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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Seven veenas
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Seven veenas

Seven veenas

Exploration: Jayanthi Kumaresh experiments with the veena.Premium

Exploration: Jayanthi Kumaresh experiments with the veena.

What is the genre of music you might expect to hear in an album titled Mysterious Duality? Certainly not the veena, I’ll wager a bet. But that’s exactly what Jayanthi Kumaresh’s new album on the Earthsync catalogue is titled, and if the intriguing title doesn’t succeed in arousing your curiosity, the album description most certainly will. Each of the four tracks on the album feature compositions with multiple tracks played on the veena by the same artiste, Jayanthi Kumaresh. The album notes state that the artiste used seven different veenas for the album, making it primarily a recording project as in no other situation would it have been possible for the artiste to have played all the tracks simultaneously. While one of the tracks is labelled Traditional (India), two are composed by Abhishek Raghuram and one by violinist and composer R. Kumaresh of the acclaimed Ganesh-Kumaresh duo.

Also Read Shubha Mudgal’s previous Lounge columns

Exploration: Jayanthi Kumaresh experiments with the veena.

What I am wondering is whether Kumaresh intends to keep this experiment restricted to a recording project alone. And if not, how would she counter the challenges posed by the project? Would she invite other vainikas, or veena players, to join her on stage, or would she use a combination of recorded tracks over which she would play live? The launch of an album is usually followed by a series of live concerts, and it would be equally interesting to observe how Kumaresh will handle the repertoire she has recorded in a live performance situation. And being a practical sort, I’m also wondering how she is going to deal with the formidable task of travelling with so many veenas? Sadly, I was unable to speak to her in this regard, though I did try and schedule a chat a couple of times.

Earthsync albums are always tastefully designed and produced and Mysterious Duality is no exception. I’m just wondering whether it was at all necessary to insert a rather narcissistic subtitle proclaiming Just me into the album title. And if that subtitle was at all necessary, couldn’t it have been Just Veena? Perhaps, without the subtitle, the mysterious duality would have been heightened subtly.

Write to Shubha at musicmatters@livemint.com

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Published: 16 Dec 2010, 09:44 PM IST
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