The world on a string

Renowned musician-couple Jayanthi and Kumaresh tell us how the pandemic helped them rediscover themselves and create new sounds.

A much-admired couple of Carnatic music, Jayanthi and Kumaresh spell wholesome partnership. Indeed, when two maestros come together in personal and professional spheres, they create rich music and evoke respect for how they complement each other.

R Kumaresh is an acclaimed violinist and Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh, an outstanding vainika. Both hail from families steeped in music. Jayanthi is a sixth-generation Carnatic musician and also, niece of legend Lalgudi Jayaraman. Her music gurus were mother Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, aunt Padmavathy Ananthagopalan and virtuoso S Balachander whom she also accompanied. Kumaresh, of the famous violin duo Ganesh-Kumaresh (brothers), was a child prodigy trained by his violinist-father.

Jayanthi feels she didn’t choose the Saraswathi veena but was chosen by it “since it’s the instrument which chooses its practitioners”. She was initiated at age three. It must have been difficult to negotiate the instrument at this age, stretching one hand under and then over the bridge while reaching the thaalam strings with the other?! How did she manage? “As a child, I had a big veena. I literally had to move from one end of the veena to the other. It was a difficult combination, size wise. It was funny and people would laugh when I traversed between the Ri note in the lower octave (first fret on the left of the fretboard) and upper-octave Ri (far right of the fretboard). It used to be a big journey for me! Then my aunt procured a small-size veena for me!”

Kumaresh’s concert photos from his younger days, reveal how his violin was much bigger than him. He began performing at five!

Both have performed solo onstage, for recorded programmes and albums; besides collaborating with famous musicians of different genres in India and abroad. So how many performances altogether? Kumaresh replies: “I completed 100 concerts by 1978 and have been performing for about 50 years now and Jayanthi for about 40 years. We leave the math to the reader!! After a point, it’s not the number of concerts, but the depth to which we connect with the music that matters. Keeping count of the number of concerts played is like checking how many days we have lived. Music and performance are integral to our living.”

Dr Jayanthi doesn’t agree with the opinion in some sections that the veena’s popularity is waning. “When you meet a veena maker/technician, they always talk of instruments being out of stock due to high demand and pending work due to orders’ backlog. The veena is a widely-learnt instrument. This misconception is perhaps because over a period of time, veena-learners probably get busy with family lives/professions or find the veena too cumbersome to transport.”

She adds: “My guru used to say, ‘the veena is a divine instrument but you have to practise it like an asura (demon)!’ To attain a certain level of proficiency may be easy but excellence needs a huge leap attainable by very hard work. There are many excellent younger generation players. Hence, veena’s future is secure.”

This brilliant artiste has herself done much to promote it: Cup O’ Carnatic initiative, seminars, workshops, talks and concerts, not to mention the Jayanthi Kumaresh Academy of Veena where masterclasses reach hundreds of students worldwide.

A violin-veena combo

Kumaresh and Jayanthi also perform as part of a duo called Strings Attached (SA). Evidently, they are both instrumentalists and also trained in the same music genre, but what are the challenges in a concert combining violin and veena? The couple reply: “Veena and violin are very different in shape, structure and sound. Violin is a fretless, bowed instrument and veena a fretted, plucked instrument. So the sound produced in violin has much continuity and long notes; while veena being a fretted and plucking instrument, produces short sounds and also the notes can be pulled to create a very deep, dynamic sound. Thus, a beautiful combination to explore. Hence, in an SA concert/production, we combine the best sound of both instruments and compose unique melodies designed to evoke their finest sounds. Also, though we speak the same language, i.e. Carnatic music, our approach is diametrically and dynamically different.”

Kumaresh gives more insights: “Having never practised with any other musician other than my brother or done a freeform jam with any other melodic instrument, the first time Jayanthi and I sat at home and practised, the new soundcape — the twang of veena and the bow of the violin — stayed with us, motivating us to do something more meaningful and unique. That was the trigger for SA, an exclusive production since 2003. We have presented this in Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, UK, etc.” Their latest effort is ‘Run with SA’.

Opportunity in difficulty

The pandemic has impacted artistes worldwide, many adversely. However, this couple found opportunity in difficulty.

“The pandemic made us rediscover ourselves and made us more productive. Our past schedule was very busy with travel/concerts so there wasn’t this kind of time to sit and introspect. Now, we found time to pause and think of different possibilities.”

During this time, Kumaresh came up with his successful Bowing with Fiddling Monk portal that offers online lessons for students globally.

He released a single track, Begada, and composed several ragapravahams and thalapravahams too.

Jayanthi has been enjoying creating the Cup O’ Carnatic Fun Series, Kids Series and 50-episode GuessTheRagam Series as well as teaching at their academy.

They describe their just-launched album, ‘Run with SA’ as “a serendipitous one because at other times our schedules offered little time at home together. As we went for morning walks, we observed walkers listening to music to help set a rhythm to their steps. We thought, why not come up with music useful for workouts and runs? It’s not a genre we play on a daily basis, so it was a wonderful challenge to ideate, create and compose — our time to explore, experiment, re-invent.”

How long was the process? “It was a 90-day journey from concept to launch. Once the idea took shape in our heads, it took three weeks to compose and ready it for recording.”

The research sample covered those who workout regularly. It included people who listen to classical music and also diverse music genres. “All five tracks are original compositions targeted to this specific goal and are progressively laid out in terms of tempo so one can warm up, keep the pace, reach the peak and then cool down. We planned the raagams and thaalams accordingly — keeping the thaalams in even beats to match the goal so the music doesn’t impede, but actually inspires and motivates the listeners to give their best. You can even use it during a drive or for a pleasurable listening experience.”

Their rigorous training in Indian music’s shruti-laya concepts was complemented by their collaborations with Western musicians, which provided them insights into creating music with frequencies and chords progressions.

“We have incorporated threads from those experiences into the fabric of ‘Run with SA’ to enhance it.” The album thus aims to appeal to those with global music sensibilities while preserving chaste Carnatic concepts and flavours.