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Ramesh Shotham: Madras Special
Music Gallery; Rs. 345
With roots in both Chennai and Bangalore, Germany-based Ramesh Shotham is a versatile percussionist who combines the jazz drum kit with Carnatic percussion. Like his instruments, his music and the musicians he works with also come from jazz and Carnatic backgrounds.
On this album, he has a Western violinist, an alto saxophonist, a bassist, a guitarist, a keyboardist, a veena player and a couple of vocalists, one of whom is distinctly Carnatic-based and the other eclectic but sings in English. The Carnatic influence appears through his percussion on all tracks (especially the ghatam), as well as in the veena on the last two ("Sindhu and Thillana") and vocal on the last. However, the jazz musicians, especially the alto saxophonist, who features on the title track, "Call", and "Mallari", integrate well with the Carnatic rhythms.
All the musicians contribute to the abundance of solo improvisation on the album. "Sindhu" is a long improvisation, what would be called an alapana in Indian music and an intro in jazz, on the veena, while "Thillana" has some excellent vocal improvisation with veena and violin accompanying.
The title track has good solos by alto saxophone (which also takes a beautiful intro), violin and guitar, as well as by Shotham on various percussion instruments, including vocal percussion (konakkol in the Carnatic lexicon). Alto saxophone improvisation also features on "Call", where it alternates with the vocal theme with English lyrics. Among the violin solos, the one on "Yellow Rain" is outstanding. Most of the numbers are brisk and lively, but "Haneen wa Hanan" is quiet and haunting.
Sketches of Bangalore
Permission Music (Germany)/Music Gallery; Rs. 345
The musicians of the Bangalore-based Karnataka College of Percussion (KCP) have been collaborating with exponents of eclectic jazz, especially the veteran alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano, US-born but Germany-based. This album, recorded in 2000 in Köln (Cologne), features Mariano, the KCP musicians (led by T.A.S. Mani on mridangam and R.A. Ramamani on vocals), K. Raghavendra on the veena and the 18-strong WDR Big Band Köln.
The WDR Big Band members largely contribute ensemble sound to the recording, but occasionally take solos (which are explicitly mentioned in the liner notes) also. Apart from these, Mariano, Raghavendra and Ramamani contribute extensively to the solo improvisation but are not explicitly credited. The musicians from the two disciplines blend smoothly, making the listener suspect that the KCP contingent must have been on an extended tour of Germany and had plenty of time to practise with the WDR team.
Mariano's sympathy with the Carnatic discipline is of course no surprise, considering the long sabbaticals he has spent in Bangalore working with the KCP. The album features "Bangalore", the tribute he composed to the city. His album Bangalore shares this track as well as "Sweet Seventeen" by Ramamani and "Pulse" by Raghavendra with this album. All three of them feature in solo improvisations on these three tracks.
The 15-odd minutes of "Bangalore", which also has solos by the WDR's John Marshall on trumpet and Paul Shigihara on guitar, would make it the treat of this album had it not been somewhat marred for me by the twangy rock sounds of Shigihara's guitar.
(CDs distributed by Music Gallery can be ordered through reputed music stores or by contacting Music Gallery India Pvt Ltd at www.musicgalleryindia.com/contactus.htm; by e-mail to contactus@musicgalleryindia.com; or on the phone at 080-25565996.)
JAZZEBEL
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