Author: Ramkumar R

  • Book: Hindustani Music – A Tradition in Transition

    “Hindustani Music – A Tradition in Transition” (D.K.Printworld, 2005) is a collection of Deepak Raja’s writings on Hindustani Music. The book is divided into 5 parts. Part 1 titled “Culture, Technology and Economics” discusses the changes that have happened in Hindustani Music and to its patronage over the years, the…

  • Sriram now has his own web presence!

    Sriram Guruswamy, a close friend and a very good/passionate photographer, has launched his own web site just a few minutes back – http://www.sriramguruswamy.com/ . Check out when you have time and please share any feedback/ comments on the “Contact” page of his web site. His earlier web site (photo blog)…

  • Book: The Lost World of Hindustani Music – by Kumar Prasad Mukherji

    Anybody who comes in contact with Indian Classical musicians and/or moves around for quite some time in the ‘music circle’ will hear a lot of stories and anecdotes, not just about the current crop of musicians, but also about past practitioners. Many of these usually cannot be verified but do…

  • Movie: Raavanan/ Raavan

    Liked the movie for the cinematography, music (songs + BGM) and performances by some of the cast (especially Vikram). The movie though couldn’t have kept me engaged throughout if not for Santosh Sivan’s superb camera work and ARR’s work with the BGM. I also felt that the Tamil version “Raavanan’…

  • Book: “Raga’n Josh – Stories from a Musical Life” by Sheila Dhar

    Sheila Dhar had the knack for penning down in an interesting manner, her experience interacting with different people she came across in her life. In her book “Raga’n Josh – Stories from a Musical Life” (Black Kite, 2005) that combines her two earlier books “Here’s Someone I’d Like You to…

  • Book: A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music by Rajeev Nair

    Though there are many books on Hindustani Music, Rajeev Nair’s “A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music” is one of the few I would highly recommend to all rasikas of Hindustani Music – from the uninitiated to the seasoned ones. Rajeev’s mastery over the English language is no surprise I guess,…

  • Lec Dem – Dwitala Avadhanam

    Smt. Suguna Purushothaman gave a very educative lecture demonstration on “Teaching and Practice of Dwitala Avadhanam” at The Music Academy, Chennai on 23rd Dec 2009. The very fact that Smt. Suguna made her students (K. Gayatri, Sharanya Krishnan and Nandini Sharma) perform most of the exercises was very encouraging to…

  • Kites

    Slow moving, boring and predictable movie that can be watched for Hrithik Roshan/ Barbara Mori.  The only positives for me were the cinematography, the performance of the lead stars and the chemistry they shared on screen.

  • Concert for Veenavadhini

    Veena vidwans Jeyaraaj and Jaysri organized a chamber music concert today at their home in Mandaveli, Chennai under the banner “Veenavadhini“. I played mrudangam for the veena recital of Shri L. Ramakrishnan, senior disciple of veteran vainika Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan. Special mention must be made of the superb arrangements made…

  • PRAMANAM – CD Release & Concert

    Pramanam (2 ACD pack) – a collection of authentic version of select compositions sung by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli and produced by Swathi Soft Solutions was released yesterday at Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore, Chennai by Shri N. Murali (Managing Director,The Hindu and President,The Music Academy, Chennai). The first copy…

  • Concert for NSTSS

      Played mrudangam for the vocal concert of Smt. Niranjana Srinivasan organized by Nanganallur Shri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Samajam (NSTSS). The song list was as follows: Vocal:  Niranjana Srinivasan Violin: B.Ananthakrishnan Mrudangam: R. Ramkumar Venue: Ranjani Hall, 15th Street, Nanganallur, Chennai Sabha:  Nanganallur Shri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Samajam (NSTSS) List of songs: 1) innum en…

  • Concert in Naada Inbam’s SVK Birthday Series, 2010

    Played mrudangam for the vocal concert of R. Shridhar in Naada Inbam’s Shri SVK Birthday Concerts series. The song list was as follows: Vocal: R. Shridhar Violin: Akkarai Swarnalatha Mrudangam: R. Ramkumar Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, 85/2, Luz Avenue, Luz, Mylapore Sabha:  Naada Inbam, Chennai List of songs: 1) vanajAkshi (varnam) – kalyANi…

  • Trip to Coorg

    Giving details of a recent trip to Coorg (Madikeri/Mercara) below; may prove useful for people planning a trip to the place Coorg is a hill station in Karnataka, India. ACCOMMODATION: We stayed at Honey Valley Estate (http://honeyvalleyindia.in/), located 3 kms from Kabbinakkad Junction at Yavakapady at 1250 mtrs MSL. It…

  • Lec Dem – Styles of Veena Playing

    Smt. Jayanthi Kumaresh gave a very informative lec dem on “Styles of Veena Playing” at The Music Academy on 27th Dec 2009.  Good communication skills,  good use of technology (powerpoint, audio clips, video clips etc), demonstration of almost all techniques/characteristics spoken about, a well structured presentation, use of humor only…

  • Concert in Naada Inbam’s Veena Festival 2010

    Played mrudangam for the veena concert of Smt. S.R. Padmavathi in Naada Inbam’s Veena Festival conducted in the memory of its founder Sri S.V. Krishnan. The song list was as follows: Veena: Smt. S.R. Padmavathi Mrudangam: R. Ramkumar Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, 85/2, Luz Avenue, Luz, Mylapore Sabha:  Naada Inbam, Chennai List…