DAMMAM, 2 December 2007 — The Indian community in the Eastern Province had a rare opportunity to witness the percussion maestro Mattannur Sankarankutty performing live to a captivated multinational audience. Though it was a group performance, the show revolved around the genius of Mattannur, as his usual brilliance on the age-old Keralite percussion instrument, the chenda, enthralled the audience.
Attukal Balasubramaniam accompanied Mattannur on violin, Alappuzha Karunamoorthy on tavil, Palakkad Mahesh on mridangam, Lazer Sasi on drums and Jijith on keyboard. The presentation was a fusion of Carnatic, Hindustani and Western classical music coordinated by Soorya Krishanamurthy and organized by the Saudi chapter of Soorya.
The fusion often took the form of a jugal bandi, the maestro leading the young talents to follow him to the rare brilliance of fusion. Madhu Gopinath and Vakkam Sajeev of Samudra Contemporary Dance Academy performed a novel variety of fusion dance.
Soorya patron Dr. Abdullah Al-Saihati opened the musical evening, which also included a traditional dance and music performance by a young and talented Saudi troupe (Danat Saihat) led by Rida Ahmed and Ali Ghaleb. The program slowly blossomed as the night matured, giving the mood of a moon-filled temple maidan somewhere in the green interiors of northern Kerala.
It is said about the renowned father-son duo Ustad Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain that while the father binds storms of percussions on to his tabala, the son unleashes them with magical fingers. The nightly experience was certainly not different.
Violinist Attukal Balasubramaniam set the initial tone with stanzas from popular film songs that immediately attracted even the untrained ears. Incidentally one such song was about the love filled rains and the maestro took it from there. His slow beats like an initial monsoon rain slowly passed the chembada thaalam of pathikaalam.
As his young accompanists followed him with equal brilliance, the crowd was treated to an exotic flow of percussion instruments, poignant with the notes of Attukal’s violin.
A musical storm was unleashed. Maybe the maestro’s mind was filled with the spirit of his magnum opus thaayambaka. The beat was picking up speed, passed the koorukaalam and entered the stormy seas of irikida. Karunamoorthy on tavil was a spectacle himself. His unruly hair making wild waves as he closed his eyes and swung his head to the rhythmic beats. It was ecstasy of the purest kind. Not a soul was left untouched by the mesmerism of the grand percussion orchestra.
Most Indians felt as if they were experiencing one of those monsoon days back home filled with storming beauty of raw chaste rains accompanied with roaring thunderstorms. Though a few felt uneasy about the roaring drums, Lazer Sasi indeed created electrifying thunders to make the ferocious monsoon more realistic. When the show concluded many could not believe that it had filled their ears and kept them on the ninth cloud for almost one and a half hours. The hall reverberated with thunderous applause, truly a standing ovation unusually long and vibrant for any occasion. Chief organizer, chairman of Soorya Saudi chapter Rafeek Younus stood on the stage with a beaming face thanking everyone.
The Saudi musicians impressed and moved the maestro, who later in private conversation indicated his keen interest to perform with them and recalled such an experience with a Moroccan troupe during his weeklong visit to that country. He pointed out many similarities between the rhythmic traditions of Kerala and Saudi Arabia. He said that he anticipated performing along with a Saudi troupe on the same stage and considered it a privilege. He observed that the impact of thaalam is universal. The music created by rhythmic beats from every tradition gives the feeling that basically human race is one and rhythm is the base of all music, appreciated and enjoyed universally, irrespective of languages, culture and style.
“I am looking forward to play along with an Arab percussion band as I firmly believe that barriers could be destroyed through integration of cultures and people of every background could be brought together.”
Asked whether he would come back to Saudi Arabia to perform his celestial ottakkol thaayambaka, the maestro paused for a second and one could see him smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. Maybe he intended to indicate another night of musical splendor in the foreseeable future.
