Karl Peters, Louis Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Sivamani – what do they have in common? “Silk”-en notes and thrilling Jazz brought to an enthralled audience in Chennai last Friday, November 3, 2006.
Silk, an Indo-Jazz fusion band headed by Karl Peters and Louis Banks, played at the Music Academy in aid of Madras Mylapore Round Table #3’s Children's Education Trust project. The event was co-sponsored by Marks & Spencer.
The band was quite star-studded by itself, with Shankar Mahadevan, one of the most charismatic and versatile singers in the country today, as the lead vocalist, Louis Banks on the keyboard, Karl Peters on the electric bass, star percussionist Sivamani and Sridhar Parthasarathy on the mridangam.
The evening was in turns fun, electric, joyous, serene and totally musical. Shankar Mahadevan has probably zero competitors for his range of vocals and perfection even in spontaneity. Sivamani drummed on almost everything in sight – water, wood, metal, etc. – and still managed to make it all sound great. He enthralled the hall with his solo performance.
Sridhar Parthasarathy may not be a celebrity on the same standing, but you just couldn’t have guessed that, with the expert manner in which he matched drumstick for fingers with Sivamani… it was a rat-a-tat, delightful set of repartees, assisted by the audience’s claps.
Louis Banks and Karl Peters held the melody and symphony of fusion sounds together, with their music blending smoothly and flowing in and out of the percussions and vocals.
Shankar Mahadevan never fails to send audiences into a tizzy, which he did this time also, with his impromptu rendition of the famous song Varadhey Nadhikarai Orum from the film Sangamam and then a few lines of Kajra Re (upon request), at the end of the show after the band donated Rs. 50,000 towards charity.
Sivamani took his cue from Shankar and matched him line-for-line, moving from the village sounds of Tamilnadu to Qawwali rhythms.
All in all, Chennai had a truly refreshing and enjoyable evening.
Click here for event pictures
Click here to find songs sung by Shankar Mahadevan
