Svara Kanti

The group began with a Mira bhajan originally composed by Ravi Shankar.  This was then followed by an acoustic rendition of “Tu Hi Re” from the film Mumbai.  Attempting to create the feel of a Bollywood song, more so, one of AR Rahman’s compositions presents a huge challenge, as the audience will be preconditioned.  Unfortunately the group were unable to overcome this challenge as the piece felt like it needed something more.  In addition, it felt as though the tabla was not in tune with the other instruments.  Srikanth’s violin interludes did however bring some familiarity to the song which the listeners would have been able to relate to.   

The next piece allowed the group to redeem itself with the upbeat instrumental duet between tabla and guitar.  Both musicians were in good form and interacted with each other well.  The piece itself sounded well-rehearsed and on point. The momentum continued with a Bhojpuri love song based on kaafi thaat /dorian mode.  The piece started very well, with guitar setting the foundation with a drone-like pattern that lasted throughout the piece.  The four artists now started to sound more like a group and the guitar provided some very beautiful harmonies that gave a good support to Kaur’s vocals.  The first half concluded with two Panjabi songs that showed Kaur at her best.  Being a native Panjabi speaker, she seemed most comfortable with this style of song and was very much in her element.

 

The second half of the concert began with a composition in raag Lalit by Sirish Kohli. As Lalit is considered to be a challenging raag by even the most accomplished Indian classical musicians, I was quite impressed to hear that Thacker would begin the alaap.  Sadly his fixed and notated alap (which is usually improvised) sounded shapeless.  Considering that Jyotsna Srikanth’s strength is in Indian classical, it would have been wiser to allow her to lead the alap.  More so because when Srikanth was finally given the chance to play, she completely outshone Thacker’s earlier attempt.  Sabri and Kaur then joined in with a vocal composition in teental.  Kaur’s attempt was commendable for someone from a non-classical background, as she hit each note with precision, rendering several difficult passages comprising of quick succession of notes.  

 

The second piece was based on Zakir Hussain’s project Shakti.  Bearing in mind that it was originally performed by one of the world’s leading tablists, we would have expected Sabri to use this opportunity to show off his skill and prowess on the tabla.  However this was not the case; instead he settled for a very lukewarm, unadventurous solo.  The finale was a flamenco piece; perhaps a little too ambitious for Kaur who was struggling with the alaps and fast melodic patterns that she was expected to deliver.  However she made a good effort.  Once again, it was Srikanth on violin who was the star of the show with her effortless gliding, lightening speed and quick-thinking taans. 

 

Svar-Kanti was an assortment of pieces with an assortment of musicians.  It was good that Thacker took the time to make sure he introduced each piece in the concert and also give a brief background to their meaning and origins.  However it would have been wiser to let the Panjabi songs be introduced by either Kaur or Sabri, instead of repeatedly having to apologise for mispronunciation. In general, the artists on stage appeared to be somewhat disconnected from each other which affected their group dynamics. Overall, the concert was very well-timed and Thacker made a good effort to interact with the audience and kept them entertained.