20 August 2008
Lakshmi Shankar
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When Lakshmi Shankar gave up dancing with Uday Shankar’s famed dance troupe because of ill health, it was music’s gain as she applied her dancer’s grace to singing.
Born in Jamshedpur, India, in 1926, Lakshmiji studied Carnatic and Hindustani music in her youth, but intended to be a dancer of Bharat Natyam, the classical dance form rooted stylistically and historically in the temples of south India. In Uday Shankar’s troupe, she met and married Uday’s brother, Raju Shankar, who is also Ravi Shankar’s brother (Lakshmi studied music with Ravi). On Lakshmi’s latest CD, Dancing in the Light, the accompaniment is simple but effective - Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla and Pt. Ramesh Mishra on Sarangi as she sings a khyal, two thumris (light classical songs) and two of her beloved devotional songs (bhajans) written by Mirabai, the writer of hundreds of songs to her beloved Lord Krishna in the 16th century.
Playlist
Playlist
1421
Innuendo Out The Other
Philip DeGruy
Degruy-Gruy Music
NYC 6013 2 (US Import)
Philip DeGruy, Innuendo Out The Other
15 seconds (excerpt)
(solo 17-string elec guitar, fingerstyle; v quirky, virtuosic & humorous, more or less a bent-boogie)
1423
CD Cut 2 - 'Thumri: Raga Manj Khamaj
Melodies: Lakshmi Shankar, Lyrics: Trad
Pub Not Spec
World Village 468049 ( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: www.worldvillagemusic.com )
Lakshmi Shankar - 'Divine Inspiration'
16:22
(Lakshmi's voice with Pt. Ramesh Mishra's Sarangi tracking her voice and providing melodic interludes and Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri's Tabla in light classical piece penned by Ravi Shankar and his teacher, Ustad Allauddin Khan. The words say: 'Oh my beloved one, how do I hold myself, without you, I have no peace in the day, no sleep in the night. I cannot bear the pangs of our separation.)
1440
CD Cut 2 - 'Drawn to You'
Liz Stringer
( Presumably) APRA
LSS 002
( In Australia through MGM: www.thegroovemerchants.com
Artist's site: www.lizstringerom )
Liz Stringer - 'Pendulum'
5:52
(Austral Comp And Perf: Gentle love song with acoustic guitars and piano)
LIZ STRINGER ON TOUR ALERT ( VIC/ NT/NSW, QLD, WA )
From mid-August through early October: many and various.
Full details -with live links - are here:
www.myspace.com/lizstringermusician )
Segue
1446
CD Cut 6 - 'Money in the Morning
Anne McCue
Milkman's Daughter Music ASCAP/APRA, admin by Bug Music
AM 006
Anne McCue - 'East of Electric'
Assist fade to 3:49
(Austral comp and perf: All acoustic, with a string trio arranged by Anne and a rock sensibility in this song about those who make their money from war.)
ANNE McCUE AUSTRALIAN TOUR ALERT:
Aug 22 Oakleigh Bowling Club, Drummond St. Oakleigh, Melbourne peterfoley59@hotmail.com ph. 0411 569 180 or (03) 9504 2087 moshtix.com.au 1300 GET TIX (438 849)
24 August Piping Hot, 6/63 The Terrace Ocean Grove VIC 3226. Ph: (03) 5255 1566.
27 August Vanguard, Newtown, Sydney, w/Mark McCue & Sean McCallum
30 August Darwin Festival, Darwin, NT
2 September The Republic, Hobart (03) 6234 6954 299 Elizabeth St North Hobart 7000
1452
CD Cut 5 - 'Motel Blues'
Loudon Wainwright
Pub Not Spec
Yep Roc ( in Australia through Shock. www.shock.com.au
worldwide: www.yeproc.com )
Loudon Wainwright - 'Recovery'
3:20
(Openly desperately horny and lonely plea of an older performer to a younger woman he met at his gig to come up to his motel room - 'I'll write a song for you')
1456
CD Cut 3 - 'Mira Bhajan'
Melodies: Lakshmi Shankar, Lyrics: Trad/Mirabai
Pub Not Spec
World Village 468049 ( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: www.worldvillagemusic.com )
Lakshmi Shankar - 'Divine Inspiration'
Three minute excerpt
(Lakshmi's voice with Pt. Ramesh Mishra's Sarangi tracking her voice and providing melodic interludes and Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri's Tabla in song about Mira's husband, jealous of her devotion to Krishna, giving her poison, which only propels her into ecstasy)
Presenter
Lucky Oceans
Producer
Lucky Oceans
