Music Technology & Sports Junction

PALANI SUBRAMANIAM PILLAI (1908–1962) was a well known Carnatic music percussionist. He was adept in playing the mridangam and kanjira. He was the sishya (disciple) of the celebrated Palani Muthaiah Pillai (his father).

Subramaniam Pillai was born on April 20, 1908. He was born to his mother, Unnamulai Ammal, and his father, Muthaiah Pillai who was also a mridangist. He learned mridangam under the tutelage of his father and also had the friendship of ‘Thavil Panchami’ Malikkottai Panchapakesa Pillai. He was also influenced by a renowned mridangist at the time, Dakshinamurthy Pillai. Pillai in return showered great love and affection on young Palani, whom he looked upon as his own son. Before he turned twenty, Palani had the good fortune to accompany stalwarts like Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Mudicondon Venkatarama Iyer. In the next decade others who preferred his accompaniment were Chittoor Subramanya Pillai and importantly Alathur Brothers whose Guru (father of Alathur Subbier), Alathur Venkatesa Iyer was a great admirer of Palani. It was because of Palani that the brothers shifted base from Trichy to Madras and they made a great team. Palani is credited with composing a larger number of major pallavis for the brothers including their tempo and nadai variations. Later the team broke up (due to personal misunderstandings) much to the grief of a large number of listeners and especially Venkatesa Iyer. Iyer managed to effect a reconciliation after a decade of extensive effort and Palani did team up with the brothers but the old camaraderie was gone.

As Palani's playing in the early part of his career was robust and laya-oriented with extensive calculations, many vocalists of the time did not feel comfortable with him except for the few mentioned earlier. It was one of the most popular among the doyens of yesteryears, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar (earlier responsible in advancing the careers of Mysore T.Chowdiah andPalghat Mani Iyer) who took to promoting Palani. There were numerous concerts in which he gave Palani opportunities to play three of four "Thanis" or solos in a concert. It is said that in a concert in Shanmukhananda Sabha in Bombay he asked Palani to play in each of the five nadais, Chatusram, Tisram, Misram, Kandam and Sankeernam. It was he who also persuaded Palani to tone down on the laya intricacies and increased the "sowkya" or aesthetic content in his playing. Palani, probably with considerable regret in having to shed his specialization and scholarship abided by his mentor's suggestion, not only because of the practicality but also because of his great respect for Chembai who was his elder by several years. Bhavagathar's advice stood Palani in good stead.

Eminently popular vidwans G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer clamored to have him accompany him in their concerts. Of course senior vidwans of that era like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Chembai and Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu ( Violin Solo ) had him as accompanist in many concerts. In turn Palani encouraged a number of younger vocal and instrumental artists including Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Ramnad Krishnan, M. D. Ramanathan, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Tiruvarur Namasivayam, Thanjavur Thyagarajan, Lalgudi Jayaraman and Palghat R. Raghu. While playing for younger artists he was never condescending but was always supportive and never tried to show off or intimidate. In fact although he possessed talents of gigantic proportions, he never indulged in exhibitionism and his only aim was to enhance the total appeal of the concert. Madurai Mani Iyer used to call him "THYAGI"- one who would efface himself so that the overall effect was sparkling rather focus on himself.

While Palani would highlight the different parts of the song such as "Eduppus" of Pallavi, Anupallavi, and Charanam with sufficient emphasis, he would rather follow the mood and trend of the song rather play the "Prayogas" of the songs themselves. This mode of playing gave a wholesomeness to the song renderings rather than the "Starts and stops" that would otherwise have arisen. His Sarvalaghu was the spontaneous flow of "Nadais", "Sollus", and "Sollukkatus" rather than any patternised formats. The Sarvalaghu used to be "Amorphous" rather than "Crystalline". Occasionally when certain arithmetic combinations arose, they too were spontaneous and blended seamlessly into the scheme of things. He specialized in "Vallinam" and "Mellinam" strokes in even the smallest passages. In layman's language these are Hard and Soft Strokes. His playing gave the effect of his indulging in a musical conversation with the main artist throughout the tenure of the concert. In his Solo interludes-"Thani Avarthanams"- he displayed both intellectual and aesthetic aspects in equal measure which pleased all sections of the audience but he never played to the gallery. The vocalist had to remain very alert during the "Thanis" to ensure that he did not miss out on the "Thala"; such were the complex patterns he played! When Palani was present in a gathering there was no levity or frivolousness exhibited. According to Vidwans who shared the platform with him in concerts both his demeanor and playing was the epitome of "Gauravam" (Dignity).

