Gig review/ Yadnesh Raikar's Strings In Motion

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Yadnesh Raikar/ Strings In Motion

Genre: Fusion

Presented by: Reliance Foundation 

Details; NMACC Studio, April 10

Rating: ****

Interestingly, violinist Yadnesh Raikar began his show at the NMACC Studio with a strong dose of techno. He sat solo on a track called 'Sweet Chili', improvising on an EDM layer. Just when you expected him to continue in a similar soundscape, the band joined him, and out came a jazz-influeced number 'Decaf', with a brilliant drum intro. 

Over the nearly 110 minutes, the Strings In Motion show sprung up a string of surprises. From tunes focused on Hindustani classical to world music and lo-fi, the palette was diverse and eclectic. Tempos changed frequently, and different instruments contributed in varying proportions.

The main band consisted of Rahul Wadhwani on keyboards, Utkarsh Shrivastava on guitar, Avishek Dey on bass, Shravan Samsi on drums and Ganesh Murali Iyer on triple-ghatam and  assorted percussion. There were guest appearances by trumpeter Mika Reani and vocalist Gandhar Deshpande, and in a mega-surprise, by Yadnesh's father, violinist Pt Milind Raikar (In pic with Yadnesh).

Yadnesh introduced his compositions elaborately, explaining how he wrote 'Saudade' during lockdown, how 'Just Love' was created just a week ago with a basic melody and structure in mind and how 'Rasiya' took on a completely née avatar after originally been written for violin, piano and tabla.

This show had no tabla, but 'Rasiya' began with some wonderful Carnatic percussion and konnakol, before a short and melodic Hindustani bandish on violin, which made way for a breathtaking vocal sargam passage and a marvellous guitar solo.

Elsewhere, one heard a Turkish influence on 'Hicaz Dolap', a song by the group Laco Tyfah which gave Yadnesh his first exposure to global fusion while on a visit to the US in 2018. Mika rocked on trumpet on this piece.

While the final piece 'Catharsis' had some intricate violin solos, the penultimate tune was composed by Milind Raikar in the early 1980s but rearranged for this show. Here, Milind played the main parts with Yadnesh on the duet moments. It originally had no name but Yadnesh calls it 'Celebration'. Perhaps an apt title, and though it wasn't planned that way, it was appropriate as it was also the birth anniversary of legendary Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar, who Milind regularly accompanied on stage.

The show produced some scintillating music but yet there was one lacuna - the sound balancing on some songs. One couldn't hear the kanjira or darbouka when the other instruments were playing simultaneously. Even the bass, which sounded just awesome on the second piece 'Decaf', got drowned in some of the later tracks. Normally, the smaller NMACC halls Studio and Cube have flawless sound - this was a rare departure.

Overall, it was a fantastic achievement by Yadnesh and his team. Considering his upbringing and early career has focused on pure classical tradition, his willingness and ability to experiment so seamlessly needs to be commended. We look forward to more shows and an album with some of these tracks, now that the strings have been set in motion.