Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
Floating on cosmic rhythms
Bikram is the classical link.
THE ARRAY of instruments on-stage and off is bewildering. The number of drums and cymbals in several sizes and combinations set in a circle on the left side of the stage seem sufficient to keep an army of percussionists blissfully employed.
Actually, the gleaming circle has been set up for just one man — Shivamani, who's had audiences from all over the world tapping their feet and nodding their heads to his quicksilver drumming and clashing cymbals. On Friday evening, at the Taj Coromandel, the performance was doubly special since he was thumping in tune with Bikram Ghosh and his team Rhythm Scape from Calcutta. Together, they made an unbeatable and unusual musical experience.
They begin with what Bikram calls the `Dance of Shiva'. As the group seated on stage with the tablas, violins and mridangam tap their bare feet on the ground keeping the beat, Shivamani picks up a squeaky rubber bird and squeezes it as he shakes a branch of seeds. If you closed your eyes and shut out the ballroom crammed with people and the wafting scent of designer aftershave and perfumes, you could almost imagine yourself sitting beside a gurgling icy cold stream at the break of dawn listening to the birds chirping. Slowly Bikram moved into the melody as he began his magic on the tabla, followed by the rest of the artistes, one by one, till the entire orchestra was playing together working up to a crescendo and then gradually falling silent again.
The team played for more than an hour and had the audience snapping their fingers and moving their heads from side to side in time to the music. As the music got faster, the drums and tabla got so intense that the ballroom floor began to vibrate. The only fly in the ointment was the sound of Daler Mehndi belting out ``Na na na na na re'' from the adjoining room, rather startling to hear bang in the middle of a `classical' raga!
Bikram Ghosh and his team play Indian Classical music with a contemporary flavour. So, while the music is inspired by traditional ragas, Bikram has composed each piece keeping in mind the fact that for the music to survive it has to have a wider reach. ``Indian classical music is getting increasingly popular. People who have never listened to it before are becoming our new audiences. We have to change with the times, otherwise we become fossils,'' he says looking flushed and upbeat as members of the audience line up to congratulate him after the performance.
Shivamani drums up an intense beat.
Shivamani agrees and says that ``sound has changed over the years'' with new technology. Bikram, for instance, uses a `Handsonic', which is an electric drum pad, along with his tablas. His team Rhythm Scape also includes an artiste who plays the keyboard, besides the musicians who are on traditional instruments such as the mridangam and kanjeera.
He says that while the electrical instruments improve the sound of the concert as a whole, they have to be used carefully. ``Technology should not be used just for the sake of it. We must remember that the music comes first, that's what's important."
Bikram's Rhythm Scape and Shivamani were brought together by Good Knight to felicitate actresses Shobana and Revathy for winning the national award for `Mitr — My Friend' at Taj Coromandel on Friday.
By Shonali Muthalaly
Photos: R. Ragu
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
|
