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MUSIC,
MUSINGS
Screen
Surf
Part
book, part CD-ROM. Part biography, part teach-yourself manual. This beautifully
produced, all in one product is an extraordinary musician's legacy to
his time. Today, when the market has homogenised all the various and individualistic
styles of sitar playing, Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan is a very valuable
master of that ubiquitous Indian instrument.
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JAFFERKHANI
JOURNEY:
Entrancing fare
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His value
lies not only in the fact that he is different but also because he is
as technically brilliant as he is musically intelligent. In this multimedia
presentation under review, Santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma makes a mention
of an air broadcast of the Ustad's Raga Chhayanat. For the past 15 years
or more, that 18-minute Chhayanat recording has been the favourite instrumental
piece in many collections.
So what
makes Jafferkhani baaj (style)? This book-cum-CD-ROM addresses just that
query. However, despite the mediation of a cultural anthropologist like
Kamala Ganesh, the book-CD-ROM makes the presupposition that re-arrangement
of given parts makes a "new" whole. In art it does, and the
Jafferkhani baaj is indeed a highly complex and evolved sum of many parts.
But sources of the parts need to be identified. Taking his Kamod gat (instrumental
composition) for example, it is useful to recall that it is based on the
traditional khayal composition Laagi ri mori nayi lagan, line for line.
Transcreation
has long been basic to Indian arts. Jafferkhani Baaj with all its amazing
techniques, rhythms and alluring melodies is yet another manifestation
of that tradition. Sadly, it has so few takers today.
-S.
Kalidas
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OFFBEAT
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| If
the grapevine is to be believed, and if you keep your fingers crossed,
some interesting artistes might be in India in the coming months.
We told you about Julio Iglesias. Turns out that a 3-4 city tour by
son Enrique Iglesias is also on the cards. And as things stand, they
won't be here as a team. Negotiations are on, nothing's finalised,
the organisers caution. It's good to be forewarned: a proposed July-August
trip by top shot Alanis Morissette didn't ultimately happen because
of what event management firm Wizcraft subtly describes as "sponsor
problems and other internal reasons". Others who might come:
Jon Secada and Anastacia. |
REVERBERATIONS
Sify Carnatic Music
Log
on to sify.com and Carnatic music lovers are in for a pleasant surprise.
Sify's homepage now has a link to a specialised site, www.carnaticmusic.com.
From reviews and classifieds to news from the Carnatic music field-it
seems to offer them all. Music lovers and collectors can pick up some
rare collections, compositions and private recordings through online shopping.
But the calendar of events, Seasons 99, needs thorough updating. The site
also offers basic Carnatic music lessons online. Is this the beginning
of a new "e-guru-shishya parampara"? An interesting section
is "Bathroom Singers". Young budding artistes wanting to make
it big can post their songs here and, if luck smiles, could become stars.
The site has well-known musicians, including Lalgudi Shri G. Jayaraman,
on the advisory panel.
-S.
Sahaya Ranjit
Hot
Track
Words, Words ...
Pop Trash-Duran Duran
(Sony; Rs 125)
It
wasn't candour, neither soul-searching nor introspection, that inspired
Duran Duran to call their latest album Pop Trash. Instead it is, what
band frontman Simon LeBon calls "our sense of irony". There's
a huge dose of that in this collection. After 20 years on the scene, there's
also a sense of looking back, even some bitterness. So in Pop trash movie,
the group addresses an "overnight sensation" with "If I
rewind back to yesterday/and stop the tape there/no one knew who you were/
but now they're at your door ... we'll all be famous for those 15 minutes".
And in much the same vein, the equally disturbing Hallucinating Elvis
goes "What you see ain't what you get". Romance, relationships
("I know you're meant to be yourself to someone else not me"),
fame, misfortune, they're all dissected in Pop Trash. Might take a while
for the tunes-where there are any-to sink in, but buy the album for the
lyrics anyway.
-Anna
M.M. Vetticad
New
Releases
Machina
(Virgin; Rs125)
"All noize made by The Smashing Pumpkins ...", says the cover.
So you know what to expect.
Meghana
(Sonynad; Rs 150)
Live recordings by masters like Pt Bhimsen Joshi and Shiv Kumar Sharma
celebrating the monsoon.
Tehalka
(Magnasound; Rs 50)
Remixes of old foot-tapping Hindi film songs. Includes Bappi Lahiri's
Bambai se aaya mera dost.
Top
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If
the markets don’t recover in the next 48 hours expect the worst, says
V Shankar Aiyar in 
