Chennai: Once known as the hub for Carnatic music and the celebrated Margazhi music festival, Chennai now hosts a variety of musicians ranging from maestros of the classical form to gaana specialists to the upcoming stars of hip hop, fusion and heavy metal.
Music sabhas over the years, have become vehicles for fostering Carnatic music and encouraging the talented. They invariably rev up their activities during the misty Margazhi season, pouring out melodious raagas in the air, opening up an ideal forum for artistes to exhibit their talents, while filling up the coffers of the sabhas.
“Some of the indelible icons of Carnatic music were from Triplicane and devoted their entire life to foster their form of music. G. N. Balasubramanian, polestar of Carnatic music and Mazhavai Suburama Bhagavathar – the great Carnatic musician who taught M. S. Subbulakshmi lived in Triplicane,” says S. L. Narasimhan, Indian heritage and music archivist. The oldest surviving Sabha is the Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, which is 114 years old, he says.
Sabhas, as a concept was born in Chennai, to ensure a public platform for the performing arts. Most of them were started and sustained by rich businessmen in the late 19th century are now being sponsored by corporate houses as part of corporate social responsibility. The Music Academy for instance, holds its annual festival every year. As the demand for Carnatic music performances are on the rise, more sabhas have come into existence, while over the years, some have vanished. One such sabha is the Tondaimandalam Sabha. The Mylai Sangeetha Sabha came up in response to an elite audience in 1919. Seating for the audiences was on the floor with a rope dividing the men from the women. It is said that artistes were welcomed on arrival with a bottle of soda and a packet of a mix that soothed the throat.
The entry of the Music Academy in 1928, following a resolution passed at the All India Music Conference in Chennai, saw a new kind of sabha pioneering the concept of a registered body with by-laws to foster the arts. It also pioneered the December Music Season.
In the midst of the hundreds of sabhas and thousands of ragas and keerthanas, the city has also provided enough space to the emergence of college bands, fusion music and even stand-up comedy over the years. Harsha Iyer, lead singer of the erstwhile band Borrowed Halos says, “We started off as a band in school days and took it seriously post school. The band scene in Chennai is yet to improve and will take another ten years to get on par with other cities. The absence of venues to play, and lack of awareness are the issues but it is improving. “
City-based band Frank got the Funk merged with Rock and Roll with a mix of electronic songs since its commencement in 2009. “The themes of our music keep changing. Initially we played plain rock and released and extended play in 2011. Our now three-member band is doing a fair job with ableton software for the electronic songs,” said Bjourn Surro, guitarist of the band.
Some colleges in the city have their own college bands that perform live at cultural events. The Ethiraj college band, Pitch Clean play a capella (no instruments) with one lead singer and eight others playing tunes, vocally complimenting the song with background music.
“At the night clubs, it is more of electronic dance music and when it comes to bands, soft rock has been the forte, especially with the ones making their songs,” says DJ Manish Raj who plays at popular night clubs in the city.
Of late, stand up comedy is also taking root in the city with most clubs and social gatherings preferring a mix of music and humour.
Bhargav Ramakrishnan, director of Evam standup Tamaasha says, “Stand up comedy is in its nascent stages in the city as compared to Mumbai and Bengaluru. For now there are nearly 20 stand-up comedians in the city with performances once in two weeks. The Chennai audience is supportive and stand-up comedy is catching up.”
