VISAKHAPATNAM:What happens when the world’s most recognised wind musicians get together and jam with the best drummer? It is a spell-binding musical confluence that holds the audience in a tuneful trance. The World Wind Festival, first of its kind musical programme, had such a mesmerising effect on Vizag’s music lovers on Saturday evening at AU Engineering Grounds. Introduced in the city by noted flautist Naveen Kumar, the grand musical amalgamation brought out diametrically different and distinguishing styles of wind instruments and was enthralling. A peek into each performer’s individual streams left listeners spellbound. Renowned flautist Ronu Majumdar, Grammy nominated exponent of the flute Shashank Subramanyam, Raj and Kishore Sodha, Tom Thomas and his band blended their artistic musical outflow with ace drummer Sivamani, Lavanya and Naveen Kumar along with guitarist Mohini Dey.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was the chief guest of the programme, said Visakhapatnam should be the epicentre of varied musical traditions and hold similar musical programmes over the weekends. “Music is the only to de-stress and rejuvenate in today’s fast paced lifestyle. Such programmes must be held in the city regularly,” he said. Flautist Naveen Kumar said, “Just like how the royal families would nurture musical talents in the olden era, today Mr. Chandrababu Naidu is taking similar efforts to support artists and our rich musical traditions.”
Clad in a green Kanjeevaram sari, S. Lavanya – one of the saxophone sisters – kick-started the evening through an unhurried brilliance of music. The musical tempo reached a zenith with drummer Sivamani’s catchy energy that soon broke into an awe-inspiring jugalbandi with Naveen Kumar. Weaving contrasting threads in a supple fabric of music, flautist Ronu Majumdar presented a meditative musical break with a soulful rendition of Hindustani classical music.
The musical medley presented by Naveen Kumar of A.R. Rahman’s composition from films like ‘Roja’, ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Sathiya’ left the audience craving for more. Narrating his journey from Vizag to Chennai, naveen Kumar – who has played in some of the most immortal compositions of Rahman, Illayaraja, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and Pritam among several others - recollected his memories of the city. A Dhimsa dance performance was one of the highlights of the evening. Towards the end in an impromptu jamming session, the musicians followed each other on stage, improvising to suit each other’s style, yet, not letting their individualistic style get lost in the blend. As the musicians traversed through intricate patterns to attain a crescendo, the auditorium thundered with undying applause.
