Mother's Choice - 5 - OmalaaLE kaNdu njaan

Song : OmalaaLe kaNdu
Movie : sindhooracheppu
Artist : K. J.Yesudas

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman



Was recorded in 2009 but never did feel like releasing it. Just a simple attempt at this lovely song.

Mother's Choice - 4 - VaalkaNNezudhiya

Song : Vaalkannezudhiya
Composer : S.P.Venkatesh
Originally sung by : K. J. Yesudas,
Movie : Paithrukam

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman




When my mother was visiting me last year I had sung quite a few songs at her request but did not find time to even upload since usually I write about it. And somehow a sense of apathy has entered my mind towards covers and I do not see myself doing many covers in the future. Anyway this song was long sitting in my computer and I thought may be I can use this to break the inactivity. Somehow I was not very happy with my singing either and hence the delay. Will let you decide.

Thamasamendhe varuvaan : A snippet from my marriage reception

One of Lalita's favorite songs sung by me for her in our marriage reception. Only a snippet of this is available :(



Full Version

Mother's Choice - 3 - Nakshatra DeepangaL

Song : Nakshatra DeepangaL
Composer : Jaya-Vijaya
Singer : K.J.Yesudas
Movie : Nirakudam

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman


It is sometimes difficult to understand how an artist feels. If you ask Ilaiyaraja or M.S. Vishwanathan, they would swear and say that they would like to be remembered as composers and not as singers. I woudl guess the same with Rehman. These people are amazing creators and they pride themselves in their creations. The sense of producing something new, unique and unprecedented drives them hard towards music.

And then there are people like Sharath who probably want to be remembered as both great singers and composers. I have belabored over Sharath's composing abilities in quite a few articles. However, if people had heard his "bhavayami" from a recent film, they would also understand how great a singer he is. His drive to perform beyond human reason is unmitigated.

But there are some like Jayan-Vijayan - the gifted twin duo who also are pupils of Balamuralikrishna similar to Sharath, who would like to be remembered for their singing only and not their songs. However it is hard not to remember them when a song of Nakshatra DeepangaL's quality comes afore. Its splendiferous tune with a brilliant orchestration delivered by a simmering Yesudas. I have no idea how this is picturized in the movie, but it is one of those songs which KJY sings occasionally in his carnatic concerts as a tribute to this great composer duo. Please find more info on Jayan-Vijayan here :

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/28/stories/2005102801250300.htm

In my school days when I learnt Bharatanatyam at my Mom's insistence, I had danced on this song a couple of times on stage. As I grew, my inherent reluctance to dance grew but the songs that I danced for stayed in mind. Needless to say my mom introduced me to these gems as she was preparing me for those dances. And now recognizing that her daughter is dancing well, she urged me to check if I could produce any worth singing this song.

You may let me know if there is any.

Thanks to Roshni for sending me this track out of her own volition after correctly guessing that I will be interested in it.

Mother's Choice - 2 - SaagarangaLE

Song : SaagarangaLE
Composer : Bombay Ravi
Lyrics : Yousuf Ali Kachery
Singers : K.J.Yesudas
Movie : Panchagni

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman
Mixed by : Meera Manohar


I had written a bit about composer Bombay Ravi in dhool a while back : http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/567.html . He transitioned beautifully from Hindi to Malayalam in the 80s. And this was made possible by the director Hariharan who made some beautiful movies like Panchagni. Although I got to see the movie much later after it was made, I was really moved by the story line and the brilliant performances. And the music - 2 songs - SaagarangaLE and aa raatri maanju pOyi were just absolutely wonderful melodies enshrining the voices of Yesudas and Chitra individually.

