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Articles on ARR from YG.

Topic started by Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on Thu Oct 10 08:44:25 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

For many days, I felt that I should have a thread to share some of the articles about ARR in desi and international press and website. I intend to start this thread and expect others also to post some articles about ARR here.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: raycas (@ 80.110.12.153) on: Sat Oct 19 12:10:30 EDT 2002
  
  this was my first answer:
  
  hi scary_promises,
  
  good writeup i should say.
  have some comments to the points u mentioned.
  see, a.r.rahman is in first place a musician, only then the music director of a movie (which makes the whole thing to a profession). so a musician shows his excellence through creativity, through understanding the medium 'music'. for this he has to travel through the endless ocean of music. this journey is something really special as u discover so many new things in various stages of your life. and all these experiences flow into your music.
  in contrast to that, a music director who is concerned about the movie and his fans, gives much more importance to commercialism, because as this is his profession he must be able to 'sell' his music, otherwise he has no future in this field. he can't set out for a journey in search of innovative and risky music types because as tradition shows, something new is always been looked at sceptically, and sceptism impedes sale. so a music director tries to find out the already existing tastes of his audience and delivers appropriate music.
  now concerning a.r.rahman, he started his career in 1992, surprised us all with his 'new' sound, that at a point when we were 'tired' of ilayaraja music (this i must admit is not my point, cause at that time i hadn't any access to tamil music). now fact is that what he did at that time even was what you call nowadays experimentation. he experimented with new, - at least in tfm - unheard sounds and attracted our attention. he further went doing it in 'thiruda thiruda', which was for that time - and here many of you will agree - highly experimental, and even rejected by the audience. today it's a classic. after 'kaadhalan', arr himself admited, he got stuck in that prabhu-deva-dancing-style music which offered us mr.romeo, love birds and its types. but then he had his grand experimental comeback with iruvar.
  so what i'm trying to say is, he is actually doing the same (experimenting) as he did all these years. the difference is, he is continuing his journey, only we, the audience, are lagging behind. don't misunderstand me, i'm not accusing the audience for being 'slow', it's just the fact (imo).
  a.r.rahman is someone who is trying to remain true to himself. and now, after 10 years of his advent, he can easily afford it to continue his journey, because i don't think that in his inner mind, he is concerned about the sales of his music. because as a musician in the first place, the music he composes must be satisfing to himself. only then comes the friends and the outer world.
  if the people from Panrooti or Salem can't appreciate the exquisite effort arr puts into his music, perhaps people from france or uk may start appreciating it. and the thing is, these people from panrooti and salem won't even be concerned so much, because if an arr goes, a vidyasagar comes and gives them the melodies and songs they want. so they have no loss actually. why care if the music you like is from a grand name like arr or from a local guy called vidyasagar? they get what they want, isn't?
  
  now coming to an end, one thing i must admit i agree with you. i too didn't like the 3 melodious numbers in kv much, but on the other side loved the 3 fast ones. with 'baila more' arr tried out techno-trance and in my opinion didn't do bad concerning the fact that i don't like techno or trance at all. piano and sax section of 'vaan nila' was great too, especially cause i like that jazz style. the singing i didn't like that much. that is true.
  
  hope this one gives you something to think too.
  
  raycas.
  
  
• From: Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on: Mon Oct 21 06:11:54 EDT 2002
  
  Sangeet Nawaz Award for ARR
  
  Chennai, October 21
  http://snurl.com/7w6
  
  "I feel proud to receive the 'Amir Khusro' Award from A R Rahman,"
  said noted Shehnai exponent Ustad Bismillah Khan.
  
  "Our Government should give importance to music. Schools should have
  seperate classes to teach music. We can grow interest in music
  through this," said Khan in the ceremony held in Chennai, on Sunday,
  on behalf of the Amir Khusro Sangeet Academy.
  
  Rahman said, "I had wanted to learn Shehnai before entering films.
  But I could only produce air out of the Shehnai I was trying to
  play...Not music! Bismillah Khan's Shehnai has really moved me many
  times."
  
  Bismillah Khan also presented the 'Sangeet Nawaz' award to A R Rahman
  and the 'Sangeet Sagar' award to veteran composer M S Viswanathan.
  
