Can fellow rasikas throw some light on her??About her music, if any of you attended her concerts in andhra or anywhere else?Atleast one sample of her music respecting copyrights is welcome.
Attaching an article on THE HINDU.
Pattammal of Andhra
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
She admired MS and MLV but Jayalakshmi Santhanam's heart is with DKP.
Once I told Pattamma Mami I wish I had been born a kitten in her household. A daughter would leave after marriage, a son may be transferred. A kitten could stay on forever.
Photo: S. R. Raghunathan
ABUNDANT GNANAM: Jayalakshmi Santhanam.
"So it was your Bhairavi!" exclaimed Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, after listening to the young woman's recital from the adjacent office room. "Like Iyengar in a sari!" he joked. The girl was overwhelmed to be likened to her idol Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar. (His portrait has pride of place in her drawing room). She was to be more stunned when D.K.Pattammal's husband Ishwaran told her approvingly, "I made Patta hear you."
Jayalakshmi's refrigerator sports a conspicuous poster of the women Trinity she has assembled. She admires M.S.Subbulakshmi and M.L.Vasanthakumari. But her heart is with DKP. "Once I told Pattamma Mami I wish I had been born a kitten in her household. `Why don't you say `a child' rather than a kitten?' Mami admonished me. I explained that a daughter would leave after marriage, a son may be transferred. A kitten could stay on forever, listening to her wonderful music. How Mami laughed!"
The youngest of eight, Jaya grew up in a joint family, where mother Muthulakshmi sang all the time as she worked. Musician brother V.V.Sadagopan became a film star. Eldest brother Sunderrajan and wife Rukmini took charge of Jaya's initial training, delighted when she won a gold medal at age seven. Their home in Trivandrum rang with the music of local and visiting artistes. "They took me to concerts, competitions, introduced me to veterans like Brinda/Mukta and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer." The child felt no fear in singing before them, especially as they encouraged her with affection.
Semmangudi and Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar lived in the city. Jaya accompanied sister-in-law Rukmini to her lessons with Sathur Subramanian and Bhagavatar. "Bhagavatar used to call me `Seevili,' the name given to the advance guard in the Padmanabhaswami temple procession, because often I learnt the song before my sister-in-law did." The notebook with Malayalam notations of those songs is a treasured possession still.
Sound foundation
Bypassing the sarali-alankaram exercises, little Jaya learnt a large number of short kritis. There was no regular sadhakam. Coaching came from sister-in-law Rukmini and brother Sadagopan. Three years with B. Rajam Iyer gave her a sound foundation in the grand style, and a fine Dikshitar repertoire. "Every phrase he taught got clearly embedded on your mind. He made complicated sangatis easily graspable. Only when he was sure you had understood would he proceed further. All notation was to be done after internalising the kriti."
Brother Sadagopan's home in Madras attracted vidwans Madurai Krishnan, T.N.Krishnan, Lalgudi Jayaraman, K.V.Narayanaswami and Vellore Ramabhadran to sing and play, trade swaras, launch pallavis, discuss raga nuances. Jaya drank it all in. Sadagopan would pop his head into the kitchen and say, "Dinner for all. Rice and buttermilk will do," leaving his mother to rustle up something more substantial.
Completing her sixth form at Sarada Vidyalaya, Jaya found herself married to Santhanam, who worked at ICRISAT, Hyderabad. The next 45 years saw her home in the twin cities. "With no mother-in-law, I had to learn homemaking by trial-and-error!" she laughs. "That is how I learnt kutcheri paddhati as well. If I said I didn't know concert management my husband would simply say, "Then learn!" My two sons and daughter were extremely good and considerate, they looked after themselves when I toured." Jayalakshmi had been singing for AIR from age 14. Increasing concert engagements took her all over Andhra and Karnataka, even Kerala. "Not Tamil Nadu," she discloses. Krishna Gana Sabha called her just once in 1977, and the Music Academy six times in 30 years. "Why? I don't know. May be there was some flaw in me or my music. If I knew what it was I'd correct it. I don't know anything except traditional music."
Her music has indeed remained irrevocably classical. To her delight, she began to be described as the DKP of Andhra. "Maami's style is deceptively simple. Few sangatis, fewer flourishes, but what depth!" Years later, after a concert in Cleveland, DKP's brother Nagarajan and his wife Parvati were to give her the ultimate accolade: "Your singing bears the DKP stamp."
A transfer order to Warangal made Jayalakshmi resign from teaching at the Secunderabad Music College. But colleagues like Nedunuri Krishnamurti remained friends with whom she could exchange kritis. "I had the good fortune to learn from some great musicians. D.K.Jayaraman was always welcoming. So were Semmangudi and DKP. I even learnt three songs from M.S. Amma." She has a penchant for collecting varnams from many sources. How did she develop her own manner of singing? "God has given me the gnanam to appreciate the best. I close my eyes and I hear Iyengar singing Thodi, Pattammal's Kalyani, and Balasaraswati's `Krishna Nee Begane Baro'. What more do I need to be happy?" she asks reverently.
She shared her large repertoire with many students in Hyderabad. Sadly, none persevered full time, not even her talented daughter. She insisted on returning to Chennai for a single reason. "I want to hear a lot of music, especially by youngsters. Whether they come to my concerts or not, I go to hear them in every sabha and venue. I don't want my ears to rust," she smiles. "To sing and to hear good music is to live. What else need I pray for?"
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/03/23/stor ... 010300.htm
