Good one On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 6:14 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@yahoo.com>wrote:
> > Golden boy can go for Grammy > > The New Indian Express, 7 March, 2009 > > V Sudarshan sees the Oscar as just a stepping stone on the way to true > musical glory and lists > out some of the fabulous artistes A R Rahman should seek out to make a real > bid for it > > I was dragged to see Roja in a very seedy cinema hall in Delhi’s Connaught > Place in the early > nineties. It was a morning show on a Sunday that meant we’d have to drive > up all the way from > East Delhi. We were possibly the only people seeing the film, my wife and > I, and I tried my > best to ignore the stale smell that enveloped us as soon as we were seated. > I don’t usually see > Tamil or Hindi films. It’s not a snob thing but the few times I have gone > against my better > judgement, the experience has not been encouraging. Roja, I reluctantly > agreed because in my > line of work those days, the word I wrote most frequently was ‘Kashmir’. > The movie was not so > hot. But the music was another story. I bought a tape in the first shop I > could find in CP as > soon as we came out of the theatre and played it all the way back home, > again and again. > I kept up with Rahman whenever I came down south, which was roughly once a > year. The very next > year I remember a brief infatuation with Netru Illatha Matram from Pudhiya > Mugam. The song was > classy. Even though there was a woman singing there was no shrieking, which > did wonders to the > song. I usually associated banshees with Tamil film songs fea turing women > singers. This song > managed to sound traditional as well as modern at the same time. And the > woman singing it was > nicely restrained. There was a very strong melody line I think the base > vamp did that as well > as percussion that guided the song. There was a bit of either sitar or > veena in the middle that > I didn’t particularly care for but the song was definitely uplifting. Then > someone recommended > Duet. I immediately gravitated to En Kadalae, the SPB song. It was a > musical jewel. What was > amazing was an extended saxophone solo by Kadri Gopalnath that gave it a > solid depth. I am > partial to the saxophone but a solo in the local idiom was new to me. > > I lost touch with Rahman for a bit till Boys came along. I played it over > and over when I > dropped my daughter off at school in Dhaula Kuan. She enjoyed Boom Boom. > She was five years > old, going to the prep class and she danced in the car and although she > could not get a grip on > the words, she sang along with a rare gusto that made the song sound even > better. I loved it. > It was a terrific song, world class. I heard Alaipayuthey much later and > there was one song I > remember being as smooth as a 25-year-old single malt: Kadhal Sadugudu. I > played Smayiyai (from > Kandukondein Kandukondein) and Nenjum Ellam and Jana Gana Mana (from Ayutha > Ezhuthu) and Kama > Kama (I forget which film) to my north Indian Hindi-speaking friends who > did not know a word in > Tamil (except the ones which I taught them at their specific request and > which cannot be > repeated here) whenever they came over for a drink. Everybody enjoyed the > songs. They were > infectious. One of them remarked that if you played this music in Times > Square you’d have the > entire place jiving, the blacks, the Hispanics, the red necks, the wasps > and everybody else. > Even the Pope would have trouble sitting still if Rahman was playing. > > I’ve been thinking. If I were Rahman would I want to go down in history as > a musician who won > Oscars? Winning an Oscar for music is like giving Hemmingway the Nobel > Prize in the best > handwriting category. Or would I want to go for Grammy? I would want to go > for Grammy. Rahman > is uniquely placed to make a serious bid for it in several categories. Look > what Supernatural > did to Santana. Collaborating with other musicians worked wonders for > Herbie Hancock in The > Joni Letters. Collaboration brings out the best in musicians. If Rahman > chooses his musical > partners carefully I am one hundred per cent sure that he will get more > than one Grammy. > > If you listen to Rahman you know you are listen ing to a contemporary > artist who listens to > other contemporary artists carefully. If Santana can team up with Placido > Domingo (Shaman), > Rahman can team up with Santana. I would like to hear some full blooded > piano runs in Rahman’s > music, not the teasing, mushy, romantic interlude kind of the jingle > variety. Maybe he could > team up with Herbie Hancock for a tune. I would like to hear a Fender > Rhodes solo in a Rahman > tune, not the ten-second kind but the minute. I would like to hear some > smoking saxophone > playing, not Kadri but maybe Courtney Pine. I would like to hear some > seriously elastic voice > in a Rahman tune, not the kind you hear in Secret of Success (Boys) but > more Bobby McFerrin and > less Pink Floyd (Great Gig in the Sky). It would be even better if Rahman > collaborated with > Michael Jackson for a song, a slow, bassoriented one that builds up as from > Jackson’s History > period. I would like to hear a Rahman sufi tune with an electric guitar and > baritone saxophone > and a trumpet with a mute. I would like to hear a duet between Rahman and a > mouth organ player, > not Larry Adler but Toots Thielemans with just an acoustic bass as an > accompaniment. I would > like him to collaborate with an interesting female vocalist like Ledisi and > do a Thelonious > Monk tune in Tamil but with a hardbop backup. What about collaborating with > someone like > Youssou NDour, wouldn’t that be great? How about working with Robben Ford > on a tune? It would > certainly be a whole lot better than the Slumdog stuff that I heard once, > then again patiently, > but can no longer stand it. > >
