka
4. Manasunilpa – Abhogi – Alapana
5. SarojadaLanetri – Shankarabharanam – mix of raagam and taanam with Arun Prakash and Purushothaman joining TMK & Shriramkumar for the last few rounds of taanam; neraval & swarams at samaganavinodini
Tani Avartanam
6. AruLseyya vendumaiyya – Rasikapriya
7. Santakaram (Shloka) – Dhanyasi, Bilahari, dhAmavati, Valaji
Sakalalokadhara – Valaji
8. Srinivasa – Hamsanandi – Raaga Outline
9. Shriya Kantaya – Hamsananti, Surutti

Despite the bad ambience at the venue, I loved every moment of the concert so much that I cannot choose just a few particular parts as the ones that I liked the most!

TMK’s concert today! Yipee!

After almost 2 months, I am going for TMK’s concert today and needless to say, I am excited big-time. 🙂 Since it has been just ARR’s songs that I have been listening to for the major part of the time for the past two months, I started listening to TMK’s recordings from the morning. Kedaragowlai, Salakabhairavi, Janaranjani, Surutti, Enneramum, Sri Ramachandra, Gayati Vanamali and now Shankachakra – the song which got me hooked to TMK’s singing in the first place 🙂 . Listening to all these, I now can’t wait for the clock to strike 18:15 🙂