Pearls in unknown depths

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 11 Aug 2006, 22:09

Sometimes I think we are overhyping the popular artistes. There are several people whose music is truly excellent, but owing to our prejudice or ignorance, we rarely acknowledge their skills.

"Pearls in unknown depths" is what they are.

I want ideas on how we can bring these unknown thousands up for everyone to notice. I mean, can this forum do something in their cause? Project their music and enjoy it at the same time?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 11 Aug 2006, 22:39

Chembai,
Look what this forum and davalangi and rbharat have done for Smt. Kalpagam Swaminathan's music...brought it to everyone's attention, and we get to appreciate this pearl which is not so hidden any more!
Along the same lines, davalangi (Ramji) has her double CD for sale - each one of the songs played are in the category of maNi, mANikkam and vaiDUriyam...I would recommend the CDs unconditionally - a great buy. Ramji can be contacted for details.....
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 12 Aug 2006, 09:25

I am willing to walk with anyone, say to Tadepalli Lokantha Sarmas House and request for Concert recordings for upload here.
Wonder , what happens to the Chittoor School after Him ?

Maybe if Recording Companies take notice from here on , it will be a fitting response.

My Lack of formal knowledge makes it very uncomfortable for me when I visit on my own - Somu , GS Mani and Manakkal Rangarajan till date.
I have been collecting karanataka based artists -thanks to another rasikas member -Narahari-and we can spread the knowledge about these artists.

We could even ask aspiring artists whether we can upload their music on our forums for sampling.
I did that many years ago for panthula rama and then stopped it as she started getting well known..

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 12 Aug 2006, 09:37

Ideas 1
Arrange a concert of such an artist.
Collect funds from members and sponsors , if possible.
Videograph the concert if necessary
after accounting for expenses , pass on the proceeds to the artist.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 12 Aug 2006, 13:14

Musicians do not always need monetary help. Recognition brings in its own material benifits. And here the problem is only that their talent does not bring them due recognition.

There are still others who start giving their best when they feel they are appreciated. Except a few who were destined to be musicians, the vast majority have climbed the ladder based on nourishment provided by encouragement of discerning rasikas.

Then there are the other unnatural barriers like language, region, religion etc.

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 12 Aug 2006, 19:58

Can we list them out. For instance,

Ranganayaki Rajagopalan
Padma Varadhan
Radhakrishnan (Clarionet)
Rama Ravi
Sulochana Pattabiraman
Tata Banumathy
S Prema, S Jaya
Vaigai Gnanaskandan
Shyamala Venkateswaran
.....

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 12 Aug 2006, 22:14

Way back I started an 'appreciation' thread which died a natural death. The idea was to take a particular rendering (probably of a lesser known artiste) and discuss the fine points. We did that in a limited way for Pantula and Sudha rani which was well received. But then commercialism bugbear killed u/ling current artistes! In my view the fine points of music have to be discussed by experienced rasikas for others to understand and appreciate. 'Rasikaship' has to be learned and is not innate. In many universities we have 'art appreciation' courses. Similar ones are needed for CM and current artistes will benefit a lot from discussing their fine and subtle points. Our Forum has transformed from a music-exchange-market into a music-discussion-parlour. Still a long way to go!Shall we try?

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 12 Aug 2006, 22:18

CML
Thats a good idea. Iam up for it..

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 12 Aug 2006, 22:33

Actually, I remember hearing some Devi krithis sung by Sulochana Pattabiraman and a few items by MSR too. I think they were nice...

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 13 Aug 2006, 12:45

Coolkarni

It will be great if we can arrange concerts / lecdems of lesser known artists for the Chennai based members of the forum & upload on the site with the permission of the artists. We can have QA sessions also. This we had been discussing for a long time & may be we can make a start in September

MBK · Post by **MBK** » 06 Sep 2006, 17:51

This may not yet fall in the 'pearl' category....but seeing that we are abroad & work on our own...juggling full time careers with our passion for carnatic music & concidering how much inspiration we receive from all the contributions, views & knowledge (not to mention all the downloadable music of grand masters) that is shared in this corner of the cyber world....I thought I would share this piece with you....

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

http://quickdump.com/files/1226297337.html

& thanks for all that you contribute hear...really does make a big difference.

Keep up the good work!

