Jazz Curry

Disclaimer: The author would like to state that he is not an aficionado of Jazz and the review/comment is purely from a n00b POV and thanks to Sharan for the pictures and videos

Date: May 11 2007

Its been 4 months since I shifted to aamchi Mumbai from sadda Dilli and I truly am enjoying myself. I always used to think that Mumbai's nightlife and culture was overrated. Until now! I will probably write about it in a later blog and lets keep our focus on Jazz for the moment.

Jazz music has always been a mystery to me. I always wanted to listen/learn Jazz but just like some of the things that you always put down for a later date, this was the case of Jazz with me. So when my good friend and colleague, Sharan told me about this Jazz concert, organized by Grateful Live (www.gratefullive.com) at Ravindra Natya Mandir, featuring some of Mumbai's local Jazz bands, I lapped it up.

It would be unfair if I didn't say a few things about the venue first. The Ravindra Natya Mandir is one of most underrated venues I have ever been to. Wonderful location, decent infrastructure and good acoustics. Its surprising that this venue is not used as much as it should be. The stage has seen illustrious performers like Ustad Amzad Ali Khan and Pundit Ravishankar and so there is also a lot of history attached to this venue.

The auditorium started to fill up pretty soon with a lot of pretty women, dressed to kill. At least I wasn't complaining :). The backdrop for the evening's performance was a shot of Mumbai's Marine Drive beach area (during the Ganpati festival i assume) by one of Mumbai's well known amateur photographer Mr. Jehangir Merchant and he was kind enough to allow the organizers to use this image for the show. It will be on display in London at an upcoming art show. It looked more like the skyline of Singapore or Hong Kong and I was pleasantly surprised to know that it was shot in Mumbai.

The event kicked off with the compere for the evening giving some information about the bands, the music that they were going to play and also on the history of the auditorium. The stage was set for a great evening of music.

First on stage was Junckt, a six-piece ensemble band. They are a regular on the Mumbai club circuit for a long time now and were performing for an exclusive audience for the first time. They started out with a pan flute and acoustic guitar piece, with the rest of the band joining them for the rest of their performance. They followed it up with a couple of Bobby Hancock pieces along with a host of their self compositions. They sounded quite tight, with the saxophone and trumpet providing a great brass sound. Their flute player was in top form throughout the evening and it was evident that he was having a great time performing. The performance lasted for 40 minutes. Perfect start!

One of Mumbai's most revered musician and music teacher is a gentleman called Mr. Mickey Correa, now well into his late 80s. Musicians who have studied under Mr. Correa look like the Who's-who of the Indian music scene. This platform was used to honor his contribution to music and the standing ovation Mr. Correa received when he walked onto the stage was richly deserved. Here's to his health!

Next to come up on stage was Imaad. Imaad has illustrious parents in the form of actors Nasseruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak. He looks very much offbeat with his almost afro hairdo, geeky glasses and grungy clothes, almost like a post-modern Neil Young (heh.. i just made that up). He performed 4 of his original solo compositions with his guitar and harmonica for accompaniment. Very impressive I must say. Imaad is a good songwriter and what he lacks in vocal quality, he makes it up for with his lyrics. Thin and gawky that he is, he looks a little uncomfortable up on stage, but give him his guitar and a microphone and he can mesmerize you with his Bob-Dylanesque songs. Absolutely no pretensions. Just some great songwriting

After Imaad's performance, it was time for a 15 minute break, with most of the audience using the break to grab a quick bite. Sharan and me were too busy checking out the women :)

The last performance and the main act was by Something Relevant (www.somethingrelevant.org). They have recently come out with their album, which is available on their website. Their set consisted of a lot of original numbers and a couple of jazz covers. Their music can be best described as long extended Jam sessions with influences ranging from jazz, folk, blues and good old rock-n-roll. They are a seasoned lot and it was evident from their tight sound and energy laden performance. Before their show, a page with just graphics were distributed amongst the audience. No effort was made to explain the pamphlet. It became evident only when they performed one of their originals and every graphic item on the page started to make sense, relating the images to the lyrics of the song. BRILLIANT! :) Nothing better than a little humor thrown in. Delectable solos on the saxophone, guitars and the piano/keyboards and you almost wanted to jump onto the stage and be part of the jam. If only...

The evening ended with the band performing an extended session of the by-now cult song “What's up?” by the 4 Non Blondes.

It was 10:45 PM in the evening by then and hunger and thirst took over and after saying adieu to the beautiful peoples around, I caught a cab and made a headway to Narimaan Point to catch up with my cousin and a common banker friend, who was still at her office, for a drink and some grub. These are the times I thank my luck that I didn't end up being a banker (No offense meant.. I completely trust them with my money yo!)

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