THREE… 4 The Music
2010 has been a happening year for me by far. As if, international tours, magnificent stage shows like Nothing But Wind and TV shows were not enough, the year marks yet another milestone for me! My first album, in collaboration with virtuosos, percussionist D.A. Srinivas and violinist Raghavendra Rao, “THREE… 4 The Music”, has been released by Times Group. The album was launched two years back. After three months of toil, we performed it live in September 2008. The show was graced by Dr. Balamuralikrishna. Further to that, the album was released in South Africa, early 2009.
Collaborative semi classical album
This year, released by Times Group, the album is out in India in retail stores such as Landmark. The album, is a collaborative effort and personally it was an enriching experience working with the two geniuses. “THREE… 4 The Music”, is a semi classical album, that engulfs music forms from around the world and presents them through Indian instruments. Each track has a unique theme around it. For instance, the track, Taste of Irish presents Irish music through our own Indian instruments. This album is our humble effort to present classical form of music in a contemporary style.
I have closely worked with both Sri. D.A Srinivas and Sri. Raghavendra Rao on several projects and we have often concurred in our musical tastes. We drew inspirations from the different music forms that we have been exposed to over the years, and decided that we come together on this album. After several weeks of brainstorming on the themes and compositions, “THREE… 4 The Music” was born and today it stands as a unique album that will remain close to our hearts. The album brings with it, the surprise of many genres and origins of music such as rap, Irish, Persian etc and I feel it will be most fitting to categorize it under the World genre.
I request you all to buy a copy of “THREE… 4 The Music”, give it a listen and come back to me with your feedback.
Reached a milestone and left with Nothing But Wind!
When this website was being built, two of my friends (who built it), had countless arguments about how the blog could be named. While one of them came up with Wind Notes, the other begged to differ. But today, I realize, it couldn’t have been named any better!
I had the concert of a lifetime last night. How better can I describe it, when a two-month long hard work has a fitting culmination with the God of music blessing me! Firstly, I put forth my heartiest thanks to all those who were present there to encourage me and also those who were with me in spirits. This post is for those who missed out on the concert and are dying to get that inside story about the most happening musical evenings in the recent times. The enormity of the dais with dignitaries who are stalwarts of music and a packed audience of music lovers set the perfect occasion for us musicians. We are truly fortunate and can never ask for more.
Of all these years that I have performed in concerts, one thing against which I’ve stood strong is stage-fear or so to say, the nervousness to perform the best for the audience. The auditorium was fully packed with fans or should I say fanatics of Ilayaraja sir’s music. I stood confident to give my best for the show. However, when the maestro walked in with his magical aura and set eye contact with me (for the first time in my lifetime), I must admit some fear did show up within me. With thousands of prayers, I began playing, the first piece itself being one of the complex compositions in the album. Once I finished, I sought his approval and he gestured a thumbs up sign! Gosh! Only one thing came to my mind…. I think most of you would have read about the story of Narayaneeyam. After each verse was composed by the saint Narayana Bhattathri, Lord Krishna appeared before him and nodded his head to give his approval. I found this most appropriate to what happened to me. Further to that, confidence exuded within me in full force and I performed the rest of the pieces effortlessly. During the concert, I found Ilayaraja sir explaining the complexity behind each piece to composer Uttam Singh. The maestro never failed to approve each one of them with a thumbs up! What more can I ask for as a musician?
With the genius
Once the show came to a close, he came up on stage to bless us all. The first thing I did (the first thing every lover of his music would do) was to fall at his feet…. He literally gave me a pat on the back, happiness being evident on his face and told me “I know how complex these compositions are… but you rendered each one of them flawlessly… God bless you.” BLISS…. When he gave his speech, he also mentioned that he was happy to see that I changed only very few flutes for all the pieces, despite their complexity.
The evening was indeed magical for me and one of the biggest milestones in my career. Credits should be given where its due…. My foremost thanks goes to Ms. Bhavatharini who gave me this incredible opportunity… I should also thank the 22 piece strings section, each one of them being pillars of support for the music. My heartiest thanks to Prabhakaran sir for his amazing conduction. A big thanks to my buddies Navneeth Sundar, Aalaap Raju, Leon, Geo Raj and Donnan Murray for their support. And last but by no means least, to all you music lovers out there, who went far and wide to be a part of the evening.