Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[KV]

Ramki, thanks for the information! Well, I don't really know how many of our questions would reach raaja, but muyarchi panni dhaan pappOmE nu thonuchu.
Here are some that I have in mind so far:

(Addressed to Raaja)
1) I see you as a composer who has been constantly evolving in his musical style, techniques and sound. In my perception, this probably is one of the most crucial aspects behind you being ‘current’ through four decades of constantly changing music scene.
a) How do you view your evolution as a composer?
b) How much of this is a result of progression/alteration in your musical ideologies and how much of it is driven by industry trends?
c) How do you strike a balance between these two?

2) On different occasions, you have quoted several musicians as your favorites and how they’ve been inspirational to you, namely WCM masters and Indian music directors from the past. Although I completely concur with your philosophy of ‘all music is the same; only our interpretations are different’, I have a special fondness for certain elements in your music like influences of jazz and rock music (especially jazz rock and progressive rock). Can you share with us your interest in these genres and some of the artists who have inspired you?

3) The music industry, since the last two decades or so, has seen technology taking giant strides, impacting the whole cycle of music making, starting from composing to recording, release and distribution. Keeping the other areas aside, I’d like to particularly focus on the musical aspects, namely composing and playing, which in my humble opinion, form the heart and soul of any composition. Having grown up listening predominantly to your music along with other artists from the 60s, 70s and 80s, I’m a huge fan of acoustic music/real instruments, the effect and impact of which, I feel, have never been replicated/matched by synthesized music. It is also my opinion that increasing dependency on synthesized/packaged music has led to a drastic drop in the quality of musicians and on music as a whole. The thought that we might see the day when there are no more real/live instruments, leaving synthesized music our only option, scares and pains me thoroughly.
As a senior musician and composer who has lived through many years of live music and real playing, do you think a revival can be brought about in this? What is it that could be done to make the common audience and music industry embrace and celebrate live/real music playing again?