This is the second song in the series of the songs that my mom has requested me to sing. Hope you like it. Meera helped mixing this so well. I think it may not be wrong to call her Mixer Meera ( a la Simxer Sidhu) :)

And ya..Sindhu, to your exasperation - another Sudhdha dhanyaasi number :)

Mothers Choice 1: Aandholanam - With Rashmi Nair

Song : Aandholanam
Composer : Bombay Ravi
Lyrics : Yousuf Ali Kachery
Singers : K.J.Yesudas, K.S. Chithra
Movie : Sargam

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman, Rashmi Nair
Mixed by : George Kuruvilla

It was year 2001 I believe. I got a chance to sing in Tyagaraja Utsavam of Charlotte. I sang Samajavara gamana which I managed to learn from a stalwart's recording. The Charlotte community was extremely warm and embraced me in spite of me not having had a formal . They instilled in me a sense of confidence that I could sing bit of classical (and also compose a bit). One among those who became one of my best friends for life was Ramanan Moorthy.

Ramanan and I had similar music interests (not same) and it was easy to strike a conversation with him. He had a modest 2 bedroom flat (which luxury hotels could envy for its cleanliness and organization) and a small Yamaha keyboard with a music system and PC connected to it. We slowly learned basic voice recording using goldwave in the PC and were very happy to try out different things in the jam sessions which would last till 3:30 AM. Of course some nutrition supplements and 'health' drinks would help our singing cause.

Together we sang songs o f countless varieties through out the night. He introduced me to the world of Urdu. Earlier to him, I had heard ghazals but never paused to understand them. And I used to dismiss urdu as sounding bombastic and too high flown. In fact jokingly I remember a friend remarking that Urdu sounds like somebody burped as they talked (In fact he used a more 'southern' adjective). Even then I had only reluctantly agreed to understand urdu. (The real transformation of being able to appreciate urdu and develop a love towards it came a bit later, which I shall elaborate in a later post).

Bottom line is: mallu, hindi, urdu, tamil and bangla songs - formed our discussion. Ajay chakraborty, Lata Mangeshkar, Yesudas, SPB, Jagjit, ghulam Ali, Hariharan and other greats paid a vicarious visit to our mehfil in the form of their songs. But in person, he was visited by his endearing Mom for quite a good length of time and I had the pleasure of listening to her sitar and also vocals. In one of the Jam sessions that ensued, his mom and I sang andholanam dholanam - the song which seems to have been composed to ensure that melody would drip like honey would from an overflowing comb - and it was a memorable experience.

My mom is visiting me here in Melbourne and at her insistence I am singing a series of malayalam songs off which personally this is my biggest favorite (my yahoo id is andholanam). when I decided to sing this, one voice that came to my mind was Rashmi Nair's. Check her rendition out yourself. To me it sounded like a perfect combination of bhavam, swaram, layam, gamakam and sangathi (especially in the aalaap that find its place in the second charanam).

NaadharoopiNi - the swara circus of Ravindran - M.G. Sreekumar - A Tribute on the 4th anniversary

Song : Naadha roopiNi
Composer : Raveendran
Lyrics : Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodhiri
Singer : M.G. Sreekumar
Movie : His Highness Abdullah

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman

It has been quite a while since I tried anything even modestly semi-classical. The last time I sang a semi-classical was in Oct 2005:

1. Vedham Nee
2. Pramadhavanam
3. Sangeethame

But my recent enrollment in Smt. Shobha Shekhar's classes has once again sparked my excitement in the old semi-classicals. And the result of this excitement ? Internet needs to bear with my version of a National award winning song of MGS.

To say Raveendran was a gandharvan would be a severe understatement. Can you imagine an angel without wings but with an unshaven face and with glasses ? If you can that would be Raveendran. This master composer left us with his rich musical legacy four years ago when the South Indian musical fraternity wept. ( Check out dhool's tribute here ).

With all the Idea Star Singer and Super Singer programmes popping up in every possible channel, Raveendran's long lost songs like rajeevam vidarum nin mizigaL are regularly sung since they challenge the singer to the very end. A Raveendran song was always an elaborately prepared feast in a modern setting with traditional techniques. Anybody could enjoy the tasty meal and those who know musical cookery revel in the technique apart from the taste.

