Contemporary Carnatic music vocalist and composer, Bombay Jayashri brings a unique concert to Bangalore. ‘Listening to Life: the Journey of a Raga’ promises to enthral music afficionados with popular tunes from multiple genres. The 90-minute concert also brings together a variety of artists including Kannada singer M.D. Pallavi known for her energetic rendering of Kannada poetry.
Jayashri has, for the first time, put together a band of young musicians who explore various genres with aplomb, displaying mastery over their instruments. From the traditional and electric violin, piano, harmonium, flute, even Chinese flute to the tabla and mridangam and more, Jayashri has orchestrated a show that is fearlessly eclectic. The scores will span Carnatic, Hindustani, Hindi and Kannada film songs, ghazals, Kannada poetry, and world folk music. Her students will form the chorus.
True to her style and skill in connecting with her audiences, Jayashri will illuminate each song with an anecdote or recall moments of a journey that the song undertook before taking its final form. “All along my musical journey, I have always been intrigued and clued in to the fact that music works because of the way we connect to it. And the way we connect depends on a whole host of things — from something as deep as our theoretical knowledge of the music form, philosophical meaning of the lyrics, bhakti of course in classical music, the memories these evoke to the mood you are in, time of the day, the person you are with and even the actor in a film song,” she says.
Known for her versatility, Jayashri has performed all over the world across the last three decades. In all these years, she has challenged herself with ‘jugalbandis’ and collaborative performances with a variety of successful artists like Shubha Mudgal and Romu Majumdar or dancers like Leela Samson and Priyadarsini Govind. ‘Listening to Life’ has been written and directed by Jayashri, who roped in M.S. Sathyu to design the sets and lighting for the programme.
Bottomline: Versatility and perfection on a musical stage
Listening to Life: the Journey of a Raga by Bombay Jayashri
Where: MLR Convention Center, JP Nagar, and Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleshwaram. Contact: 080-401822222 or 23445810
When: August 2 and 3 at 8.00 p.m.
