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Journey through many genres
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Guitarist Prasanna's solo show at the Alliance Francaise auditorium left people wanting more
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— Pic. by Vino John
World music at its best: Prasanna performs solo at the Alliance Francaise
"IN THIS concert, I want to paint a picture for the audience," explained guitar maestro Prasanna, before his recent show at the Alliance Francaise. In a rare treat, and a major musical event for Chennai, Prasanna gave just his second solo concert in all his years as a performer. In the intimate setting of the A.F. auditorium, over 200 people packed themselves in for a standing room only event.
Prasanna had no qualms moving from large, world-class concert halls to this small, local venue. "I want to give something back to the place where I come from," he explained. "I want to provide as many different experiences as possible for the people here, something they may not have heard before." And he did just that, playing a semi-improvisational show, where he sometimes "painted on a blank slate," and other times "started with a basic sketch" and moved on from there. For example, he began the show with the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood", "Chennai style". This set the tone for the performance, which could be called fusion or world music, and consisted of an ever changing flow of genres, with the shifts coming almost imperceptibly, a tribute to his skill as a guitarist.
Studied many genres
To Prasanna, this way of performing is not consciously fusion. "I don't go into a show thinking: today I'll mix Carnatic with Jazz. It's just a reflection of who I am. I have studied from many different genres, so why restrict myself. I want to continue the traditions of my musical heritage, but expand its roots, to bring out the universality of Carnatic music."
This philosophy was well reflected by the variety of themes in the show. Prasanna seamlessly moved from acoustic Jazz, to traditional to pure improvisation on the electric guitar. In doing this, Prasanna wanted "his organic personality" as a musician to show through.
He often began with the bare bones of well-known ragas or jazz standards and took them in unexpected directions. The intimacy of the venue made it all the more interesting to watch his work unfold. However, it also created a strange dynamic between the guitarist and the crowd. In certain instances, the crowd seemed unsure of what to think, or how to respond. And in turn, this affected Prasanna's stage presence. He sometimes seemed nervous, hoping that everyone would like what he was doing, apologising for minor mistakes, searching for acceptance.
New experience
The solo show was clearly a new experience for him. "I am honoured to be trying this in my hometown," he said. But with that feeling, came the sense that he might have been reining himself in. He wanted to give the crowd what they came for, which might have impeded his proposed goal of "playing who I am". This was shown clearly in the encore, where Prasanna took crowd requests, but was overwhelmed by the many suggestions. You could see that he wanted to accommodate everyone, even those asking for film songs or "Greensleeves", yet he also wanted to run free on his own paths.
At the end of the show, I was left with the distinct feeling that I had seen a master at work, but that he may not have used all of his tools. The crowd had thoroughly enjoyed the show, and had often been mesmerised by Prasanna's skill, but that sense of freedom he had talked about was sometimes missing. It left me wanting more, hoping that Prasanna would continue to hone his solo show, so that all of us could enjoy it even more the next time.
TEJAS EWING
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