  -- There's also supposed to be a picture of ARR presenting the award
  to Bismillah Khan, but the pic just refuses to load...looks like its
  not been uploaded at all! This is the URL of the pic, keep a track!
  http://www.dinamani.com/Images/oct02/21bismil.jpg
  
  
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.132) on: Fri Oct 25 08:11:59 EDT 2002
  
  Good reply raycas.
  Sometimes, fans can dig the graves of their idols. All these fans who say ARR shud stop experimenting etc are forgetting the essential essence tat makes ARR special in the first place. More than experimenting, I'd say he is being creative without imposing any limitaions upon himself. When u stagnate in one direction, u can't be creative. I think ARR shud concentrate on more Bombay Dreams and do wat pleases him instead of bending over for his HC fans and their whims.
  
  
• From: Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on: Fri Oct 25 23:41:13 EDT 2002
  
  There is news that ARR is going to work with different people individually for instrumental album. I think he is slowly moving on to a different sphere.
  
  His liking to period films and off beat subjects clearly will make him a name to recon with in Music history.
  If you don't want that then you better start accusing ARR and demand the usual formula music that now most off them give just by improvising of old ARR stuffs. Artist are also built and destroyed by fans.
  Lets fans decide what's in destiny for ARR.
  
  
• From: Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on: Fri Oct 25 23:54:42 EDT 2002
  
  
  http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/oct/24asha.htm
  
  --Ravi
  
  
  Legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle invoked the name of Lord Rama
  to highlight the ill-treatment of India's senior citizens at the
  hands of their own children.
  
  Bhosle, who is in London to raise money for Help the Aged charity
  projects in India, said, "The old are old everywhere. People forget
  how the same children brought up with affection, effort and love are
  the ones who later kick their parents.
  
  "It shouldn't happen in a country like ours where Rama obeyed his
  father and left the kingdom at his request."
  
  Bhosle, the sister of the equally famous Lata Mangeshkar, is booked
  to sing at London's Albert Hall where all tickets have been sold for
  her Friday concert (October 25).
  
  On the eve of her concert in aid of the charity she told a media
  briefing how it has become the fashion in India for younger couples
  to evict their aged parents from their family homes. "In Mumbai, we
  have the well known story of a very wealthy man and his wife locking
  up his parents and demanding they sign over the deeds of their
  property. What happened? The parents committed suicide by jumping
  from the ninth floor window."
  
  She added, "New brides should understand their husbands' parents are
  their parents as well. Loom after your in-laws because one day you
  too will have a new bride in the house and you will also suffer."
  
  Earlier, speaking to a local London newspaper about the state of
  contemporary music in India, Bhosle was sharply critical of the new
  trend of re-recording classic hits. Singling out Dil Vil Pyar Vyar
  for making a poor job of re-recording late husband R D Burman's
  songs, she said, "It is a very bad effort, I don't know why they
  didn't use the original songs. They would have worked even with
  today's actors. Instead they have re-recorded sings with people that
  are not proper singers.
  
  "When they re-record and recreate these songs they don't realise
  there will never again be another Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi,
  Kishore Kumar or Asha Bhosle. By presenting songs with fast food
  singers they do injustice to great songs and a great disservice to a
  new generation that has never heard the original songs."
  
  At a subsequent briefing, Bhosle singled out composer A R Rahman as
  an exceptional human being "who understands artistes."
  
  Recalling her meeting with him earlier this year, Bhosle said, "I was
  visiting London and Rahman called me at 11 pm to ask for my advice.
  We recorded at 4 am next morning. Any music director should have
  confidence in what he is doing, he should know what is required.
  Working for such a person is great fun."
  
  Asked if the purpose of music was to entertain or raise spiritual
  awareness, Bhosle replied, "The main purpose is that if you are
  unhappy, music helps to dispel your unhappiness. If you are already
  happy, music heightens your joy. Music makes illness retreat. Music
  is in all our minds and hearts and we are all free to sing anywhere
  we choose."
  
