Artbeat

I received an invitation for Heartbeats from Pedro, a percussion player from Chile, here in India to learn the tabla. I was not too keen as I had already seen and heard Shakti a few years back. Also was feeling a bit lazy due to the cold weather, and had the concert been at a walking distance I would have definitely gone for it. But then, what the deuce, I decided to go, and I would like to thank Pedro for his invitation.
Heartbeats - the concert was held at Law college ground on December 6, 2008. The terror attack in Mumbai and the recession were at the back of my mind and I really did not feel very enthusiastic about the concert, unlike a few years ago. The concert ground was huge, and was full of chairs with thousands of people. I felt lost and could hardly see the artists; they were distant miniatures that one could only guess at.
All I could do was to look at the small display screen to figure out who the artists were – Zakir, Taufique, U Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, and Selvaganesh. The initial wait turned to excitement as an announcement was made about their appearance on stage. Zakir spoke about the terror attack on Mumbai and there was a minute’s silence for all those who had lost their lives in that horrible act of terror.
The concert started with a blast: all of them came together and it sounded amazing. The melody and grooves were funky and Indian, timed to perfection and it fused like mad. Then came the jam which sounded like a 9/4 which then went into an 8/4; very Bollywoodish. Somehow I don’t prefer jams in a concert as they say nothing much and I really trip on compositions which have a structure.Then came the Taufique and U Srinivas jam. U Srinivas was in a different league; he was way beyond the rest, with deep dynamics and a sonorous tone from his electric mandolin. The Taufique solo was a complete crowd pleaser and the crowd was thrilled.
After a long wait the entire band came together again. This was followed by a Selvaganesh solo. Selvaganesh is a percussionist in the Carnatic tradition and is the leading Kanjira (or south Indian frame drum) player of his generation. He is also the son of the legendary Vikku Vinayakram, the master ghatam player. His displacement of beats was amazing. Zakir’s solo was outstanding: his polyrhythmic feel, time signatures, the 64th note on one hand with a feel of quarter note pulse on the other, was just something that cannot be described. The show ended with a much wanted call for unity.
Overall I have a mixed feeling about the concert. I did have enough but had expected more...
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