‘P aridanamichithe’ (kanda chapu) when sung at the right speed gives the concert a lilt. Bombay Jayashri did just that at an impressive presentation . The swaras were like cascading waterfalls. Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam) and B.Shree Sundarkumar (ganjira) coordinated well in this segment to make it gripping.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Marugelara’ had Lalgudi Jayaraman’s stamp. The main Kharaharapriya that came next got a detailed treatment. Jayashri built the raga sedately, exploring thoroughly in the lower register. The upward and downward jaarus with long karvais were soothing.
The sound spacing of the phrases she built around the upper rishabham showcased the raga in full. Her closing phrase glided through the notes ‘da’ and ‘ni’ in the mandara sthayi before arriving at shadjam,was the icing on the cake. H.N.Bhaskar (violin) impressed with his clear bowing and interpretation of the raga .
Tyagaraja’s ‘Pakkala Nilabadi’ in misra chapu gave Jayashri ample scope to delve into the raga with niraval on the lines, ‘Manasuna Dalachi Maimarachi Yunnaara’. It was refreshing, despite her 17-minute raga exposition . Patri Satish Kumar and B. Shree Sundarkumar presented a thani that was a brilliant mix of soft and telling blows in various patterns. The khumkis of both players were the bright spots.
Jayashri’s manodharma came to the fore again when she took up the delineation of ragas Vasanti and Hamir Kalyani and alternated between phrases of the ragas with ease. It was a dvi-raga pallavi set in Adi talam (tisra gathi). Fertile imagination brought forth ragamalika swaras in Vasanthi, Hamir Kalyani, Maund, Desh and Sumanesa Ranjani with each raga vying for honours. A virutham in Khamas followed by ‘Karpooram Narumo’ and a rarely heard tillana of Lalgudi Jayaraman in Hamsanandi brought the curtains down on a memorable concert.