  
  
• From: Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on: Fri Oct 25 23:55:14 EDT 2002
  
  http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/stories/2002102501380600.htm
  
  "The occasion also brought together A. R. Rahman and M. S.
  Viswanathan. A highlight was the Lifetime Achievement Award,
  conferred on the Ustad by the Amir Khusro Academy, which he received
  from Rahman. It was only appropriate that musicians schooled in
  tradition but masters of innovation shared the same forum. "
  
  has a pic of arr handing over the award to Ustad Bismillah Khan;
  
  
  
  CHENNAI'S MUSIC lovers enjoyed an evening of pure delight on October
  20. Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib and his troupe performed for two hours
  to a full and appreciative audience at the Music Academy, thanks to
  the Amir Khusro Sangeet Academy. Ustadji belongs to an illustrious
  lineage of shehnai players who traditionally played at the Raj Durbar
  of Bhojpur State in Bihar and later at the Kasi Viswanath Temple in
  Varanasi. Practising at the temple and the banks of the Ganges were a
  legacy he inherited from his maternal uncle and teacher, Ustad Ali
  Bux, renowned vocalist. Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib has adapted and
  refined the Gayaki ang for shehnai revealing his versatility in his
  repertoire.
  
  At 87, Khan Sahib has a saintly demeanour and the same pious and
  enigmatic personality he had when he was young. His music and belief
  mirror his inward being. The artiste and the man are the one and the
  same in him. In conversation, Ustadji said that there was only one
  religion and that was "Sur" rendition.
  
  Hence it is important that Sur be nurtured and sustained. "Gaa na,
  Baja na, kar tab" form his philosophy of rigorous training - "no
  singing, no playing, till you practise." He believes "Ek Sadha, sab
  sadhe, sab sadhe, sab gaye" that is, "If one could perfect one, one
  could perfect all. In the pursuit to perfect all, one would lose
  all." He equates the shehnai with the human soul vitalised by the
  human breath.
  
  Initial annoyance at the late start of the programme on that Sunday
  evening gave way to appreciation of the deft control of the maestro
  as the audience warmed up to his delicate reproduction of intricate
  patterns and his impromptu breaking into a Thumri, presented with
  relaxed freedom. One was reminded of a beautiful couplet: "Jab bhi
  deta hai koi daad samaj kar Gauhar, jaise fanker jo jeene ki tamanna
  deta hai". An appreciative audience gives a fresh lease of life to
  the artiste.
  
  The concert opened with raga Madhuvanti. The Ustad's delineation of
  the dominant note ``pancham" and the sustenance on the consonant note
  shadaj ``sa" bringing out the vibrant patterns with ease was
  commendable.
  
  He often broke into a Kajri, a melodic dhun sung in the rainy season
  in Varanasi that is a happy mix of folk and classical styles. Given
  the constraints of his age his melodic rendition was occasionally
  disturbed, but he quickly overcame the hurdle as a gentle rippling
  brook takes listeners by surprise when it breaks into laughter
  meeting pebbles gushing through a span of full three octaves.
  
  Ustad Bismillah Khan was at his very best while performing Raga
  Kedara which brought into full play his developed imagination and
  aesthetics to weave in quick succession, fascinating note
  compositions taken in "Maend" - a smooth glide from one swara to the
  other, from a higher octave to a lower one. Kedara rendered in the
  first quarter of the night takes madhyam as its vadi and shadaj as
  its samvadi. It omits rishabh and gandhar in the aroha while gandhar
  is employed in a peculiar manner in vakra in avaroha. The use of both
  teevra and shudh madhyam in the avaroha was done with great finesse.
  The ascendance from shadaj to madhyam was taken superbly depicting a
  mood of sublime dignity. The tabla played by Khan Sahib's youngest
  son Nazim Ali was outstanding and reminiscent of Ustad Zakir Hussain.
  
  The occasion also brought together A. R. Rahman and M. S.
  Viswanathan. A highlight was the Lifetime Achievement Award,
  conferred on the Ustad by the Amir Khusro Academy, which he received
  from Rahman. It was only appropriate that musicians schooled in
  tradition but masters of innovation shared the same forum.
  
  JYOTI NAIR BELLIAPPA
  
  
  Pic. by R. Shivaji Rao.
  
  
  
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.131) on: Sat Oct 26 22:42:49 EDT 2002
  
  Are Yaar,
  
  thanks for posting these here. And a good thread too, thanks for starting this.
  
  btw, I miss posts by u, Karthik S (the other one), Bharath & other old-timers at the ARRYG. Keeping busy I spose.
  
  I agree wit u abt fans making and destroying artistes, tho at the end of the day the artiste needs to decide for himself wat is more important to him. Take Deva for example. He doesnt give a sh*t about wat others say about him as all tat matters is tat the songs sell at the end of the day. Factors like creativity, originality etc mean much less to him.
  
  btw, where did u hear about the instrumental work of ARR. Can u pls share more info on this.
  
  

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