Keyboards player P.J. Antony carries in him the spirit of Fort Kochi’s rich heritage of music.
He has been a member of several orchestras across the State in the past four decades.
For his contribution to music, he was felicitated by the P. Bhaskaran Foundation, Kodungallur, recently.
Mr. Antony’s father P.C. Joseph was an associate of Kattassery Augustine Joseph, father of playback singer K.J. Yesudas, and Pappukutty Bhagavathar.
“In my childhood, there were devotional programmes in Fort Kochi. The presence of Augustin Joseph and Pappukutty Bhagavathar enriched these programmes. My father, a vocalist, used to take me to these programmes. I started playing harmonium in these programmes and took my baby steps to the world of music,” he recalls.
All his siblings are musically inclined, but he is the only one in the family to be a professional musician.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, he played the harmonium for the Praveen Orchestra of Koduvayur.
“Songs such as ‘Machane Pathingala’, ‘Devi Kshetra Nadayil’, ‘Ilanji Poomanam’ and ‘Ashtamangalya Suprabhathathil’ were hits then. The music was mostly acoustic and it lent charm to the ganamelas of those days,” he says.
He played for singers such as K.J. Yesudas, S. Janaki and P. Leela. He soon became a guitarist for several troupes. “While working as a guitarist in Cochin Arts Academy, I started playing the keyboards. I filled in for the keyboards player of the troupe who did not turn up at a show. It opened a window of opportunities,” he says. He was soon seen playing for the troupes Harisree Orchestra, Cochin Oscar, Kalabhavan, Cochin Arts Communication, and Mallissery, Coimbatore. For a while, he also played for programmes of Kathaprasangam artiste Paravur Ratnamani. For 10 years, he was part of western band that played at a luxury hotel in Kochi.
K.J. Yesudas heard him accompany saxophonist Dalson at a function in Kochi and got the duo to perform at the wedding of his son Vijay Yesudas. “All the greats of the music industry were at the wedding. The music we presented was appreciated,” he says.