This song dragged MGS from relative obscurity to superstardom. MGS has been singing difficult songs for long (e.g. swaminatha paripaalayasumaam and nagumomu in Chitram) but gained unprecedented popularity with this song which won his first national award. His delivery which stuck to the classical roots with his apt warmed up tone won him plaudits.

My humble attempt is two-pronged:

1. Remember Raveendran by singing his songs akin to singing Tyagaraja's songs in Thiruvaiyaaru.

2. To dust my rust and stand-up for better semi-classical / classical performances.

Listeners - please feel free to critique.

Chenthar Mizhi - With Rashmi Nair - A tribute to Sahana

Song : Chentharmizhi
Movie: Perumazakkaalam
Singers : Madhu Balakrishnan, Chithra
Composer : M. Jayachandran

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman, Rashmi Nair


It is rare, in the current trend of predominantly cacophonous songs, to find a gem which emphasizes the beauty of classical ragams. Sahaana is on such ragam and M.Jayachandran is one such great contemporary composer. He may rightly be termed the successor of Raveendran. Deep classical knowledge and high creativity distinguish him from the rest. His songs in the movie perumzakkaalam are wonderful and he has mixed hindustani and carnatic styles throughout the movie. The movie itself was a beauty and the music just elevated it.

When this song came in my mind, I asked Divya if she would be willing to sing it. She told me " Chetta - I have already sung this Murali Ramanathan !" (See here). The most comical thing is that I had commented on her blog about their rendition myself. Such is the state of my great memory. Pradip can tell some other stories about my memory too :) So I thought may be rashmi would be interested and here it is.

When I started listening to the song I was wondering why Madhu had imparted a heavy dose of classicism in the brighas and sangathis. I expressed this to Rashmi and she said : "that is because it is a duet between iyer aathu mami and mama". Then I saw the video and subsequently saw the movie too. Frankly Madhu's voice in this song is like how dew covers the garden smoothly in a beautiful morning - it can hardly be felt by the leaves, flowers and the trees. But it is there in all glory. The rendition is supremely serene and inimitable. I told rashmi - "I dont think I will be able to do a great justice to the song, but I will try". And here it is for you.

Neeraaduvaan - a mallu song from NakakshathangaL

It has been quite sometime since I sang a mallu song. So, when I got the karaoke of Neeraaduvaan from NakakshathangaL, I coudl not resist myself. This simple, but extremely soulful melody of Ravi rendered so romantically by DasEttan ranks as one of the finest examples in melody making. Ravi's trademark is in making a simple but unforgettable soulful melody. He loved the raga mohanam so much that he had the temerity to score three songs in the same ragam in the movie NakakshathangaL one of which won the second National award also for Chitra. He is a true priest of melody.

This song has a long aalaap by KJY which is a little tough to sing. I have tried my level best to do justice to the song. Please let me know how you like it.

Broadband

Download MP3

Dialup

Nakshathra DeepangaL

song: Nakshathra DeepangaL
singer : K. J. yesudas
movie : Nirakudam

performed by: Murali


In the same program that I sang Devasabathalam, I sang a solo of another Malayalam classic – Nakshatra DeepangaL. I think this song was composed by Jay-Vijay and was rendered fabulously by K. J. Yesudas in the movie nirakudam – supposed to have been a comic blockbuster. I am daring to put this video of mine here in spite of the shortcomings I had on stage. I had to play the Keyboard as I sang it and it was really difficult since I was also coordinating the orchestra. Bharathan – the mrudangam player – admonished me saying that I was carrying too much of responsibility on the shoulders and I could falter. He was right. My jaded effort with occasional off-shruthis is being presented here for you to pounce on. Let me know.

