Successful partnership

He owes the success of their jugalbandi performances to the total absence of ego between them. "If you have ego, listeners find out easily," he says. There is nothing wrong in artistes compromising on their traditional styles in order to offer something new to the listener. "If you look deeply, you are not compromising at all. Both the artistes are elaborating the same swaras you see," he says.

He has performed jugalbandi with violin maestro Utpal Chakravarthi from Kolkata also. Pt. Vadavati and Vidwan Kadri Gopalanath have brought out cassettes and CDs of their jugalbandi. On his own, Pt. Vadavati has brought out a few audiocassettes, including Mangala Dhwani released a year ago.

The clarinet player runs a music academy in Bangalore and a free music school at Raichur. He has built the school investing Rs. 6.5 lakh our of his pocket. His wife Shivamma, who sings devotional songs. His daughter Sharada is an emerging vocalist, and son Venkatesh, is learning the clarinet from him.

Pandit Vadavati has won many awards, but what the great Bismillah Khan said when he listened to him is what he treasures most: "Bahut surili bajaate ho (you play very well)."

He served twice as the visiting professor of World Music Centre, California, and has composed music for the award-winning French documentary Haathi. He has performed in Britain, France, and the U.S. and all over India.

He continues to experiment with the clarinet. Lately, he has mastered the technique of producing bansuri-like sound from the clarinet in the mandra sapthak and shahanai-like sound in the madhya sapthak.