B Shree Sundarkumar, aka The KanjiraMan, is acknowledged as a wizard on the kanjira by artistes young and old, prolific and niche, Carnatic and other genres. An “artiste of eminence” says Sangita Kalanidhi Umayalpuram K Sivaraman. “Incomparable,” says kanjira artiste BS Purushotham. “Rare calibre,” says vocalist Abhishek Raghuram, who himself…
“As an excellent vocalist himself, he knows to emote according to the raga and to highlight the kriti, neraval and swaram uniquely too,” say senior musician RK Shriramkumar and senior ghatam artiste N Guruprasad. Sangita Kalanidhi designate Dr. S Sowmya adds, “As a result, he does not look at percussion…
Anirudh Athreya, kanjira exponent, elicits copious appreciative comment from fellow artistes. Senior mridangam vidwan K. Arunprakash says, “He is a genuine team player, knowing how to enhance each of the other artistes on stage.” Vocalist and violinist Amritha Murali notes, “His sense of aesthetics, care and sensitivity towards his own…
It is his pleasant countenance that first draws attention but once you settle down, his playing of the mridangam keeps you absorbed. Vijay grew up in Mumbai, the son of Geetha, a vainika, and N. Balasubramanian, a Chartered Accountant and bhajan singer. Vijay’s father, an ardent admirer of T.V. Gopalakrishnan…