Shivkumar, the stylist
Bombay :
When it comes to the santoor, there is no better exponent than Shivkumar Sharma. He uses it as a medium for classical music in the main and this devolution has taken him to various places around the globe. So what? May be a natural reaction. There is a difference. Sharma has played at the invitation of foreign governments or of their primary cultural organisation.
Sharma has gone into films, very successfully. He did Silsila and won a platinum disc. He scored Faasle and a golden disc was his no sooner the product was launched. More than these he must treasure the platinum disc he gathered in the company of Brijbhushan Kabra, and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia for an album of light classical music tinged with folk, Call of the Valley. A rare achievement for music of this kind, which has a limited following.
Sharma's latest is called Feelings. That's the theme that runs through both sides of the album, six tracks merging into the other.
There are some percussive touches and Sharma springs a surprise when his earliest feeling leads him into Don't Cry For Me Argentina.
The shifts of mood are subtle, pensive moments quietly dispelled.
The man comes across as a beautiful person, clean of spirit, as transparent as a bubbling brook. He is a technical stylist, his picking flawless, he runs pristine, all leading him to a celestial plane.
Passion, of not lust, would have given Shivkumar Sharma's Feelings some earthiness.
by a staff reporter, The Times of India
©COPYRIGHT 1997 Shivkumar Sharma Associates