The music and dance festival of Shanmukhananda Sangeetha sabha continued with the concerts of Ms. Vidya Srinivasan, a Delhi based artists and Sh. Sanjay Subramanian from Chennai at the other venue – Delhi Tamil Sangam, New Delhi.

The evening program was by Ms. Vidya Srinivasan. She started off with a kriti of Saint Thyagara, in Mayamalagaula – Tulasidala followed by Tolijanma in Bilahari which was very appropriate for the occasion. . The raga alapana in Subapanthuvarali and Madhyamavathi and the kirtanas ‘Yennalu Yorake in Chapu tala and Ramakadha Sudha were rendered with clarity. The songs Tavata Soham of Tyagaraja, Mayamma Yani ne of Syama Sastry and Karunajalathe in Nadanamakriya were good selection.

The festival featured yet another young artist on 1st March ’05- Ms. Mahalaxmi, a coming up artist from the capital.

The concert started with a kriti of Tyagaraja in the raga Mayamalavagaulai followed by Atana kriti ‘Anupama Gunambudhi’which were well attempted. ‘Sada mahim’ of Tyagaraja in Gambhiravani was a good choice for the evening. The raga alapana in Kharaharapriya was well rendered and the kirtana ‘Ramani samana’ with niraval swaras was good. With a sprite Nenarunchi Nanu in Malavi, it was time for the main piece in Panthuvarali – Raghuvara, which was appreciable. The following tukdas Anumanai Anudinam ninai, Brindavane venu, valli kanavan and the concluding song of Bharathiar Chinnachiru kiliye was very well presented. The accompanists Sh. VSK Chakrapani on violin gave a very good support and Sh. K.N. Padhmanabhan excelled in his tani avartanam, which was well applauded.

On the concluding session of the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha at Andhra Bhawan, Sh. Kanna Kumar, from the Delhi University was featured in the first part of the day. He commenced the concert with a varnam in Simhavahini which is rarely heard. Then again a rare raga – Veeravansantham – a janya of Varunapriya (24th Mela) in which there is only one song of Tyagaraja- Yemani Pogadudura which well attempted. Thereafter Syama Sastry’s kriti in Gauli Panthu (Tharunamidamma)and Nannuvidachi in Ritigaulai were good. The main piece of the evening was Poorvikalyani with Tyagaraja’s Paripurna kama. Sh Padhmanabhan gave an excellent support to the artist and his Tani avartanam uplifted the atmosphere. The concluding pieces in Manirangu with Annamacharya kriti and Brahmam okate was very well rendered. Sh Chakrapani gave good violin support.

On Monday the 28th Feb’2005, the festival started with the concert of Vechoor Shri C. Sankar and Party. He started with a Tyagaraja kriti in Sriranjani (Brochevarevarura) and then ‘Santhamulekha’in Sama raga which was an elaborate piece. Thelialeru rama in Dhenuka raga of St. Tyagaraja was delivered very well and then the raga alapana in Madhyamavathi was well rendered with care and good manodarma. The kirtana – ‘Rama Katha Sudha’ was very ably handled with good tala kattu and kala pramanam. One can certainly certify the good padandaram in the presentation of niraval and swara kalpana that is very much appreciable. The accompaniments Sh. HN Bhaskar gave very good violin support and Kalakad Sh. Srinivasan on the Mridangam ably supported the artist.

The third day music and dance festival of Sri shanmukhananda Sangeetha sabha featured Ragam Sisters and Priya Sisters at Andhra Bhawan.

Ragam Sisters commenced their concert with a Varnam in Ragam Sree followed by ragam Hamsadwani (Varana Mukha). After a sprite rendering Dikshidar kriti in Suddha Dhanyasi ( Subramanyena Rakshitoham) the sisters took up Sriranjani raga alapana which was well attempted and the kriti Sogasugamrudanga Thalamu with its swara prastharas was very well handled with maturity. The sarvalagu in kalpana swara was noteworthy. After the Kriti Nenenduvedakutura it was Mohanam- Bhavanuta of Sri Tyagaraja with good raga alapana and niraval swaras. The main piece of the evening was Bhairavi with a Tyagaraja kriti - Upacharamu jeseva which is very rarely heard now a days. It was very well rendered and the way the kriti was handled by sisters was well appreciable and very promising. Thereafter the kritis of syama sastry Kanakasaila (Punnagavarali), Narayanathe namo namo and a Ragamalika- Kuraiyondrumillai was well received by the audience. The concert was concluded with Lalgudi Thillana in raga Revathi.

The Brown Indian Band took the 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) by storm with a performance that blurred boundaries North, South, East and West.

The band led by bassist Colin D'Cruz, comprises Leonard Heredia on the keyboards, Scot Amstrong and Yvonne Gonsalves on vocals, Jayson Jones on the saxophone and Lester Godinho on the drums. The band was joined by South Indian musicians including the celebrated S. Harikumar on the carnatic violin, Ramdas NK on the tavil and TR Parameshwaran on the ghattam. Representing North Indian music were Dhiraj Kapadia on the flute, Yograj Borkar on the sitar and Saish Deshpande on the tabla.

(Prensa Latina) Caracas, Venezuela - Pablo Milanés, in his own words, "proud of being an artist and prouder of being a revolutionary artist," flooded Caracas with his affable presence in an amazing concert, closing a meeting in defense of Humanity with poetry.

The Cuban artist performed at the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas, in the closing ceremony of the World Meeting of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity, with more than 300 attendees from 52 nations.

Why Billy Cobham's Culturemix has been part of the New York Iridium Jazz Club's tenth-anniversary celebration is clear. Like Iridium, Cobham continues to blaze an awesome musical trail that ranges from jazz to funk to R&B to rock and anything else that you can move to. With two previous appearances at the club, it was like another "coming home" session to claim his crown once again. The diversity of the Culturemix combination is analogous to Iridium's own changing and staying in step with the times.

From the first insistent thumps of Cobham's drums, the audience was hooked as they leaned into what would be one hour of mesmerizing performances from each member of Culturemix. They were enthused from the first selection and lapped up every single note of Cobham's crew. The packed house at the Iridium erupted in applause as the first selection came to a close.