By: Joe Lang
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Nirmala Rajasekar - Photo by Ilya Ratner
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Upon my arrival back in the states from the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, I got a phone call from my friend and konnakol (South Indian vocal percussion) instructor Srini.
“Hey Joe, I got a concert tomorrow night,” he began.
“With Dean Magraw, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought the mysterious ‘Srini’ on the promotions was probably you. I already got tickets, man. Dean’s a great player. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
So I arrived at just about show time (never show up late to shows at the Cedar) and the doors were just shutting. After an introduction the band took the stage. Anyone who’s read my other articles knows that I’ve caught almost every other Magraw lineup since I began writing, but this one was a little different. I know Magraw is capable in almost any musical setting, but I didn’t really think Magraw knew ragas from the Hindustani and Carnatic schools of North and South India; only a handful of players I’ve ever heard have convincingly pulled off Indian music on guitar. I caught Nirmala Rajasekar with Srini a little earlier this winter and I knew that they could play traditional Carnatic music quite well, and I’d heard Marcus Wise on a number of Steve Tibbets albums. So going in, I thought it was going to be Indian music, with special guest Dean Magraw.
Well, yes and no. After the band warmed up to a Hindustani piece by Rajasekar, it was evident that Magraw wasn’t playing in a raga style, but rather adapting western modalities to the music. The thing about Magraw is that he is capable of sitting in with most players, and adapting rather than assimilating to the session—which means that Magraw can fit in with almost anyone, but it’s always unmistakably Dean.
Then I got a curve ball: Robert Bly was announced to join the foursome. Robert Bly? Why’s that name sound familiar? Oh yeah, last year I read Iron John, his treatise on male identity in a post-new age society. Enjoyable, I guess, but I didn’t really understand a damn word of it. After the show I asked someone about it and she told me that can be par for the course with Bly. Fair enough.
Throughout the first set, the band jammed as Bly read poems from and about ancient Indian and Arabic poets. After a tune or two, Bly remarked, “You've got this beautiful music and I ruin it with my voice.” I didn’t understand a lot of the poetry, but it was amusing as Bly ranted about this or that, or took a shot (or eight) at the current administration or some other strange reference. The audience ate it up and Bly was given an encore to come back up and read even more.
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| Dean Magraw and Marcus Wise - Photo by Ilya Ratner (click for set) |
For the second set, the band returned without Bly and played a song called “Celestial,” one of the show's highlights and a floating major melodic exploration, and then “Sruti Shuffle,” a rock-ish western minor piece. Both pieces were more accessible to a western audience and masked the stylistic differences of the players.
Then came the percussion solos. Magraw played a simple little minor riff and Wise and Srini went back and forth taking solos. I really didn’t know what to expect here. Wise has obviously been playing for a long time, but I’d never heard Srini outside of traditional music where he didn’t have much of a chance to bend the rules.
Wise started his solo storming right out of the gate, playing pedal to the metal. Immediately I was disappointed, as I expected some dynamic build. Srini started out nice and slow and slowly accelerated. Ahh, much better. Then it was back on Wise, blaring again, only slightly less; and back on Srini, with more building. Finally, Marcus began to switch it up by the third solo and his playing got more interesting. As each played, Magraw was laughing with joy, and there were times during Srini’s solos where he was so engrossed by the playing that he let the melody drop.
As the solos wore on, I couldn’t help but notice Wise eyeing Srini, studying his hands moving on the ghatam. Srini, on the other hand, also watched, but more like a coach studies a player on his team. As the two began exchanging solos, Srini put his foot on the gas, and while his hands began to fly about his ghatam, his facial expression never varied from relaxed concentration. Wise, as he followed, became more and more intense until the final crescendo hit with Marcus grimacing as he followed Srini. When the dust cleared, Srini took a small bow with a relaxed, Zen-like smile, and Wise looked a little flustered. Who knows, my impression could be wrong, as I was sitting near Srini and couldn’t hear Wise in the mix as the intensity rose, but I was extremely impressed by what I’d seen/heard Srini play. It was truly world class.
Bly returned to the stage one more time and the band called it a night without an encore. Bly and the players already said what the came to say and that was enough. My recommendations: check out Rajasekar whenever you get the chance, Dean at the AQ in April in support of his new album Unseen Rain, and Wise whenever he comes out to play. As for Srini, I’m waiting for him to call me back right now. Hopefully we can do our next lesson sometime after 11 a.m. this time.
Location Info:
Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: Dean Magraw, Marcus Wise, Nirmala Rajasekar, Robert Bly, Srini
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