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 17:15

rajumds wrote:Coolkarni

It will be great if we can arrange concerts / lecdems of lesser known artists for the Chennai based members of the forum & upload on the site with the permission of the artists. We can have QA sessions also. This we had been discussing for a long time & may be we can make a start in September

Any progress on this?
Can I suggest you invite Sri Manakkal Rangarajan for your inaugural session. In my opinion, he is one of the most senior vocalists, both in age and vidwat - yet hasn't received much fame. He was recently here in London, and his concerts were excellent. His rendition of koniyaadina napai (the veena kuppaiyer masterpiece) was amazing.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 05 Oct 2006, 21:07

I sugget that we can arrange one during December so that we can also meet some of the NRI members who will be visiting India for the season.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 06 Oct 2006, 02:40

rajumds wrote:I sugget that we can arrange one during December so that we can also meet some of the NRI members who will be visiting India for the season.

If you need any support - including financial - count me in. This is such a worthy cause.
By the way, do you think the music season is the right time for this? There's the danger of lack of attention during this busy time. Any way, your call.

Can we come up with a list of such pearls. If possible, we can include artistes from other states also. Perhaps Shri Radhakrishnan can help us with names of Kerala musicians who deserve recognition.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 06 Oct 2006, 14:01

Jayaram

thanks for your offer. i thought that this could be an exclusive program for forum memebers & their friends.That is the reason for suggesting December when some of the NRI members will be visiting . Regarding artists i request the members to suggest. I will also get in touch with Kulkarni in this regard.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 06 Oct 2006, 14:20

srkris/coolji
Why dont we start a sabha by name rasikas.org sabha,pool sufficient money and atleast hold few concerts in a sastrihall or rAgasudha. The initial focus will be targeting all the artists who are all pearls in unknown depth

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 06 Oct 2006, 15:11

I'd be happy to contribute to this initiative even if I am unable [since I don't live in Chennai] to attend any of the concerts

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 06 Oct 2006, 15:39

Rajumds and myself have been thinking about this initiative for quite sometime.
With some prompting by Kaumaram , too.
In fact our discussions focussed on the need to meet and see each other -atleast in chennai to start with-and then develop the objectives as we go along (say like making recordings -audio or video - and sharing it on the forum)
We had even concluded that a ONCE IN TWO MONTHS Schedule would be very ideal.
One other important aspect would be our ability to meet many of the shy and silent members too and interact in an informal manner..
Expenses will not be a big factor since even on a budget of Rs 200 per head for a Lunch , we can find Hotels which will give us a Hall free , in the mornings (assuming we have atleast 10 people who are interested).and thereafter make provisions for paying the artists.
Infact I started it off on Sept 8th for a silent member here , hoping to invite members for a nagaswaram concert of Kancheepuram Selvaratnam -But Chikkunguya at my home played spoilsport and I had to be content only with the news that the concert was a wonderful one.
We can discuss all these when we meet for our first introductory session.
Yesterday I visited the Mannakkals in the eveing to catch up with London news and they let me go only at 11.30 pm.!
The Grand Old Man is still waiting for our group from the forum to visit him.
He even offered to give all the photos of chembai - in concert that he has with him for use on srkris's site.That will happen in my (our ) next visit.
"Speak to him carefully " was the advice to Mrs Rangarajan , as she got excited, describing the hospitality at London.
"Dont you know that all this will come on print at rasikas Tomorrow ?"
It was obvious that Londoners have taken exceptional care of them.
So keep posting all your thoughts and hopefuly we will get to meet at the earliest.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 06 Oct 2006, 15:52

We will definitely make it to Manakkal's house soon... as a group. I think sometime in Nov will be good for me, since I cant move anywhere anytime this month.

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 06 Oct 2006, 16:14

Yes Cool... I would like to join in November. With tax audit and other similar exercises going on, I am totally tied up. We have indeed been talking of sabha...so on. But, do you know Mr SVK adjacent to the Nageswara Rao Pantulu Park in Mylapore. He has his house in the top and auditorium in the ground floor. Some concerts are held there. Forgot the name of the sabha. What a great service he does silently without any noise. When I met him last, I enquired whether he was the same SVK who worked in The Hindu and write reviews on carnatic music performances. He replied: "I am not that SVK a great man. I am an ordinary, small man". Height of humility indeed.

On the lighter side, can any one tell me how to run a sabha without politics creeping in?

Kaumaaram

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 06 Oct 2006, 19:16

That hall (I am fairly certain: the streets meant little to me then...) was the venu for my first Chennai concert on my first ever visit here. I saw Ganesh and Kumaresh play, and I believe it was Christmas Day!

It is a lovely hall, with good acoustics. I enjoy very much the fact that it is now a short walk from my house (or is until I move to Palavakkam...).

I like the concerts/lec dems idea and will certainly attend (especially if in Mylapore area). Of course, if it is in English then that is a big bonus for me

If not....

