OmKara is most definitely one of the most promising and original shows to be seen in the next two years. LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE Sunday May 13th 2001

OmKara, Lockwood’s Indian temple.

What was the original sound of our world? Could this voice be the source of all other sounds? For Hindus, this sound exists and has a name: OMKARA. The God Shiva is said to have created the world with this sound.

The story so fascinated jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, that he made it the core of his new creation with dancer and Veena master (ancient luth of southern India) Raghunath Manet. Raghunath Manet, a worldwide acclaimed artist, is often referred to as the “Indian Nijinski”. At the crossroads of jazz, dance and music of the World, their show clearly promotes the quest for cultural shock.

OMKARA, with Indian percussionist (Murugan) and classical soprano (Caroline Casadesus, Didier Lockwood's partner) features movements which are both physical and musical, antique and sacred, punctuated with onomatopaeic sounds, or sung.

This venture could seem a little unexpected, when one considers that Didier Lockwood is first and foremost heir to Stephane Grappelli, to whom he has dedicated a trio and a CD. However, it would be overlooking the fact that this violinist is as nomadic as he is in
constant search of change, that he wrote his own method for teaching the violin, that he created a jazz opera based on a libretto by Georges Perec, and above all, that he is a master of improvisation. Last January he inaugurated the Didier Lockwood Center of Music in Dammarie-les-Lys (Seine & Marne) where the technique of improvisations is the featured speciality.

Thanks to Raghunath Manet's knowledge and mastery of ancient dances, Didier Lockwood adds an oriental touch to his insatiable appetite for new harmonies. And co-signs with Manet a piece dedicated to the precursor of the East/West dialogue through danse : the real and original Nijinski.

OMKARA, May 15-18th at 8.30 pm, at the Winter Circus, 110 rue Amelot, Paris 11e. Tel: 01 43 68 76 00. Live recording OmKara (Dreyfus Jazz).

MUSSO BONHEUR

Didier Lockwood and Raghunath Manet at the source of all sounds.

Music and dance at the Winter Circus.
“Didier Lockwood's music changed when he encountered India”. This statement by Caroline Casadesus emphasizes the importance of OMKARA, a show that
originated when the violinist met with the dancer Raghunath Manet. “Didier and I were seduced by the beauty of his show;” says Caroline Casadesus, “then Raghunath came to the house with his veena and it suddenly became clear that we had to be able to find a common ground.

“I have a classical background, so for me OMKARA is an amazing experience in listening to one another, even if I only participate in one of the four sets. There may be a central theme, but the imaginary is constantly being shaped around it”.

Raghunath Manet adds: “It is actually this freedom of improvisation I was looking for. As soon as I met Caroline and Didier, I felt that we became soul-mates. When I look at Didier, I see him dancing with his violin. And what is really important about OMKARA, is that the part left to improvisation is so important that it is actually the music which controls the show. Everyone is a soloist telling his own story”.

And if jazz and Indian music share the same balance in the improvisation, Raghunath Manet feels that it is first and foremost from a desire for mutual respect: “It is not about the percussionist Murugan or myself becoming occidental musicians or about Caroline and
Didier becoming Indian musicians. We each contribute a piece of our own souls, and we try to integrate what is happening between the four of us:” Caroline adds: “This show is also a love story - there is tremendous respect, desire and willingness to work as a team.”

Undoubtedly, the OMKARA musicians are perfectly attuned to one another. We will have the pleasure of discovering them either on a CD, or at the Winter Circus in a few days and on tour throughout France next Autumn.

J.P. Doret and J.Lionnet

May 14, 16, 17 and 18 at the Winter Circus, Paris.

CD Review
Lockwood's Curiosity of Raghunath Manet
Look out for this album, recorded live and hot off the presses - a remarkable feat considering that OMKARA (the Dreyfus Jazz label) was recorded in March 2001 in Lyons. It reunites Didier Lockwood, for whom there never seems to be too many new encounters and projects, and Raghunath Manet, slightly less well-known although he is both master of the Bharata Natyam (a classical dance from Southern India) and of Veena (a very ancient luth from that same region). The percussionist Murugan and the soprano Caroline Casadesus add to this duo.

Mostly made up of improvisations, the fusion of these different genres works remarkably well, relying on a rich bed of rhythm, which reminds our western ears of a Trilok Gurtu. Even though Raghunath Manet's dances cannot suffer restitution, it is clear that Didier Lockwood does not hesitate to put himself at stake. Wonderfully novel in the jazz register, the sounds of his violin find their place quite naturally among these oriental tones, without overpowering the crystal-clear sounds of the Veena.

