The Score Magazine - Archive August 2009 Issue | Page 29

Tuning a Tribute
If celebs are used to making waves every time they made
an appearance, July 8 this year saw them handling a com-
pletely different type of wave. Marking one year of exis-
tence for Chennai’s ‘only English radio station’, Chennai
Live 104.8 FM had an interesting line up for the day. New
shows? Lots of quotes? Extra enthusiasm? Guess on. They
had all that and more except the regular presenters were
given a day in the sun. Filling in for a day were celebrities
from various walks of life who had a distinct Chennai con-
nection.
If the US Consul and Palash Sen shared space during the
breakfast beat, it was the lady with many a haunt in the
city who gave listeners quirky insights into what it takes
to catch her attention; Priya Mani all the way. Vasund-
hara Das and Andrea Jeremiah followed suit hosting the
afternoon slots and put their voices to good use. Now
that’s LIVE on the drive, believe me! Anu Menon stole
the air waves and overloaded it with her regular overdose
of west(u)-coast(u) humour. The last slot for the night,
prime-time was handled by the up and happening father-
daughter duo of actor Sarath Kumar and Varalaxmi Sarath
Kumar. Talking about themselves and their life in the city,
prime-time flew at the rate of knots.
Looks like the stars have found another way to really set
the waves ablaze, live and in person! Courtesy of 104.8 FM.
Remembering
Leroi Moore
 Sonali Shenoy
What is the loss of someone dear?
Is it a vacuum that you feel
Miles and miles to endure
Or could it be a sudden intake of breath
A wake up call.
You see, you’re small. A speck in the universe.Yet you show the world, as you
know it, that you’re fine. You’re okay. You take a deep breath. Swallow. And try
and ignore the wave of pain that consumes you for one long, intense moment
till it ebbs away. And you start your day.
That is how I think the D ave Mathews Band felt last August when they lost
their saxophonist and founding band member, LeRoi Moore. The band had a
show scheduled that night, and ‘the show,’ as any worthy player in showbiz
would say ‘must go on.’ It did of course, go on. Torches held high. Thousands
of fans sang along in tribute to a member of DMB never to be forgotten, or
replaced.
Certainly not as known as frontman Dave Mathews, Moore added a certain
depth to the band’s sound and feel. In fact, it was his distinctive sax that
formed the base of some of the band’s most iconic tunes, like Ants Marching
and Too Much.
In an interview he said,”But at this stage I don’t really consider myself a jazz
musician,” Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was “almost better than a
jazz gig,” he said. “I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas.” LeRoi
Moore passed away from injuries suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident.
He was 46.
A year later they are back with their first album since 2005. Enter Big Whiskey
and the Groogrux King. And this one’s definitely for LeRoi. From the bluesy
sax solo that opens the album to their lead single, Funny the way it is, it’s the
coming together of a group of musicians on Grey Street.
Dave Matthews reflected “It’s a pretty song and it talks about a lot of things...
death and love and all those things... but it also talks about the world of op-
posites that we are in. That’s the idea behind the song — that we will spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars to save a kid’s life and then we will drop
bombs out of the sky on each other and blow a whole school of them to pieces
without a thought. And that’s a funny world.”
Is it? Or do we choose to perceive our surroundings differently when the light
is dim. When the world moves without you on board.
The pain will come and it will ebb away, but take hope with tomorrow may
come a brighter day. Sing with me:
Standing on a bridge, watch the water passing under me
It must’ve been much harder when there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small. Remember how it used to be,
with mountains and oceans and winters and rivers and stars?