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 06 Oct 2006, 19:22

PS I think the sabha is called Nadda Imbam.

I've probably scrtambled it as usual, but maybe it will jog someon'e memmory. And isn't it Raga Sudha hall?

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 06 Oct 2006, 20:33

Correct, Nick. Although it is 'Naada Inbam'. I'll be coming to Chennai for Nedunuri Sir's 80th birthday celebrations later this month. I would love a meetup if anyone is interested.

mahesh_narayan · Post by **mahesh_narayan** » 06 Oct 2006, 21:28

Prashant, isn't he turning 79? I thought he was born October 10, 1927. Starting a sabha is a good idea. I will contribute too, in whatever way I can.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 07 Oct 2006, 04:28

It's great that we are moving forward with some action. I would suggest we open the concerts to not just those from this forum. It's good to get as much publicity as possible, precisely because these are the pearls that are not that well-known.

Kulkarni & others in Madras: those of us outside Madras/India can also pitch in and help out. Do let us know.

Here's wishing all the success for this worthwhile endeavour.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 07 Oct 2006, 08:30

nAda = sound/music (sanskrit)
inbam = joy or happiness (tamil)

"Joy of music"

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Oct 2006, 08:50

nAda(m) is sound in tamizh too.
Ravi

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 07 Oct 2006, 10:51

Perhaps Bangalore can be the venue for some concerts? I am sure there are a sizeable number of members in Bangalore also . Venue,etc should not be a problem.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 07 Oct 2006, 11:24

well it should be a forum meeting first and a sabha-concert next.
apart from being able to listen to unkown pearls, one of the major objectives we had in mind was to cut the distance between the artist and we in the audience -with more emphasis on educating the rasika .most of us have stumbled into this arena , each from his own corner and we all are keenly aware of our blindspots.I started geeting this idea after watching and hearing many upcoming artists sing or play at my home after a listening session..
Kaumaram -- rules for running it without politics??
Make sure that there are no surpluses in the sabha account.Have a policy to purge it out by paying all leftovers to the artists !!

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 07 Oct 2006, 12:01

rshankar,

Yes nAdam is used in Tamil also, but it is a sanskrit loanword. There are lots of sanskrit loanwords in all dravidian languages.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 07 Oct 2006, 18:03

coolkarni wrote:well it should be a forum meeting first and a sabha-concert next.
apart from being able to listen to unkown pearls, one of the major objectives we had in mind was to cut the distance between the artist and we in the audience -with more emphasis on educating the rasika .most of us have stumbled into this arena , each from his own corner and we all are keenly aware of our blindspots.I started geeting this idea after watching and hearing many upcoming artists sing or play at my home after a listening session..

The point above about educating rasikas is excellent. Many of us have lots to learn in this area, and it would be great if we can combine discovering 'pearls' with knowledge dissemination. The typical lec-dem format may not be the best way to do this in my opinion, perhaps a short concert followed by discussion of the items with the artistes present and contributing.

Kaumaram -- rules for running it without politics??
Make sure that there are no surpluses in the sabha account.Have a policy to purge it out by paying all leftovers to the artists !!

On the other hand, it's also a good idea to keep a core amount in a trust account, esp if we want to institute an award of some kind. Politics is ever present in all human endeavors, the trick is to keep it to a minimum! With the likes of Kulkarni-ji at the helm, I'm sure we can minimise the noise.

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 10 Oct 2006, 15:47

I can ask the SIRC of ICSI at 4, Wheat Crofts Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai to provide us the hall at a beneficial rate. Just to begin with... either for forum meeting or for the introductory concert..

gdg · Post by **gdg** » 10 Oct 2006, 19:11

Gandhi mandapam in Adyar will be an excellent place. the place has an excellent hall with ambience and adequate seating arrangement. nobody to my knowledge has used the place for concerts in the last 8 years atleast. since it belongs to government the rents will be nominal. any of the members who are state government officials (Ex also) especially working for the PWD Department will be able to help.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 10 Oct 2006, 21:31

Rasikas interested in attending please email me at rajumds@hotmail.com or kulkarni so that we can get an approximate idea on the number of people to decide on the venue

SangithaRasika · Post by **SangithaRasika** » 11 Oct 2006, 21:42

Hello Guys,
Sorry for digressing a bit from the topic but we here, have something similar to what we are talking but for Hindustani Shastriya Sangeeth in the mid-west !! We have a organisation called Spandan (NPO) which encourages upcoming artists to perform !! This time it is artist by name Raka Mukherjee.
Program details :
Saturday, Oct 28th, 2006
Time: at 2:00 PM
Bettendorf Public Library

Admission is free for all. Dontaions to Spandan are welcome. I would encourage all people in and around Moline (Quad cities, Illinois), mainly chicago people to come and attend this concert. You can contact me for address of the venue and other details.

