Ustad Amir Khan’s contribution to Khayal Gayaki remains unparalleled. His unique style will continue to impact generations to come. February 13 is Khan’s death anniversary.
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Category: Profiles
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Kalamandalam Kavitha Krishnakumar: Dancer & Dedicated Teacher
The recent Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award for Mohiniyattam danseuse Kalamandalam Kavitha Krishnakumar comes as a late recognition.
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Gazaljeet: Remembering the Ghazal Journey of Jagjit Singh
Borrowing elegantly from predecessors and contemporaries, Jagjit Singh gave Ghazal a style of his own and transformed the music form in unimaginable ways. February 8 is his birthday.
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Poly Varghese: A Maverick Mohan Veena Musician
One of the world’s only five players of the improvised Hindustani Mohan Veena, Kerala-born Poly Varghese is a ‘surprising disciple’ of maestro Pt Viswa Mohan Bhatt, a Grammy winner.
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Carnatic Musician Geetha Bennett’s Battle with Cancer
February 4 is World Cancer Day. We recall the career of classical instrumentalist-vocalist Geetha Bennett (1950-2018) who lost her life to the dreaded disease.
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Tanjavur Sankara Iyer: Musicians’ Musician
Carnatic vocalist-composer Tanjavur Sankara Iyer turned 97 this week. A look at his artistry, linking the start of the music career to Harikatha exponent C Saraswathi Bai. Her death anniversary was on the eve of Iyer’s birthday. A gathering in downtown Madras keenly waited for the famed C Saraswathi Bai to perform Harikatha. The 45-year-old failed...
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Sadanam K Harikumar: The Sculpting of a Multifaceted Artist
Terracotta sculptures have been of increasing interest to musician-dancer-lyricist Sadanam K Harikumar. A take on the all-round artist who won a Kerala Lalithakala Akademi honour recently. The schoolboy spent his leisurely hours with pot-makers, trying to mould small figures from clay. Then, into his thirties, Sadanam K Harikumar resumed that aesthetic engagement. This time, too,...
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Manipuri Maestros: Darshna Jhaveri and Guru Bipin Singh
Darshana Jhaveri is a frontline Manipuri dancer, coming from a Gujarati family. She turns 82 today, coinciding with the death anniversary of her teacher Bipin Singh. A look at the two maestros. On her 60th birthday two decades ago, Darshana Jhaveri lost her pivotal Manipuri dance master. Guru Bipin Singh was 81 when he breathed...
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Malini Rajurkar: A Hindustani Vocalist’s Unparalleled Journey
Khayal musician Malini Rajurkar’s mastery over taans lends her tappa a special flavour. The Gwalior gharana exponent turns 80. Malini Rajurkar’s tappa renditions roll out exhilarating vocal patterns that reinforce her excellent sense of geometry. One can, with an applausive smirk, part-attribute this taan eminence to the Hindustani musician’s exposure to mathematics during her college...
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Remembering Kalamandalam Hyderali, My Colleague
With his open mind keenness to learn, Kalamandalam Hyderali emerged not just an eminent Kathakali musician, but a scholar of several arts. Fifteen years have passed since the unexpected demise of Kalamandalam Hyderali. Even today, I shudder at the thought of my dear friend’s fatal car crash — on a spot not far from our...