CARNATIC ONE MORE TIME!

U. SRINIVAS – MANDOLIN ALL THE WAY (INDIA, 1991)

 Time for some Carnatic Grooves! Probably not the most popular style of music considering that my previous carnatic post (the remarkable Silk World Music Group) generated only three comments!

I don’t expect any more this time. Too bad because this music is absolutely riveting.

"I thought that it's common to hear people playing classical music on the violin or veena, so why don't I try something new?" Of course, I never dreamed I would become so well known or that the mandolin would become so popular."

Mandolin U. Srinivas is among South India’s better known musicians. In the West, his name  may be recognized by some open-minded jazz fans thanks to his collaboration with John Mc Laughlin & Zakir Hussein.  However, there is no hint of jazz or fusion in this recording. This is pure Carnatic Classical Music.  Absolutely Magic!  This music gives me a natural high! 

Upalappu Srinivas is to Indian classical music what Sir Yehudi Menuhin is to its Western equivalent. And, like the latter, U. Srinivas was a child prodigy who has taken the mandolin, an instrument unknown in India, to unique classical heights. Having begun playing when he was only six years old, Srinivas'  musical aptitude was spotted by Subbaraju, a classically-trained musician and disciple of the famous musical stalwart Chembai Vaidyanata Bhagavatar. Subbaraju, not having any knowledge on how to play the mandolin, would sing Carnatic music and Srinivas would play along, thus developing his own style. Despite the critical acclaim that Srinivas has won over the world, he says modestly that he still has a long way to go. 'Where is the end to music? The more you learn, the more you want to know,' he says.

"When I started," he remembers, "I saw that only a handful of people were there, perhaps 30 at the most. They had very little idea of what was to come and this was the first time that the mandolin had ever been heard attempting the repertoire I gave. The concert lasted for four hours and, slowly, people kept coming. When the concert was over, there were 3,000 people there. For me, this was amazing."

(source: http://www.realworldusa.com/albumpages/srinivas/default.html )

There are a few video of U. Srinivas on YouTube. They’re worth watching.  

CARNATIC JAZZ

Silk World Music Group – Pure Silk (India)

Live at The Barbican Centre, London, 14th July 2000

 The idea of blending Jazz and Indian Classical Music goes back a long way but it was often at the initiative of Western musicians although there were some notable exceptions, such as T. K. Ramamoorthy or John Mayer (an Anglo-Indian violinist) to name a couple. And the source of inspiration was more often Hindustani (“North Indian”) than Carnatic (“South Indian”). 

But here too there were notable exceptions such as the already mentioned T. K. Ramamoorthy or Charlie Mariano who studied Carnatic music. John Mc Laughlin has been playing with Carnatic instrumentists such as mandolin virtuoso U. Srinivas.

The two main traditions of classical music are Carnatic music, found predominantly in the peninsular regions, and Hindustani music, found in the northern and central regions. Both traditions claim Vedic origin, and history indicates that they diverged from a common musical root since about the 13th century.

I am not a musicologist so I won’t go into explaining the differences between North-Indian and South Indian (or Carnatic) Music, but if you are interested you’ll find ample information on the Web. Starting from here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_India).

It’s a Mauritian lady friend and colleague who brought this album to my attention several years ago. I can't tell you much on this band which is presented as India's premiere Jazz/Fusion Music Group.

The band is composed of Louis Banks on Piano & Keyboard, Shankar Mahadevan - Vocals, Sivamani - Percussion, Karl Peters - Bass Guitar. Guest Musicians: Satish Vyas - Santoor & Vijay Ghate – Tabla.

Louis Banks

Source : http://beretandboina.blogspot.com/2010/11/india-series-2-louis-banks.html

All these guys are among the best in their field,  You may be familiar with the name of Shankar Mahadevan who provided vocals for Remember Shakti (feat. John McLaughlin).  Louis Banks is an established jazz composer and pianist who also played with McLaughlin (on his Floating Point album). Karl Peters is India's Numba Wan Fonky Bass Playa! 

 Tracklist:

1.   The Encounter         20:57

2.   Colour of Love          10:51

3.   Shadows                  13:30

4.   Jugalbandi Duet      01:12

5.   Jugalbandi Duet      14:10

6.   Doors of Desire        13:44

This is superb music that will probably disconcert Jazz purists.  Forget all the crap that’s sold as “World Music”. THIS is the real thing!

Merci Francine de m'avoir fait decouvrir ce superbe album!  Love Eternal.

p.s.: just realised this CD is still available. I shall post the link for a limited period only.