His Music

Born into a family with a glorious musical tradition, Janardanan proved a deep- down professional right from his early days, having acquainted with and mastered various genres of music. A wide musical exposure thus helped expand the horizons of his knowledge and he could speak of music in a different voice:

“Now days, there is much hyped talk on the value degradation in Indian classical music. A rebuilding of the so-called shattered musical edifice could be materialized only when the audience is receptive to any creative venture on the artiste’s part and responds with the right feedback. This, in turn is possible when they liberate themselves from the clutches of arbitrary judgments influenced by a dogmatic tradition, and aspire to listen, experience and imbibe what is new and innovative. It is then that there takes birth a creative musical tradition.”

Even while revolutionizing every concert in realizing his concepts, Kudamaloor Janardanan never actually defied tradition. In fact, he redefined it in a very broad and inclusive manner so that music is not arrested within the four walls of ‘tradition’ as is prevalent.

“Music is but a union of bhava, raga and laya and therefore is far beyond geographical, cultural and linguistic boundaries. Whatever be its form, the content in music certainly reflects the entire spectrum of emotions.”

Reversing existing norms for the better, Janardanan upholds that one should accept and respect tradition duly, but not without an uncompromising urge towards improvisation and creativity.

“The creative zeal is never to be checked by rigidity and the many dos and don'ts in the existing tradition.”

Being an instrumentalist makes a musician think in great depth about music in terms of the instrument in question. This is important, especially if the vision is to see music being ‘customized’ in accordance to each instrument, taking into account its scope, possibilities and limitations. Flautists are not numerous who believe that flute, in all its innateness, is a typical folk instrument. Restricting its use to any particular musical tradition, in Janardanan's opinion, would only conceal its true mettle.

"What we need is a style that preserves both the essence of our musical tradition as well as s the charisma of the instrument.”

Janardanan reiterates the fact that the treasure house of ragas and the mesmerising diversity in talas are what makes carnatic music coveted and upholds its identity.

“Spontaneous music is after-all a question infinite possibilities with finite means. One could create countless emotions with seven swaras just as one could paint enormous pictures with the basic seven colors."

Setting a trend to make a difference, in right earnest, Kudamaloor says with great zest:

“I am not one to shy away from creativity, sidelining it by saying that music is as eternal and vast as an ocean. If that is indeed the case, I would rather venture into its unexplored depths, to discover the coffer of pearls and gems. What all has been made so far are sweet indeed. What we hear now may be sweeter; however the sweetest is yet to come. Won't we benefit much if we start thinking in these lines?"