Obviously Shiva was watching over this event! TELERAMA Rossita Boisseau (April 25th 2001).

SHIVA's HEIR
Raghunath Manet performs
at the Winter Circus

Raghuneth Manet is quite the character and he's proud of it. He has every right to be proud. Indian, born in Pondichery, he chose a narrow path as a child : that of male interpreter of the thousand year old dance of Southern India, the Bharata Natyam, which is traditionally interpreted by women.

“It was unthinkable to anyone around me that I could ever become a dancer. No man was able to earn a living from this at that time. I started off by watching my sisters and practicing in private, while I continued to study music with my grandfather. I started to piece together my dance, without any other references available than the ancient texts I looked up, or the temple statues I studied. We must not forget that the first dancer is the god Shiva. I am therefore reinstating the masculine style such as that of Ram Gopal, a legend of Indian dancing who reportedly brought tears to Nijinski's eyes.”

Based on the technical and musical framework of the Bharata Natyam (specific slapping of the legs, with bell-chains tied around the ankles, demo-plie position, divided movements) he adds jumps and turns. There are less facial mimics, less expression in the eyes yet the same complex geometrical grace “where the body follows the melody, the hands tell a story, the face reflects the emotions as the feet stamp to the rhythm”.

Not only does he dance, he also plays the Veena, an ancient luth from southern India. (Americans never shy of superlatives, named Raghunath the Indian Noureiev).

Always on the look out for extreme sensations, Raghunath now blends his magic with the jazz violinist Didier Lockwood in the show OMKARA, i.e the first syllable uttered by Shiva when he created the world as he danced.

This was most certainly the dawning of a new era for this subtle conqueror as he determines to bring happiness to people and angels through dance.

DREYFUSS JAZZ SONY MUSIC CD REVIEW

Didier LOCKWOOD & Raghunath MANET
OMKARA

Lockwood is at very his best when he is pushed to the limits of his amazing powers of improvisation, far from the cliches he unfortunately sometimes gives in to when left to his own devices.

Here is the real, the great Lockwood, a worthy counterpart to the great dancer and Indian Veena player, and one who lets his imagination go wild. LE FIGARO Pierre Petit

MUSIC SECTION
Didier Lockwood and Caroline Casadesus : a state of grace

It was a dazzling moment that lasted two hours. In the warmth of the Cannes evening, we discovered how fascinating and subtle the birth of a new talent can be; how a naturally born gift of grace can be nurtured into a miraculous talent. The quality of what we heard this evening was so superb that the audience threw away all preconceived notions and gave the
performers a resounding standing ovation.

To tell the truth, it was an audacious undertaking where Gabriel Tacchino bequeathed the fifth concert of the “Suquet Musical Nights‰ to a group who clearly go beyond the boundaries of “classical” music. It was the Didier Lockwood-Caroline Casadesus quartet, whose repertory started with Scarlatti and ended with Thelonious Monk.

But who could possibily resist such an amalgamate of talent? Didier Lockwood, Stephane Grappelli's natural successor, possesses an amazing power of improvisation that takes both him and his violin to incredible heights of sound that demonstrate a mind-blowing technique as well as an acute musical sense. He is also capable of letting his instrument sing out loud, with a classical sound of great quality.

In Erbame Dich Mein Gott, an extract from Bach's Passion according to saint Matthew, we witnessed how the purity of the violin mingled lovingly with Caroline Casadesus' voice. Without any props or affectation, she sings as easily as effortlessly as she breathes, coupled with an overwhelmingly sensual tone of voice. Added to this total simplicity and finite intelligence, we were rewarded with a wonderful “Remember me” by Purcell, as well as a moving “Dame de Monte-Carlo” by Poulenc.

But Caroline Casadesus, accompanied by her husband Didier Lockwood, also sings jazz melodies, and with such charm - as in Duke Ellington's “In a sentimental Mood”! She made the audience weep with her rendition of Piaf's Hymne a l'amour: evident, simple and heart-wrenching: this was a great work of art.

The Quartet is also made up of Francis Lockwood, an amazing jazz pianist, as proven to us by several pieces he played with his brother. Finally, there is the talented pianist Marie-Jeanne Serero, who composed for her friends some simple and charming melodies that Caroline Casadesus interpreted.

