Aruna Sairam prefers to be in the ‘what next’ mode. The senior Carnatic vocalist doesn’t like her repertoire to resemble a recipe booklet with rigid instructions. She stirs in new elements for a personally refreshing experience for her music to have diverse appeal. At the ongoing Season 4 of Navotsavam, organised by S S International Live, she teams up with Agam, a young and raring-to-go progressive rock band.
Ask her about this unusual and unexpected collaboration, and she quips, “Isn’t it fun to surprise yourself and also the audience?”
She was impressed when she first heard some of the band’s well-known tracks such as ‘Malhar Jam’, ‘Dhanashree Thillana’ and the ‘The Boat Song’. “It’s not easy to bring about a symbiosis between the practices and possibilities of both worlds (East and West). But I found their hybrid sound inspired rather than insipid,” she elaborates.
ADVERTISEMENT
So when S S International Live, which usually comes up with novel concepts at its annual music fest, suggested this combination, for both Aruna and Agam, it was just an extension of their experimental initiatives. “I thought, why not,” says the well-known vocalist, who has traversed the multi-genre route several times before. For instance, ‘Aruna – Thousand Names of Divine Mother’ was a concert and recording project done in the crypt of a Benedictine monastery in Germany with co-artists Christian Bollmann and Michael Reimann. Then came ‘Sources’, a series of collaborations between Aruna and Dominique Vellard, a master of Gregorian and medieval song. The two later joined forces with Moroccan Sufi vocalist Noureddine Tahiri, which culminated in the album
“In any partnership, there has to be give and take. If I have my experience and wisdom to offer, the young members of the band, most of whom are working professionals, bring to our teamwork the much-needed energy, enthusiasm and contemporary ideas. It’s a genuine and joyful understanding of the styles,” says Aruna.
Ganeshram, Agam’s drummer, feels this bond has put the band on a musical high. “What can be more exciting than performing with such an established classical artiste,” he asks, explaining how the boys are gearing up to move in a new direction to create something that dazzles the imagination.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The essence of popular music in India is still rooted in tradition, so this alliance, in reality, is no crossing over, it’s just about communicating a shared dialogue,” says Ganesh.
The concert will be a blend of the sublimity of a kutcheri and the vigour of a rock gig, with the artistes engaging in an exchange in each other’s compositions. “Our collective skills will be on show in the pieces that we have specially put together for this performance,” adds Aruna. “Forget name or label, it’s a fruitful inter-zone between the notated and the improvised.”