Siva – the creator!…. Creates magic with just about anything from his conventional cymbals to the timbale to the batajon to the vastly unconventional shells and conches and “Biryani Kadai”.
Sivamani’s style is deceptive for the uninitiated. Deeply profound and mysterious at one moment; tantalizing and exuberant at the next. However, augmenting the brute power, are his rhythmic style and harmony, which surrounds the discerning listener with warmth, joy and bliss.
Looking at the heritage and the training that has gone behind this rare phenomenon in the world of rhythm… is the exposure at homewith his father S M Ananan, a well-known drummer in the South Indian Film Industry. Siva was adept with his drumsticks even at the tender age of 7 and went on to give his first stage performance at the age of 12. His first studio break was playing for South Indian Master Creator K V Mahadevan. By age of 13 he had a professional music career with recordings under the watchful eyes of Carnatic & light music legend S P Balasubramaniam. He was later inspired by the compositions and styles of international masters Noel Grant and Billy Cobham with whom he later went on to share the stage at Rang Bhavan Mumbai.
Siva’s earliest experiments has been with Carnatic Maestros, Kunnaikudi Vaidyanathan, T V Gopalakrishnan as well as thavil masters Valayapatti Subramaniam and Pazhanivel and L. Shankar. His dream came true when he was invited to share the stage with UstadZakir Hussain along with Trilok Gurtu at Mumbai’s famed Rang Bhavan – opening up myriad musical possibilities. He was later exposed to the great rhythm masters Vikku Vinayakram (Ghatam), T K Murthy (mridangam) and Late Nagarajan (Kanjira) and even started taking lessons from them.
A sought after performer both on Live – shows and recordings, Siva is widely recognized as one of India’s best drummers. One of the best pair of hands in the world of percussion, Ustaad Zakir Hussain in a live show presented him as a phenomenon that walks the planet but once or twice in a century. South Indian geniuses Illayaraja and A R Rehman and other Bollywood music directors all regularly engage his variety of percussion. He features along with legendary masters such as Billy Cobham, Vikku Vinayakram, Freddy Santiago, Terry Bozzio, Wil Calhoun, Myanta, Ranjit Barot, T K Murthy, Rikki Ray and Dr. L. Subramaniam commanding the respect of a true Master Percussionist.
