From filter coffee to flute: Mali tribute concert at a Chennai roastery strikes a new note

In Chennai, where love for good coffee and music often goes hand-in-hand, specialty coffee roasteries have begun hosting Carnatic kutcheris. The setting is far removed from the traditional concert hall — the hiss of espresso machines and the clink of cups mingle with the music, while the aroma of freshly-roasted coffee lends the experience a distinctive charm. As part of the centenary celebrations of the legendary Carnatic flautist T.R. Mahalingam (also known as Mali), Swaroop Mamidipudi presented an intimate flute tribute at Kat and Kin Coffee Roasters.

Accompanied by M. Vijay on the violin and Anirudh Athreya on the kanjira, Swaroop’s presentation went beyond a conventional concert. Combining live flute renditions with archival recordings of Mali, he offered listeners insights into the maestro’s work and its enduring influence. Interspersed with explanations and anecdotes, the programme unfolded as an engaging blend of performance and conversation, bringing audiences closer to Mali’s musical legacy.

For many music lovers, Mali remains an enigmatic persona, whose spontaneous and unpredictable approach to performance gave his music a larger-than-life quality. Taking the well-known Mohanam varnam ‘Ninnu Kori’ as an example, Swaroop demonstrated how Mali approached the chittaswarams — not as fixed phrases but as opportunities for invention, varying speeds and rhythmic accents — even within a single avartana to create an ever-changing musical experience.

After recounting how he learnt the Vagadeeshwari kriti ‘Paramatmudu’ from his guru, N. Ramani, Swaroop presented the composition with kalpanaswaras. In a nod to Mali’s style, he moved into Tisra nadai during the swara passages before rounding them off with a neat Tisra-nadai korvai. Observing that most surviving recordings of Mali belong to the latter part of his career, Swaroop introduced listeners to a 1951 gramophone recording of ‘Ninnuvina’ in Navarasa Kannada. The recording offered a glimpse into the evolution of the Carnatic flute, whose concert history spans little more than a century. While pioneers such as Sarabha Sastri and Palladam Sanjeeva Rao established it as a classical concert instrument, Mali expanded its expressive possibilities by adopting a thicker bamboo flute and developing a unique playing technique, involving the partial covering of holes to produce delicate gamakas and microtonal inflections. These innovations enabled him to reproduce the nuances of Carnatic vocal music with remarkable fidelity, transforming both the sound and aesthetic of the instrument.

Among the recordings presented was Mali’s celebrated Sindhubhairavi RTP, a piece that exemplified why he remains one of Carnatic music’s most unconventional and influential figures. The recording revealed how he could stretch the boundaries of a raga, momentarily leading listeners into unfamiliar sonic territory before effortlessly re-establishing its identity. Swaroop observed that, for a musician celebrated for challenging conventions, Mali could, at times, be remarkably faithful to tradition. Even as he ventured beyond the rules in ragas such as Nalinakanti and Begada, he retained certain archaic usages, such as the employment of the shatsruti daivatam in ‘Bantu reethi’ in Hamsanadam. According to some scholars, this reflects an earlier, perhaps original, manner of rendering the raga and composition. Swaroop then presented a short Behag RTP, followed by a ragamalika suite featuring ragas associated with Mali — Varali, Bilahari, Anandhabhairavi and Ahiri. Vijay alternated with Swaroop in the ragamalika, before Anirudh’s tani avartanam.

The programme concluded with Bharatiyar’s ‘Chinnanchiru kiliye’, followed by a recording of Mali’s celebrated ‘Magudi’, a piece that came to embody his free-spirited musical personality. M. Vijay’s violin and Anirudh Athreya’s kanjira blended seamlessly with Swaroop’s flute, creating a balanced and responsive ensemble.