Mesmerising magic at the Music Academy

Mesmerising magic at the Music Academy

Saranya ChakrapaniFirst Published : 23 Feb 2009 11:48:00 PM ISTLast Updated : 23 Feb 2009 04:12:54 PM ISTCHENNAI: LET the curtain rise on the maestros!” boomed PC Ramakrishna’s voice. It was a moment of a lifetime; everyone who sat within the familiar walls of the 80-year-old Music Academy knew it. Ghananjani 2009 was different. No, it wasn’t the red curtain that enticingly, slowly revealed every inch of the setting on stage. It wasn’t just the sandal-scented air and the colourful lights that paved the way to the commemoration of a musical evening. This moment that had just made our hearts skip a beat, was a bit more than all of that. It was an evening of five musical geniuses, who were all set to give us a little peep into their souls. It was an evening dedicated to the still loved and immensely missed founder of the Shakti Foundation, Velan Raghuvir, and thecause so close to his heart.


Sheer magic emanates from instruments in the hands of maestros like Zakir Hussain, Sivamani, Dominique Di Piazza, Stephen Devassy and U Shrinivas. Like PC Ramakrishna rightly put it, referring to Mandolin U Shrinivas, “There are musicians who get their names from an instrument. But here is an instrument that has got its name from the musician.” The world knew the magic they were capable of, after witnessing their previous performances through Remembering Shakti. This time around the canvas had two more colours splashed on it - the shy, Frenchman who strummed magic on the bass guitar and refrained from speaking too much due to his ‘strongly accented English’ , Dominique Di Piazza, and the 27-year-old, highly enthused pianist, Stephen Devassy.

Raw, mellow sounds erupted like smoke and filled the air as Shrinivas took the lead for the evening. Ustadji, eyes shut, allowed the music to seep into his system, and soon started playing in tune with the mandolin. Stephen Devassy, Dominique and Sivamani exchanged glances in silent communication to jam their own kind of music and began midway to join what Hussain and Shrinivas were intricately sculpting. The harmony was like a melting pot, gently guiding our ears and our senses to a spectacular confluence of any beat and sound that made music.

The chemistry between Ustadji, Sivamani and Shrinivas, reached a new high time and again. Sivamani played like a man possessed, making music out of everything from an old suitcase to a plastic bottle to his sophisticated drums and the pair of ghungroos he wore on his feet. Dominique’s strums soothingly, seductively made melodies and depths of six strings. Stephen Devassy’ s music seemed to reflect his own self, quickly transforming the laid-back, dreamy mood to electrifying magnetism.

They kept the best for the end. When Zakir Hussain playing, every fan in the audience was ready for him, keeping time with their hands, tears flowing down cheeks, lost in the magic his music creates. While he was capable of drowning us in the intensity of rhythm, he was also capable of beguiling us with his unassuming, humourous side. For, when Shrinivas congratulated him on his second Grammy, he gently lifted the tip of his silk kurta and took a little bow, the way, a timid ballerina would do, to an applauding auditorium.

Later, the kids of the Shakti Foundation, garlanded the musicians and posed delightedly for a group picture. Shati’s Ghananjani 2009, had the audience leave with the memories of a Saturday evening they’d carry for the rest of their lives.

saranyachakrapani@epmltd.com