Madras Trip and the Discovery of Mandolin Shrinivas' "Sangeet Sartaj"
Madras, Nalla Madras: Besides all the associated 'high' of being in madras, talking so "fluently" in Tamil to something as trivial as a shop keeper, all the instinctual high that I get when I see Madisaar maamis all over the place... there is one thing that always happens to me when I'm in Madras. Long walks can uplift one's mood... doubly so if you do that in Mylapore's North Mada Street. :) I do hate 'crowded' places, but there are always exceptions. Now that is not what I'm trying to talk about when I say "there is one thing that always happens to me".
Here is the point I was trying to make about "that one thing that madras always does to me": Where there was once a pocket, now there is just a huge hole. :) Why? I ended up buying several audio CDs as I 'lost myself' in Mylapore. I don't know if it has to do with the smell of Jasmine near the 'mylapore tank' bus stand or if it is just a 'psychological' thingy that I associate with that damn place... And, at 'saptaswara musicals', I was _almost_ about to place an order for an Electric Mandolin at Saptaswara. I just totally lose control, at times. Thankfully they ran out of 'stock' and I was "saved". One night stands are quite difficult to control, even if they happen in bright day light! ;) That instinct to 'live for the present moment', somehow never springs when I'm in Bangalore. I don't think I can even reason out why.
Sangeet Sartaj - Mandolin Shrinivas: As I type this, Mandolin Shrinivas just finished cycling from Bindhumalini to Nalinakanthi to Kalyana Vasantham to some-shankarabharanam-derivative-that-I-cannot-figure-out to Abheri all within a span of a minute's time _and_ he does that all over again for a second time. This is a part of his rendition of the song 'Enthamuddo' from the album "Sangeet Sartaj". The same song is also part of the CD Raga Sangamam.
The album contains two CDs, the first is just a compilation of all his older recordings. There are variations in recording quality and even in 'shruthi'. The second CD is where I reaped all the money back. The music includes quite a bit of 'Harmony' and some piano too. The bass adds to the beauty and blends beautifully well with the Mridangam. Listening experience is overall very good. Needless to mention that it is U.Shrinivas' skills and that sweet tone of the Mandolin that keeps me 'hooked', no matter how bad the quality of recording gets.
Now, for that some-shankarabharanam-derivate-that-I-cannot-figure-out raga, here is the entire 'bedham' available for download* as an mp3 (1.5MB, 64K/s, J-Stereo, 24KHz). If someone can figure this ragam and let me know the name of it, I would highly appreciate your help. I'm talking about the ragam that appears just after Kalyana Vasantham and before Abheri.
* - Subject to puggy.symonds.net's availability. Please don't complain if it's in-accessible. :)
Here is the point I was trying to make about "that one thing that madras always does to me": Where there was once a pocket, now there is just a huge hole. :) Why? I ended up buying several audio CDs as I 'lost myself' in Mylapore. I don't know if it has to do with the smell of Jasmine near the 'mylapore tank' bus stand or if it is just a 'psychological' thingy that I associate with that damn place... And, at 'saptaswara musicals', I was _almost_ about to place an order for an Electric Mandolin at Saptaswara. I just totally lose control, at times. Thankfully they ran out of 'stock' and I was "saved". One night stands are quite difficult to control, even if they happen in bright day light! ;) That instinct to 'live for the present moment', somehow never springs when I'm in Bangalore. I don't think I can even reason out why.
Sangeet Sartaj - Mandolin Shrinivas: As I type this, Mandolin Shrinivas just finished cycling from Bindhumalini to Nalinakanthi to Kalyana Vasantham to some-shankarabharanam-derivative-that-I-cannot-figure-out to Abheri all within a span of a minute's time _and_ he does that all over again for a second time. This is a part of his rendition of the song 'Enthamuddo' from the album "Sangeet Sartaj". The same song is also part of the CD Raga Sangamam.
The album contains two CDs, the first is just a compilation of all his older recordings. There are variations in recording quality and even in 'shruthi'. The second CD is where I reaped all the money back. The music includes quite a bit of 'Harmony' and some piano too. The bass adds to the beauty and blends beautifully well with the Mridangam. Listening experience is overall very good. Needless to mention that it is U.Shrinivas' skills and that sweet tone of the Mandolin that keeps me 'hooked', no matter how bad the quality of recording gets.
Now, for that some-shankarabharanam-derivate-that-I-cannot-figure-out raga, here is the entire 'bedham' available for download* as an mp3 (1.5MB, 64K/s, J-Stereo, 24KHz). If someone can figure this ragam and let me know the name of it, I would highly appreciate your help. I'm talking about the ragam that appears just after Kalyana Vasantham and before Abheri.
* - Subject to puggy.symonds.net's availability. Please don't complain if it's in-accessible. :)