The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Musical journey of string and soul

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Friday, Feb 15, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Musical journey of string and soul

Deepa Kurup

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

WITHOUT BOUNDARIES: Jose Feliciano in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: On a cold February night, when the world outside indulged in the frills and fancies of Valentine’s Day, a packed audience of music lovers at Ambedkar Bhavan were taken on a musical journey of string and soul by the legendary guitarist Jose Feliciano.

Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican guitarist Feliciano, who is visually impaired, may not have been able to see the tremendous response his music evoked, but the never-ending applause and the repeated calls for encore bore testimony to his dedicated fan following in Bangalore.

Feliciano kick-started the evening with an energetic version of Ain’t No Sunshine and went on to play songs from his album Soundtrack of My Life.

Though the English numbers seemed to evoke more response, his Spanish ballads were resplendent with soul, and his Spanish guitar belted out solos that held the audience captive.

While the stalls cheered the artiste with applause, the balcony had his enthusiastic fans clapping and whistling in sheer joy. With the golden lighting taking an entranced listener to a different time and space, every bit from the acoustics to the lighting was near perfect.

A spellbound audience got much more than it could ever ask for in a beautiful symphony where the Spanish guitar metamorphosed into a sitar and the percussion transformed magically into the tabla to deliver a perfect Indian raga. “Unlike George Harrison, I did not have the good fortune of learning from Pandit Ravi Shankar, so I taught myself. Please, let me share your culture with you,” he said.

From Old Turkey Buzzard of Mackenna’s Gold fame to Destiny, his fingers worked magic, alternating between acoustic and Spanish guitar; his art seemed to run wild without boundaries of genre or style. From easygoing jazz to power-packed chords in some rock ’n’ roll numbers, the musical feast was both complete and gratifying.

Taking the audience back to the time when Latin music was not so popular, he imitated Nat King Cole’s attempts at singing in Spanish.

His sharp humour spared no one, from Julio to the sponsors Johnnie Walker, and left an entranced audience impressed with his wit.

The evening was magical, and if there was ever a way to celebrate the magic of St. Valentine, then this was it. From Light My Fire — adding his own bit of husk and soul to the Morrison single — to his very own Feliz Nevidad, the audience clapped, jumped and cheered along. A jam session between the two percussionists “Tyger” MacNeal and Bob Conti stole Jose’s thunder for a while, with its perfect timing and tight sequences.

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