Anything is possible, as demonstrated at the Suquet Musical Nights. And the audience responded by showing with total enthusiasm its appreciation of this concert of unexpected and enriching diversity of styles. LE FIGARO - JL Wachthausen

Jazz: a new album is released as a tribute to the great violinist


LOCKWOOD'S ORIENTAL VOYAGE
Didier Lockwood is not only a fervent admirer of the Celtic violin, he is also drawn towards India the great, and the enticing Orient. OMKARA is an amazing voyage to the very source of how the instruments are used, and of the great indo-european musical culture.

Blending together, the amazing dancer and musician Raghunat Manet, the percussionist Muruguan, the classical singer Caroline Casadesus and Lockwood, one of France's most prestigious violinists, together create OMKARA - a conceptual show with a definite metaphysical tone which goes back to the consubstantial : “at the beginning was the word”.

More glorious and meditative than John McLaughlin's “Remember Shakti”, OMKARA is definitely on the same wavelength. But its added theatrical component makes it less deliberately jubilatory in its language.

Here too, the European leader of the jazz violin demonstrates that he has many strings to his bow by playing a piece on the flute, and another on the trumpet. He is somewhat less convincing with the latter, however, as Miles Davis' presence looms too heavily over the piece. Antonio Moreira

Review of the recent CD release “OMKARA”.

QUOTIDIEN REGIONAL OUEST FRANCE June 10th 2001

Didier LOCKWOOD & Raghunath MANET: OMKARA

Unfortunately, there are no images to watch on this CD. The Indian dancer Ragunath Manet, master of the Veena (an instrument similar to the sitar) and the French violinist Didier Lockwood come together to search for Omkara, the source of all sounds, to which, according to the Hindu religion, the God Shiva created the word.

The soprano Caroline Casadesus and percussionist Murugan are the other two members of this tightly knit formation, which is distinguished by a full, ample and vivacious sound that it plays with the joy and depth of a mystical theme. Once again, when Indian sensitivities meet European jazz a new inventive music is born, one that does not have the fake veneer of forced coupling and one that has already been partly been partly explored by John Mac Laughlin's group Shakti.

This is an authentic encounter, which was recorded live in March. The tour, which is impatiently awaited, should begin in October.

Review of the recent CD release “OMKARA”.

QUOTIDIEN REGIONAL La Presse de la Manche June 3rd 2001

DIDIER LOCKWOOD & RAGUNATH MANET : OMKARA
Didier Lockwood never seems to tire. When he isn't paying tribute to Stephane Grappelli, or taking some young promising talent under his wing (Charlier, Sourisse, Ducros) he indulges in a new encounter. And what an encounter one with the Indian dancer
Raghunath Manet. They blend seamlessly together, and the violinist's rhythms are reprised by the dancer's movements. The result is fabulous! It is a brilliant and ingenious way to restore credit to fusion music.

But in this specific record, the best is left to last: in a breathtaking piece, Caroline Casadesus' voice sends shivers down everyone's spine. It is at this precise moment according to the Hindu tradition “that the golden eagle carries God's message to Earth and transforms itself into a dancer to celebrate the body's transcendence and to exalt beauty. As we listen, we feel as if we, too, are soaring through the heavens.

Review of the recent CD release “OMKARA”.

QUOTIDIEN REGIONAL Centre de France - LE POPULAIRE
June 29th 2001

INDIA AND JAZZ DO THE DANCE

Farhat Bouallagui, the rai violinist, who performs this year in the Sully festival, owes in part his presence to Didier Lockwood's recommendation. Lockwood, the jazz violinist, wanted the Tunisian musician to play by his side when he had carte blanche at Sully. Beyond a doubt, Lockwood is enthralled by world music and has just published with Dreyfus-jazz a record which is the result of his encounter with Ragunath Manet, the Indian dancer and master of the Veena, whom we have had the pleasure of seeing several times in the Orleans region.

In “OMKARA” (the source of all sounds) which was recorded live, the jazzman plays the violin, the flute and the trumpet as he leads the dance with Ragunath Manet, and the help of his accomplices, the percussionist Murugan and the soprano Caroline Casadesus.
In ten sets, from “First breath” to “Last wind”, all these artists improvise their own harmonies. Here, on the syncopated rhythm of Didier Lockwood's violin, Ragunath Manet sets the notes, which foretell a ragga. There, in the reprises of Indian music, Lockwood seems to be gliding on his own dreams. Together, when fusion surges, almost childlike in its purity, it is a beautiful combination of rhythmic dialogues and of soft harmonies.
Le Telegramme. July 15th 2001

AT PONT-L'ABBE,
LOCKWOOD, MANET, CASADESUS
SET THE CROWDS ON FIRE

The public triumphantly celebrates these highly original artists.