His lifestyle in the 40's and 50's was the envy of other musicians. Always dressed in white muslin shirts and snow white Khadi Dhoti - carefully and painstakingly groomed - he was among the handsomest among musicians (others being GNB and Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai ). Unlike many other musicians, he lived in a spacious Bungalow and owned the latest model in cars (he changed them every two years ). He himself drove the car and did not allow anyone else to drive his car.

Palani's partner in life was Rajammal (who along with her sister constituted a popular singing duo called 'Kolar Sisters' in her younger days). The pair had a daughter named Vimala. She married Srinivasan and they had five daughters named Banu, Malathi, Meera, Geetha and Vasanthi. They were brought up by Rajammal after the death of Srinivasan.

At any given time at least three to four students resided in Palani's house undergoing Gurukula system; with passage of time there were day-scholars also. Among the earliest disciple of Palani were T.Ranganathan (brother of T.Balasarswathi) along with Ramanathapuram M.N.Kandaswami, Poovalur Venkataraman, Dandamudi Rammohan Rao, Pallathur C.T.Lakshmanan, Udumalai T.Mayilswamy among others. Perhaps the most famous of his disciples is Trichy Sankaran who lives in Toronto, Canada and teaches in York University as a Professor in the Music Department. Palani took him under his wings when he was a child; Even at the tender of twelve Palani enabled him to play with him (double mridangam) in concerts of Ariyakudi, GNB, Madurai Mani Iyer and others. Among his later disciples were Erode Gururajan, Madirimangalam Swaminathan, K.S.Kalidas, Cuddapah Krishnamoorthy, A.V.Ragguprasad, T.V.Gurumoorthy and many others. In turn, his disciples have trained many others and the Palani School is now well represented in India and abroad.

The founder of the 'Pudukkottai School of Percussion', Mamundia Pillai introduced Kanjira as an instrument in concerts; His disciples Dakshinamoorthy Pillai and Muthiah Pillai could play a large number of instruments like Mridangam, Kanjira, Thavil, and Ghatam. In their steps, Palani was also a GREAT Kanjira vidwan besides being a master of Mridangam. He has played with vidwans like Palghat Mani Iyer and Ramanathapuram C.S.Murugabhoopathy. His Khanjira performances were fewer(compared to Mridangam) and listeners thronged to these concerts whenever they occurred. Compared to the double headed Mridangam with its rich tonal quality, the single headed Kanjira with its limited tonal quality is more difficult to handle but Palani equaled or even excelled in duets with the best mridangists. Some of Palani's disciples have emerged as vidwans proficient with both instruments ( among them M.N.Kandaswamy and Palattur Lakshmanan).

At the behest of his father Palani erected a shrine on the Samathi of Mamundia Pillai at Pudukkottai in 1945. Till he died in 1962, Palani performed Gurupooja each year at this Samadhi on Mamundia Pillai's death anniversary. This is the day preceding the Aradhana of Saint Thyagaraja (which falls on Bagulapanchami day). After Palani's death his disciples took this over and also initiated the Gurupooja for Palani across different places in Tamil Nadu (M.N.Kandaswamy in Chennai, Udumalai T.Mayilswamy in Coimbatore, etc.).

In Kerala Palani ‘s disciples are Mavelikara Krishnan Kutty Nair and Mavelikara S. R. Raju. Palani always cared his deciples like his own children and had a special care for Krishnankutty Nair. Mavelikara Raju after retirement from All India Radio lives in Trivandrum and teaches many students.

AHMED JAN THIRAKWA KHAN was an Indian tabla player, commonly considered the preeminent soloist among tabla players of the 20th century, and among the most influential percussionists in the history of Indian classical music. He was known for his mastery of the fingering techniques and aesthetic values of various tabla styles, technical virtuosity, formidable stage presence, and soulful musicality. While he had command over the traditional tabla repertoire of various gharanas, he was also distinguished by the way in which he brought together these diverse compositions, his reinterpretation of traditional methods of improvisation, and his own compositions. His solo recitals were of the first to elevate the art of playing tabla solo to an art in its own right in the popular mind. His style of playing influenced many generations of tabla players.