Edited to include correct information. Thanks for the comments

Thaamasamendhe varuvaan - An eternal classic

Song: Thaamasamendhe varuvaan
Film : Bhargavi Nilayam
Composer: M. S. Baburaj
Singer: K. J. Yesudas
Performed by : Murali Venkatraman

A timeless song which because of its lyrical elegance and unrivalled compositional beauty, stands out as one of the greatest songs ever to grace Malayalam film songs. The composer Baburaj was a melody weaver (not a maker) of the highest calibre in my humble opinion. His songs like "thaLiritta kinaakkaL than" (S.Janaki) , "praNasakhi njaan verumoru" (KJY) are some which "ariyaadhE..en aathmaavil chiragu kudanjOr azagu" kaL (the beauties which titillate the aathma with a feather without we realizing it). For those who do not understand Malayalam let me write down the meaning of this splendiferous lyrics- you can pretty much sing these lyrics ini the original tune)

Pallavi:
=====

thaamadham Eno varavE
uyirththOZi endhan munnE
thaamadham Eno varavE
anburuvE endhan kaNNil

Charanam 2:
=========

thaLirudal iLagi undhan
thangavaLai kilungiyadhE
poonjOlai kaattil undhan
kaalkolusum kulungiyadhE

paaloLi chandiranil -un
punnagaiyum kaNdu nindrEn
paadhi raa thendralil un
pattudai vilagiyadhE

No wonder Prabha chEchi fell for DasEttan listening to such songs :) I don't think the way I have sung is anywhere near what Dasettan's style...hmm.. This was recorded 2 years back.

Let me know if you folks like it.

Audio Post - Aayiram kaNNumaay - Malayalam

A song which is dear to my heart as much as my mom is. Has a special place in my life. Due to various debilitating reasons, I have not seen my family (mom,dad and kid sis) for 4 years. And this song reminds me of the tender moments that we have had personally. For a family that is strongly knitted by love, this gap is eternity. Hope to see them at the earliest and praying for the same.

Audio post - Pramadhavanam - Karaoke experiment

Any guy with a little singing impetus and some mallu blood is bound to be lured into singing some of the great hits of Yesudas. In the 90s, the song that rocked every malayali's house was "Pramadhavanam". I do not really know if KJY won a national award for this or not. I have heard people say MGS won the award for NaadharoopiNi of the same film. Nevertheless, His Highness Abdullah is a masterpiece of Late Raveendran with breathtaking vocals by all lead singers. My first tryst with HHA's song was in DAV rhapsody 1994 when sambasivam sang "devasabathalam" with Ganesh on mrudangam. Sambasivam was kind of an icon at DAV. He had been attending DAV from his first grade and was a very popular guy due mainly to his singing skills. When I heard this song on stage for the first time, I thought it was nice. I was not very impressed by Sambasivam's rendition though the whole school gave a rapturous applause when he had finished. I never sang in DAV and was known to be a singer only to balagopalan, who till date is one of the closest friends I have ever got.

But later when I heard the original of HHA in the third year of my college, I was stunned by the breathtaking work. Though I have always been familiar with mallu songs from my birth, HHA changed my perspective completely and urged me to start exploring them further. Pramadhavanam became an instant hit in my mind and I started listening to a lot of mallu semi-classicals, influenced primarily by it. After a long self-learning, I decided to attempt singing these songs with or without karaoke and on stage. This version you hear was recorded 2 years back. Let me know what you think. The quality is kept low to minimize file size.

Audio post - Neeraaduvaan aalaap

This song "neeraaduvaan" by KJY is from the movie NakakshathangkaL. The composer of the movie - Bombay Ravi - is a true fan of raga mohanam. He tuned 3 songs in the same raga in that movie. A detailed writeup by me on Bombay Ravi adn thsi particular song can be found here:

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/567.html

A year back when I was listening to this song, I was so inspired that I chose to give a raw try on the aalaap. That is what you hear today.

Audio post - SangeethamE - A try with Karaoke

This was also recorded probably a year back casually with a karaoke track, computer and mic. The song is a semi-classical number from the film "Sargam" originally delivered by K.J.Yesudas