Incredibly enthusiastic, the crowd continues to give a standing ovation. Visibly gratified, Caroline Casadesus, Raghunath Manet, Didier Lockwood and the remarkable percussionist Sri Murugan, perform a final encore. Le Triskell has rarely seen such a large and demonstrative crowd.

It is not even 8 pm this Saturday and a long line has already formed at the entrance to the theater. A few hopeful spectators without reserved seats gather in front of the ticket booth : who knows? In the concert hall, one feels the energy, the buzz. Impatience is mounting. This is when the sorcery begins: Sri Murugan gets his drum to sing while Didier Lockwood's violin answers him back, as applause thunders. Raghunath Manet, bare-chested, with prayer bells strapped around his ankles, dances as only he knows how to.

Enchantment and magic
The enchantment begins; magic is waiting in the wings. Percussions, dancer and violin join forces and unite as they invent an amazing palette of sounds. A gesture of the hand, of the foot, a pose, a look, Raghunath Manet celebrates India, where he and his dance were born in total freedom. Obsessively, the percussion leads the way. A song or onomatopoeia sounds punctuate the frantic rhythms with a magnificent sense of musicality.

The scenes follow one another culminating with an unforgettable one where the dancer sensually unfolds his angel wings. With wings unfolded he confronts the violin, which does not surrender. A truly strange yet superb duel, which divides, then suddenly fuses to erase all boundaries.

Moments of grace
Then comes that moment of almost unreal grace. Caroline Casadesus starts to sing. Her soprano voice is sensual, as if it comes from another planet. Her wordless melody inspires the dancer who wraps his arm around her. Then, almost motionless, he takes a dance step. Both treat themselves to moments of grace, true sources of peace, of quiet, of dreams in this unforgettable spectacle.

Dancer in a trance Then violin, flute, and veena reprise their frenetic dance; jazz, ragas and tempestuous improvisations mix and mingle. The dancer enters a state of trance. It's wild and beautiful. In a word - exceptional!

LES SAISONS DE LA DANSE # 323 December 99

THE REWARDS OF PURE HEARTS

He has sometimes been called the Indian Nijinski. We won't go as far as that, as one does not need systematically to copy occidental cultural references in order to be important. And Raghunath Manet is important. He is most probably one the rare dancers using Indian techniques who is known by a european public.

No prudishness in this evocation full of life and enthusiasm, where eroticism is mainly linked to the beauty of Raghunath Manet's body in motion. Kannapa the devout is a hunter who does not belong to any cast. Sincere, generous, a believer, he ignores everything about the rites according to which the Brahman must venerate Shiva. However, it is he who received the divine grace, which is the proof that God distinguishes first and foremost the one whose heart is rich with Love. This philosophical tale provided Raghunath Manet with the inspiration for a show in which he recreates an imaginary world. He is the God of dancing with multiple powers, he is also the hunter and his universe, the forest, the river, and the animals which live there.

A dancer and a musician, surrounded by four instrumentalists (flute, drum, percussions) that are placed according to the action taking place - at the rear, on the sides, at the front - Raghunath Manet appears out of the shadows and takes over the stage. Bare-chested, clad in a loose saroual, he wears beautiful ornaments around his ears, his ankles and on his belt. He is the epitome of virile grace. Beauty in each gesture, extraordinary language using his feet, winged hands which tell the story in strictly coded language. Meanwhile, the incredibly expressive face underlines through movements of the eye, the eyebrow or the neck each emotion dictated by the story.

Dancing is an exacting art, it requires precision, firm steps, jumps demi-plies poses, whirls and rapid leaps, steps with the toe or heel' It is a complicated art, from which music cannot be dissociated. Expressive music, which in the beginning was the preferred vector of communication with God, where each note has a symbolic value. It is supposed to set off mystical and cosmic energies.

The whole show is enhanced by artful luminous brushstrokes, which make the ruby, white and gold costumes sparkle. In the center, towering over the scene, is the Linga, Shiva's phallic emblem, a high golden torch. It is said to draw to it all the forces that surround it.

Towards the end, surrounded by his musicians, Raghunatha Manet plays the veena, a form of luth with a long neck. It is an amazing musical moment, to which the audience's applause adds a rhythm that the musicians in turn take on. A moment of sharing human warmth.

This poetic show is captivating and also unsettling. For the non-initiated who do not have the key, it provides something totally new and unfamiliar. It is a form of happiness that has no name.