Thirakwa Khan-sahib was born to a family of musicians in 1892 [this year of birth is contested by a number of scholars and students of Hindustani classical music; e.g., Kumarprasad Mukhopadhyay in his "Kudrat Rangibirangi" in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Although his early musical training was in Hindustani vocals and the sarangi, his interest in tabla was aroused when he heard Munir Khan. He became Munir Khan's disciple at the age of 12. For a long time, he played in the court of the Nawabs of Rampur and during this time, came in close contact with the maestroes of Agra, Jaipur, Gwalior and Patiala gharana - both vocalists and instrumentalists. On very few occasions, he rendered Bandishes in his own voice but this was only in the company of extremely close compatriots and admirers.As an accompanist, he was equally loved respected and admired by his peers, elders and juniors all of whom were not from the schools of classical music. One noteworthy artiste in this category of admirers was the great Rabindrasangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra (1924–2011).

The name Thirakwa is not actually his original name, but was an epithet he earned from his guru's father. One day, while watching him practise, his guru's father remarked that he played so well his fingers seemed to be "shimmering" on the tabla. This earned him the nickname thirakwa (shimmering). It is also rumored that his tone was similar to the thunderous cracking sound of lightning. A great lightning is sometimes described as "thirakwa". In popular jargon, Ahmad Jaan Thirakwa is termed as the "Mount Everest of Tabliyas". He performed at regular intervals in almost all the music conferences in various parts of the country and gained popularity as well as admiration. A connoisseur of biryani and kababs, Ahmad Jaan was famous for his interpretation of the wide-ranging patterns of the beat-cycles which he liberally taught to his disciples.A few number of his live recordings are now available in audio-visual form that include excerpts from his different programmes over the years and which also provide glimpses of his mastery over percussion.

Thirakwa was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1954 and the Padma Bhushan in 1970.

Nayan Ghosh was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra to the legendary Tabla Maestro Padmabhushan Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, the founder of Sangeet Mahabharati. His father was also an accomplished vocalist and sitar player.

He was trained by his father in both sitar and tabla, and practiced under the watchful eye of Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa, who lived with them for many years towards the end of his life in Mumbai. Nayan Ghosh began giving solo performances at the age of 4, and was touring the world with his father by the age of 18.

After he became comfortable with both the sitar and the tabla, he invited his father's first guru, Pt. Jnana Prokash Ghosh to help him decide which instrument to continue with. After two weeks of listening to Nayan Ghosh play both instruments, the conclusion was that he should continue with both until the choice became easier. However till today, in spite of repeating this exercise twice more, the choice hasn't become any easier. Pt. Nayan Ghosh has been an A grade artist on All India Radio in both the sitar and tabla categories for over 25 years, and has performed with nearly every major Indian Classical Musician. Over the years he has performed, lectured and taught extensively across the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent and in capital cities of Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.

 Nayan Ghosh is one of the best performers of the traditional tabla repertoire of the Farrukhabad style.

He has accompanied many of the all-time greats, such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta.

Presently he is also working as guest music professor in Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, where he teaches tabla, sitar and vocal music.

V. SELVAGANESH is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition and one of the leading kanjira (south Indian frame drum) player of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh."

Born in Chennai to Grammy-winning musician Vikku Vinayakram, a former member of the original Shakti, he is the grandson of T. R. Harihara Sarma, who founded the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya (Sri JGTV school) in Chennai.

Selvaganesh gained world fame through tours with John McLaughlin's group, Remember Shakti. He helps his father, Grammy-winner T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram, to run the Sri JGTV school and train a new generation of Carnatic percussionists. He has also composed and produced albums and played with the Swedish bass player Jonas Hellborg and American guitar virtuoso Shawn Lane.

His debut international solo album, Soukha, was released in 2006 featuring all other regular members of Remember Shakti including John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, U. Srinivas and Shankar Mahadevan, as well as sitar player Niladri Kumar and Selvaganesh's father T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram. He has also formed a new group called dr JSM, with the UK-based Goan songwriter/producer dr.Joel and the young Carnatic singer Mahesh.^[Their Indo-Celtic album entitled Turn on the dreams was released in the UK in 2005.

In 2012, Selvaganesh made his film directorial debut with Bodhai, a short film in Tamil. He also composed the four-track soundtrack which was released in digital format by Saregama.

V. Selvaganesh made his debut composing for films with the Tamil movie Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (2008).