Regards,
SR

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 12 Oct 2006, 03:07

rajumds wrote:Rasikas interested in attending please email me at rajumds@hotmail.com or kulkarni so that we can get an approximate idea on the number of people to decide on the venue

Even if we cannot make it in person, I am sure some of us will be there in spirit! Wish you all the best for a 'shubha' beginning.

rsrini · Post by **rsrini** » 12 Oct 2006, 20:56

A small group of us have formed a trust here in Bangalore with the intention of encouraging young musicians. Initially, the concerts will be held at the houses of the trust members. We will also try and post the concerts online so that the artistes will get exposure outside Bangalore, and, perhaps more opportunities to perform.

We plan to have the first concert in November. I will post the details once it is finalised. All forum members here are welcome!

While we have a small list of artistes who can be invited, any ideas are most welcome.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 13 Oct 2006, 02:37

rsrini wrote:While we have a small list of artistes who can be invited, any ideas are most welcome.

Srini - can you post the list of artistes if it's ok with you. Sitting so far away from India, I am not aware that much of the upcoming musicians.

Suggest you start with good publicity. Make sure it gets a mention in the Hindu!

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 13 Oct 2006, 02:38

rsrini
Keep up the good work! All the best.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 13 Oct 2006, 21:07

rsrini
Way to GO!!!

rajumds/coolkarni saab
Where and more importantly when are we meeting at chennai

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 13 Oct 2006, 21:12

rajeshnat

Other than you no one else has responded. Any way we are planning to start in end Nov/Dec. If you are interesting in helping us in organising please email coolkarni & we can get moving.

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Oct 2006, 00:03

rajmuds

Just a suggestion:
start a new thread in general sec. - ur meeting @ chennai, many mem. do not read/check all threads.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 14 Oct 2006, 13:07

rajumds wrote:rajeshnat

Other than you no one else has responded. Any way we are planning to start in end Nov/Dec. If you are interesting in helping us in organising please email coolkarni & we can get moving.

Kulkarni/Rajumds - Please let us know if you need any financial support to get this off the ground.

I really pray we get started soon! I believe if we have a solid vision and passion, we can pull this off well. We do have a core group of dedicated people in this forum.

Godspeed.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 14 Oct 2006, 13:22

meena wrote:rajmuds

Just a suggestion:
start a new thread in general sec. - ur meeting @ chennai, many mem. do not read/check all threads.

Meena is right , opened a new thread.
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=24188

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 07 May 2007, 20:45

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tfyb8y

this video clip is only a sample.
Artist - Vijayanagaram Vardhini.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4yviyz
mp3 track
Wonderful singing.Top class!!!

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 08 May 2007, 11:48

oh my! what an artiste. i remember watching this program on DD. a real pearl indeed. thanks Kji....

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 11 May 2007, 06:01

http://rapidshare.com/files/30580757/SH ... _.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/30580693/05 ... n.mp3.html

can upload more ,
if the reception is anything more than lukewarm.

though these tracks should really belong to a thread called Pearls in known depths,but ignored.

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 13 Jul 2007, 21:51

Most of our vidwans past and present hv bn showing their interest in other form of arts also besides their main menu. To mention few
SVB violin
MVI mrudhangam
Mudicondan kanjira
Chitoor S P H.K
MSS Veena
MKT Nadhaswaram
SB Tabla
S Rajam painting
BMK viola
TNK Flute
TVG Hindusthani / Carnatic
TNS Harmonium, veena, key board and H.K
Neyveli Mrudhangam
R thyagarajan kanjira

AFAMK goes I hv named few only. The list may swell further.

annapoorne · Post by **annapoorne** » 13 Jul 2007, 22:21

Sowmya veena

SP Ramh veena

P B Srirangachari veena

Amrutha Murali vocal and violin

Vijay Venkateswar flute, violin and chitraveena

Pantula Rama violin

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 Jul 2007, 00:56

vellUr rAmabhadran - Vocal (& of course mridangam), hemmigE SrIvatsan - Violin and Vocal, rudrapaTNam SrIrAmkumAr - vocal (& violin), sanjay subrahmaNian - violin (& Vocal). chembai vaidynAtayyar - violin (& vocal), sundaram bAlachander - khanjira & vocal (& veena).

rAmki Sir, did CVB play the mridangam too?