Raag experimental !. Review on Morning Raga Songs

Purists always exclaim ?Divine is the originality of the soul of music, and tarnishing it .. results in an avoidable obnoxious concoction !?.

Carnatic music is truly divine as most of the songs are religion based and it also ushers in an aura of spirituality when played. Fusing traditional Carnatic songs always invites wrath akin to Blasphemy !!!

Saying these words I saunter into the review of ?Morning Raga?, a movie falling into the Art genre by Mahesh Dattani. The movie relays the story of 3 people entwined together through the memories of one accident and the coaxing of a once brilliant carnatic singer to gel into modern music.

The music is by Mani Sharma and Amit Heri , the story demands fusion and so it is ? The music here is a mix of vocals and instrumentals which are pretty situational (as it seems like). There are original carnatic compositions sung by renowned traditional singers which have a background of western beat and a gentle entwining of western influences to it.

The result is ? pretty magical one must say ?but would appeal to the broad minded music lover and the youth of today who relishes traditional music as well .. and it would be ignored by purists !. The music retains the carnatic flavor , never rushing up the songs which make the extended brighas ?sound more beautiful !

The CD is reasonably priced at Rs 125 and comes with a simple booklet with the details of the songs .. no explicit advertising here ? we now move on to the songs ?

Mahaganapatim comes with two versions , the traditional (???) one and the Mahaganapatim jam. The normal version is sung wonderful by Bombay Jayashree ( the singer of Zara Zara for the non-carnatic enthusiast ). The song starts with a chanting of ?mahaganapatim? with a gentle beat overseeing the brilliance of the singer, chords tease her voice as she moves into the song ? suddenly the rhythm is broken by shouts of ?Ganapati Bappa morya (?)?. Never is the originality of the composition played around with. The second version is more peppier and is interlaced with more brighas and swaras by the singer ..

Thaye Yashoda is a composition which is brilliance personified, creativity at its best ..Sudha Raghunathan proves why she is the best in business ?commencing with the brighas , then the violin interlude, followed with the recital of the song, then broken into a fusion by English verses (sung well by Gayathri ) swaying into a tenor ..and ..oh what a composition .. hearing is believing they say, and this song has to be heard to be believed.

Mathey sung by Sudha Raghunathan retains the original flavor with bits of voices and laughter thrown ..possibly to indicate festivities of some kind in the movie.

Jagado dharana is sung by Bombay Jayashree and Nandini Sirkar, this song experiments with bits of the song sung in Hindustani style, followed by Carnatic style , indicating some sort of a Jugalbandi. Samaja Varagamanais only a bit sung brilliantly by Gayatri , this song moves into another song ?Marugelara? and wanders back into the original composition. Flute pieces add magic into the composition. Pibare Ramarasamis sung by another Carnatic singer ? Kalyani Menon . What is striking about this singer is that her voice is innocent . almost childlike at times and turns mature at times. This song restrains itself with a kind of pathos similar to a tearfilled eyes waiting to pour itself down. Chords stay in the background rendering assistance to the singer.

There instrumental bits laced with minimal vocals in the album like Todi alaap , Remembering his Violin, City Interlude ? Jazz, Alaap Jam, Coffee Shop Montage , Charminar and The Chasewhich add in the flavor indicating definitive situations.

So whats the verdict , one may ask ?definitely worth its price .. I would say , as a lover of Fusion music and a person who reveres Carnatic music I define it as an interesting combination of sounds and a creative fusion of two worlds ? A collectors item it is and it should sure be a part of those dim lit evenings when you are at peace with the world and want some music to soothe your soul.