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Dear friends,
One of the most endearing of Sutraโs artistic collaborators, is the versatile and talented Carnatic musician, Smt Jayalakshmi Sekhar. It is Sutraโs privilege to present her solo studio veena recital on the 29 & 30 March (8pm).
In the last decade, Jaya has evolved artistically and established her niche as a solo veena player, sought after by sabhas, from Coimbatore to Chennai.
For the past 4 decades, Jaya Sekhar, as she is familiarly known among us, is Sutraโs official Carnatic music consultant. It was Jaya who would analyse, explain and take us effortlessly through the difficult passages of talas and ragas of our Bharatanatyam items. No โitemโ of our dance guru, the late Adyar K Lakshman, that Jaya could not de-construct, explain and teach. She would make time for us to understand in simple terms the complicated cross-rhythms of a mathematical genius, that Lakshman Sir was.
Behind all the arangetrams that Sutra had presented all these years (of which I wielded the talam as the nattuvangamist), was the specter of Jayalakshmi Sekhar. Relentless and determined, Jaya would cajoled, repeat and ply me with her excellent Madras coffee concoction, to make sure every accent and pause, of the tirmanam that I recited, was in place.
Those were the wonderful times of the stalwart music teachers such as the late Padma Subramaniyam (vocalist) and Vijayalakshmi Kulaveerasingam (violinist) who accompanied us during Sutraโs live performances.
When Jaya was back in town from Chennai, one would find the ubiquitous dance talams placed close at hand near the driverโs seat of my car so that I could practice the difficult tirmanams during the traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur.
However, we have not forgotten during Jayaโs earlier days she also played the violin, flute and even sang in our performances.
There was a time when I had even suggested we design a contraption so that she could simultaneously play the violin, flute and sing, saving money on paying other musicians. In our contemporary dance production โScintillationsโ she played alongside Malaysian jazz giants, pianist Michael Veerapen and legendary percussionist, the late Lewis Pragasam.
Over recent years we watched in awe and pride as Jaya slowly and steadily gained recognition as an accomplished solo veena player sought after by the sabhas in South India.
By right, as Jaya is married to a Malaysian, and had spent a great deal of time with us, we can also claim her as one of our own – a Malaysian.
Shall we expect all of those who had enjoyed Jayalaksmi Sekharโs music in the last 4 decades to partake and celebrate her solo veena recital at Sutra?!!
Donโt miss Jayalakshmi’s veena experience – a musician, in the peak of her art!
Ramli Ibrahim
