"Twogether" brings all expression together!
It was a treat on 19th Feb 2015 to all Puneites (aka Punekars) who could make it, to meditate for two hours at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch. The occasion was the program organized by 'Swargandhaar' and 'Jeevangaani' to bring the TWO maestro toGETHER to perform in Pune. Shankar Mahadevan and Ustad Zakir Hussain performing together that too at a convenient location, time and with reasonable ticket rates, who would miss this event!
Ganesh Vandana was the expected and perfect start which also acted as warm-up for the ears. Yes! our ears had to get acclimatized to extreme melody and rhythm we were going to experience for next two hours and thus this start was just the right thing. The classical Carnatic musical made us realized that we are now going to go through a wonderful experience of taking surprises, wondering about the suspense and to get used to sudden pleasant shocks. Every action, every word, every harkat was being praised and no words can explain how the words came out from the Tabla and how action happened in Mahadevan's sound tract. ;)
Further to this, the light music which came from Mahadevan's heart made the us settle in the meditation chairs. He himself had started meditating. The moods were changing and so was the genres. The crowd was indulging and suddenly Shankar Mahadevan said "Lavni??" Yes, with an fabulous energetic introduction by the Ustad, lavni started, and the famous "Waah Taj" zatka to his neck made energy levels rise from 5/10 to 10/10 which, as infection spread to the crowds. A strong feeling to rise and dance on the rhythm aroused but it could have caused hindrance to the sight of crowd behind me.. (Kaash..!). The duo were praising each other through their eyes,through signs of body language and the crowd was appreciating their actions by smiles and claps. It was so much fun!
Guitar and Tabla, Jazz (by Louis Banks) and Tabla.. couldn't have imagined a better amalgamation and the person who sang core classical just few minutes ago transformed to this genre just like a magician. Mahadevan was spreading his magic on the crowd so was the Ustad with the variety they were portraying. All the artists on the stage were enjoying themselves as if they were chitchatting with each other with their musical abilities. The public was 'at peace' and I just forgot to clap sometimes. Wanted this conversation to continue for long. But time had come so that every single person present in the auditorium was going to get breathless.
Ustad Zakir Hussain initiated a slow rhythm on tabla and brought in the tempo where noting else was other than the beats was audible and nothing was visible expect his fingers moving on the tabla. Rather, even his fingers were not visible due to the speed of movements. It seemed that his hands were moving fast forward at 16X but when one saw at his face, it was chilled out and calm. So ironic. He played non stop for fifteen minutes which took everyone's breath away. What he played on those two little wooden blocks had created an aura. Sometimes I wondered if the sound was coming from two different sets of tabla, but no.. His use of dagga (one of the elements of tabla) for creating vibrations made me awestruck on his mastery. This was not just magic it was divine passion.
This passionate rhythm was followed by 'breathless' this time the song sung breathless by Shankar Mahadevan for more than a minute. In the original album I used to speculate if it was done with the help of technology but when I heard this live, I now realize hoe much air he his stored in his lungs. Trying to match my thoughts with the speed he sang seemed difficult and till the time, I realized what was happening he finished his song in one breath. Everyone was cheering for this master and the crowd roared 'Once more'. This request was gracefully accepted by Mahadevan and he sang it again, breathless. And as soon as he finished, he started with the chanting of 'Vitthala'.
These songs were epitome of today's journey. The auditorium had become 'Vitthalmay' and the crowd was clapping at the beats of the devotional tract... I felt as if this should go on.. but good things have to end. These TWO have got all my senses and moods together just to feel overwhelmed and inspired as we left the auditorium.
Ganesh Vandana was the expected and perfect start which also acted as warm-up for the ears. Yes! our ears had to get acclimatized to extreme melody and rhythm we were going to experience for next two hours and thus this start was just the right thing. The classical Carnatic musical made us realized that we are now going to go through a wonderful experience of taking surprises, wondering about the suspense and to get used to sudden pleasant shocks. Every action, every word, every harkat was being praised and no words can explain how the words came out from the Tabla and how action happened in Mahadevan's sound tract. ;)
Further to this, the light music which came from Mahadevan's heart made the us settle in the meditation chairs. He himself had started meditating. The moods were changing and so was the genres. The crowd was indulging and suddenly Shankar Mahadevan said "Lavni??" Yes, with an fabulous energetic introduction by the Ustad, lavni started, and the famous "Waah Taj" zatka to his neck made energy levels rise from 5/10 to 10/10 which, as infection spread to the crowds. A strong feeling to rise and dance on the rhythm aroused but it could have caused hindrance to the sight of crowd behind me.. (Kaash..!). The duo were praising each other through their eyes,through signs of body language and the crowd was appreciating their actions by smiles and claps. It was so much fun!
Guitar and Tabla, Jazz (by Louis Banks) and Tabla.. couldn't have imagined a better amalgamation and the person who sang core classical just few minutes ago transformed to this genre just like a magician. Mahadevan was spreading his magic on the crowd so was the Ustad with the variety they were portraying. All the artists on the stage were enjoying themselves as if they were chitchatting with each other with their musical abilities. The public was 'at peace' and I just forgot to clap sometimes. Wanted this conversation to continue for long. But time had come so that every single person present in the auditorium was going to get breathless.
Ustad Zakir Hussain initiated a slow rhythm on tabla and brought in the tempo where noting else was other than the beats was audible and nothing was visible expect his fingers moving on the tabla. Rather, even his fingers were not visible due to the speed of movements. It seemed that his hands were moving fast forward at 16X but when one saw at his face, it was chilled out and calm. So ironic. He played non stop for fifteen minutes which took everyone's breath away. What he played on those two little wooden blocks had created an aura. Sometimes I wondered if the sound was coming from two different sets of tabla, but no.. His use of dagga (one of the elements of tabla) for creating vibrations made me awestruck on his mastery. This was not just magic it was divine passion.
This passionate rhythm was followed by 'breathless' this time the song sung breathless by Shankar Mahadevan for more than a minute. In the original album I used to speculate if it was done with the help of technology but when I heard this live, I now realize hoe much air he his stored in his lungs. Trying to match my thoughts with the speed he sang seemed difficult and till the time, I realized what was happening he finished his song in one breath. Everyone was cheering for this master and the crowd roared 'Once more'. This request was gracefully accepted by Mahadevan and he sang it again, breathless. And as soon as he finished, he started with the chanting of 'Vitthala'.
These songs were epitome of today's journey. The auditorium had become 'Vitthalmay' and the crowd was clapping at the beats of the devotional tract... I felt as if this should go on.. but good things have to end. These TWO have got all my senses and moods together just to feel overwhelmed and inspired as we left the auditorium.
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