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One from the heart
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A musical felicitation for saxophonist Manohari Singh
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Photo: M. Karunakaran
Down musical lane Manohari da with the singers at Gaata Rahe Mera Dil
The concert at Kamarajar Arangam to felicitate saxophonist Manohari Singhwitnessed the uplifting and ennobling qualities of music.
Organised by the Divine Mother Society, the concert started with ‘Dheere Dheere’ from “Anupama”, originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
Sangeetha Manekar’s rendition of the classic was efficient although she seemed to have trouble with the grace notes.
As the anchor told us in between the songs, Manohari da, as he is fondly called, was born in Kathmandu. His first Guru was his father.
The break
A child prodigy, he came to Calcutta and joined the New Theatre. It was Salil Choudhary who noticed his talent and brought him to Bombay in 1958, after which there was no looking back.
In a long and flourishing career, he worked with all the leading music directors of the time.
At the programme, Manohari da joined Jaya, who sang ‘Aage bhi’ from “Waqt” with poise — although her version was too close to the original, blurring the boundary between copy and faithfulness — for his first solo.
Needless to say, his control over the tone and the way his experienced fingers caressed and coaxed the sax into eloquence made for a complete treat for the ears and the eyes.
The songs selected for the concert were mostly waltzes.
Viju Shah on the piano was a great support to the singers and the musicians. Of the singers, Anil Bajpayi, impressed the most with his well-nuanced, well-pitched delivery and the ease with which he handled the grace notes.
One must also mention the bass. The bass has not been properly utilised in Hindi film music although RD Burman changed that somewhat. Still, the bass guitar usually remains unused, especially during such concerts. Hence, it was a pleasure to hear the bass grooving smoothly all along.
Standing ovation
Finally, it was time to felicitate Manohari da, and Kris Srikanth and VB Chandrashekhar did the honours. The crowd showed its appreciation by giving a standing ovation.
After this, Manohari Da launched into a note-perfect, ebullient rendition of ‘Gaata Rahe Mera Dil’ — the name of the concert too — that summed up what he thought about himself and his music.
ABHIMANYU SINGH
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