A Quick Word From Paul Re. Into the Fire

Review of Into The Fire

One of the aims of the AAO has been to create situations allowing for a free and open exchange of musical and dramatic ideas between different cultures and traditions. When we were invited to tour India in 1996, a wonderful opportunity arose to begin a collaboration which has had far-reaching consequences. Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani is regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the complexities of Carnatic music, the classical music of South India. A composer, vocalist and renowned virtuoso performer on the mridangam, he is also known for his willingness to share the vital principles of his tradition with musicians who are interested to work with those principles; equally, he is just as interested in applying his musicianship to the challenges thrown up by meetings with non-Carnatic systems. He is also a particularly gifted creator of the subtleties of South Indian cuisine, and regards his talents in this area as exceeding his musical ones. Touring with him is full of surprises...

Our first meetings revolved around the rehearsals and performances in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta of Adrian Sherriff's re-scoring of Vasantha Pravaham. Sri Mani was sufficiently impressed by the success of this experiment to express a desire to continue developing repertoire which reflected the potential of this collaboration. Significant commissions followed, by John Rodgers and Scott Tinkler, and in 2003 by Daryl Pratt, and Adrian Sherriff, this time working with Elliott Dalgleish. All of these works have drawn on our growing understanding of the magical qualities of the applied mathematics which makes up Carnatic music. We have subsequently toured together with Sri Mani and various members of his Sruthi Laya group throughout Australia, and in Europe.

Sri Mani, now a Guru, celebrates in 2003 his 50th year as a professional musician. He has influenced and inspired countless aspiring students and masters within his field, and I can say without any sense of hyperbole that he is without doubt one of the finest musicians on the planet, one of the select few who appear in one's lifetime. We of the AAO feel very blessed to have been able to make our musical journey with Sri Mani, and look forward to its next stages.

(Paul Grabowsky), 2003

Reviews of Into The Fire

• Hypnotic Rhythms
• Ideas Never Become Tangled
• West Meets the Subcontinent
• The Exception to the Rule
• A Brilliant Collaboration
• Unique and Beautiful
• For Sophisticated Listeners
• All That Jazz
• New Music From An Older Tradition
• Out of This World Music
• A Triumphal Hurrah
• Melody is the Mother; Rhythm is the Father
• When East Meets West!
• Into The Fire: Synthesising East With West
• Experiment that worked
• Oceanic Wave of Fused Rhythms
• Music Connecting People
• Where Genres Meet
• Moved by Rhythm Patterns
• Into the Fire - An Introduction and Brief History
• A Quick Word From Paul Re. Into the Fire