Kala Ramnath – Podcast
“It is not the violin which brings the tone. It is the artiste and his artistry which can make even a violin that does not sound very good sound beautiful.”
– Kala Ramnath
Ms. Kala Ramnath is the feature of this 32nd, and final, episode of the Quarantunes podcast.
Ken Hunt in a review in the Jazz Wise magazine said this of her: “…If Mozart had been transported to the South Asian subcontinent, this is what he and improvised Western classical music might have sounded like. This comparison is not thrown in to befuddle or impress. Kala Ramnath is a musician of giant like qualities…”
Ms. Kala’s chat feels just like a one-on-one chat in her living room – she is personable and expounds on many aspects we might not have known earlier. She tell us about how as a female, she had to prove herself twice over; how, as a South Indian, she took up Hindustani music; her influences; the rigorous work she put in to reach where she is now including the many things she could not do due to the rigour of practice. With her family in the United States now, she has been completely alone in Mumbai since the lockdown began. She says she is touching her violin for the first time in over month when she plays Raag Ahir Bhairav for us in this podcast. Known for the rich sound she elicits from her instrument, she tellingly says that an artiste’s artistry and skill should be such that one can coax good sound out of even an instrument of less than ideal quality.
This podcast is part of the Quarantunes series, featuring Indian Classical Musicians, recorded during the worldwide shutdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Released one by one, the full series is at https://lakshmianand.com
With her paternal uncle and aunt being Sangita Kalanidhi Prof. TN Krishnan and Dr. N Rajam respectively, Ms. Kala was born with hallowed musical provenance. Her grandfather, Sri. Narayana Iyer, recognized her talent and put her through the paces to which she willingly cooperated. She received advanced guidance from Pandit Jasraj at which time she did path breaking work in reflecting the Hindustani vocal techniques on the violin, earning her artistry the sobriquet ‘The Singing Violin’. It is to be noted here that the violin is NOT a common instrument in Hindustani music, making her innovations extraordinary.
With her rigorous training in the Hindustani tradition and familiarity with Carnatic music, she comfortably forges musical alliances with renowned artistes for various genres the world over. She has performed in leading stages and auspices throughout the world and received awards galore including, most recently, the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar.
Ms. Kala’s playing has been featured on the Grammy-nominated Miles from India project, compositions of hers have appeared on the Grammy-winning album In 27 Pieces and the Kronos Quartet’s 50 For The Future. The UK-based Songlines magazine hailed her as one of the 50 world’s best instrumentalists and selected album Kala as one of its 50 best recordings. She was the first Indian violinist ever to be featured in the violin Bible, The Strad. She was the subject of a solo essay in the third edition to The Encyclopedia- Rough Guide to World Music. Her contributions feature in Hollywood soundtracks like the Oscar-nominated movie Blood Diamond and many more.
Mrs.Lakshmi Anand rightly selected Ms.Kala Ramath for the final episode in the podcast series. What is true is, even a less quality instrument can give a great sound at the hands of the musician. I remember Sri.Kunnakkudi R.Vaidyanathan , who broke the tradition of violinists of his period, and found interest in light music equally with traditional Carnatic songs and always played for the masses. Ms. Kala Ramnath though born in the South with T.N.K as his uncle, and Mrs.N.Rajam her Aunt, learnt the basics of Carnatic music, and used it to learn the Hindustani and popularised it in Veena. Her Grand father rightly noticed her Childhood interests in music and made her learn the classical music , which made her a Hindustani Violin player. Pandit Jasraj was instrumental for her reach as a violin player in Hindustani music not heard off before. She is the Sangeet Natak Academy puraskar awardee, and to hear her music has reached Hollywood movies ( oscar nominated films) is life time achievement. Her work has been recognized in the Grammy segment also. Mr.Hunt referring to her music as the improvised Asian version of the Mozad. From her interview, we can infer how badly Covid 19, has placed her alone without the company of close ones’ who are in USA. Ofcourse all the musicians are doing the same thing inside homes like Yoga, meditation, exercising , practicing, viewing Movies, and prepare their own food, as we are confined within the four walls of our homes. She is emotionally upset with the Gender disparity , that made her job tougher and had to prove her talents extra , in her profession. But along with us , Kala will also agree, today, many Indian women occupy coveted positions like CEOs of multinationals and in the Indian administrative service. True, the World will not be the same again after Covid19, and we need to make more sacrifices , and adjustments within families and also in the outside World. Definitely people will live for others and give away luxurious life. For the first time listener like me Hundustani music is slow phased , and sober in nature.
Sorry. Read it as Violin instead of Veena. Thank you.
Sorry. Read it as Violin instead of Veena. Thank you.