He next scored the music for the Tamil film Kola Kolaya Mundhirika (2009) where he had composed a diverse album containing a Punjabi-style Bhangra song sung by his favorite singer Shankar Mahadevan, a south Indian folk song, a hip-hop number, and an romantic ballad that brings together singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and K. S. Chithra after a very long time. The theme track of the film brought together Swedish guitarists Mattias Eklundh on his signature electric guitar and Jonas Hellborg on the bass respectively, Ranjit Barot on the drums, and Selvaganesh's father Vikku Vinayakram on the Ghatam. It marks the first time that so many world-renowned musicians have collaborated in the history of Tamil film music.

ANURADHA PAL is a world-renowned, multifaceted Tabla virtuoso, multi-percussionist and Music composer who has been hailed as the first professional female Tabla player in the world by Encyclopedia Britannica, Who’s Who Journal of the World and the Limca Book of Records.

A disciple of Tabla legends Late Ustad Alla Rakha & Zakir Hussain, Anuradha Pal is the youngest and only female Indian Musician to have performed at the prestigious Woodstock Festival in 2008; where she performed with her acclaimed World Music band Recharge, for an audience of 4 lakh people.

Anuradha Pal has performed extensively at some of the most prestigious Music Festivals in the World, like Woodstock, WOMAD, Voices of the World, Night of the Virtuosos, Rhythm Sticks Festival and Masters of Indian Music Festival; amongst numerous others in USA, UK, Europe, Japan, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Far East.

She became the first and the youngest woman Indian Musician to have performed at the WOMAD Festival in 1999, where she presented her band Stree Shakti - Asia’s first and much acclaimed all-female, percussion based Vocal- instrumental ensemble, for 1.5 lakh fans.

She has performed sensational Tabla Solos and astutely accompanied some of the best musicians of India like Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Smt. Girija Devi, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt; younger musicians like Rahul Sharma, Niladri Kumar, Rakesh Chaurasia, as well as, acclaimed Jazz, Latin & African musicians in major Indian & International festivals.

She has also performed with renowned International musicians. Recently, she performed at the Global Fusion Concert in Dubai with the Classical Crossover String Quartet Bond, Jazz DrummerSherrie Maricle, Saxophonist Sharel Cassity, Flamenco Dancer Concepcion Jareno & Guitarist Antonia Jimenez; and Ney artist Burcu Karadag.

Anuradha Pal composed the background score for M.F. Husain’s film; Gaja Gamini; which was highly appreciated at the Cannes Film Festival for its originality & evocativeness. She has also composed music for short films, documentaries, theatre & other commissioned work & events.

Anuradha was invited as an artist in residence, at the New England Conservatory & Berkeley School of Music She contributed actively in the research of the “Relationship between Brain, Music & Language” at Neurosciences University, San Diego & the ‘Study of Tabla, Aesthetics & Complexities’ at the Harvard Science Center (USA).

VIJAY GHATE (born October 18, 1964) is an Indian tabla player.

Ghate was born in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. He started learning his art at an early age of three in Jabalpur. He then moved to Mumbai, and learned for over twelve years under Suresh Talwalkar.

Ghate accompanied Indian classical musicians, including Hariprasad Chaurasia, Vilayat Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Shivkumar Sharma, Amjad Ali Khan,Birju Maharaj, Shahid Parvez, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

Ghate also collaborated with jazz guitarist, Larry Coryell and saxophonist, George Brooks.

He was married to Bavi Begum, and had three sons, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi, a daughter Khurshid Aulia née Qureshi, and nine grandchildren. Alla Rakha had another daughter, Razia, whose death preceded his by less than 24 hours. He also married to a lady belonging to Faisalabad, Pakistan. It was a love marriage. Rohi Bano, a popular TV actress in 1980s, was his daughter from this wedlock. She is still alive. His another brother Sabir practised tabla in Lahore.He studied voice and Raag Vidya under Ashiq Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana. His regimen of practice and dedication were legendary: hours upon hours of hard, disciplined practice, that would later pay off.Alla Rakha was born in Paghwal, Jammu, British India. His mother tongue was Dogri. He became fascinated with the sound and rhythm of the tabla at the age of 12, while staying with his uncle in Gurdaspur. After partition of India, his family migrated to Pakistan (village Rambari, Tehsil Shakargarh, district Sialkot). Finding little chances for grooming and appreciation, the determined young lad ran away from home, became a disciple of and began studying tabla with Mian Kader Baksh of the Punjab gharana.