The Porous Earth - IMAGINATIVE CONCEPTION OF POETRY IN DANCE

     The Porous Earth – Hemamalini Arni’s Dance Presentation to the poetry of Tejdeep Kaur Menon - by Kiranmayee Madupu and Priya Premanand.

      As we walked out with a smile of fulfillment after the satisfying thematic dance production The Porous Earth, performed by charismatic principal dancer Kiranmayee Madupu and narrator-dancer Priya Premanand, we couldn’t help hoping that the dance presentation would be repeated so that we could see it again… and again, like we could see a movie!

     This was an unusual Bharata Natyam dance presentation, because it was a programme performed to a poem called The Porous Earth, written in English by  poet, Tejdeep Kaur Menon, who is a serving senior Police Officer, and concieved and choreographed by the inestimable Guru Smt. Hemamalini Arni to music scored by Ravi Kiran, who also played flute in the live orchestra during the performance.

     While the narrator-dancer, Priya Premanand recited verses of the poem while dancing, she left the stage to Kiranmayee to depict the imagery of the poem in dance, using all the elements of Bharata Natyam: rhythmic and graceful body movements, hand gestures, dance steps, facial expressions & body movements to depict characters and the dramatic element, through music and dance. The drama was provided by not only the charming and innovatively concieved choreography, but also with the perfectly composed and fitting music played by the seasoned musicians in the accompanying ensemble, and by the elegant costumes, and empathic lighting design.

    The poem, The Porous Earth, on which this presentation was based, is about the birth of a river, which grows from a trickle, fighting to survive, to a stream, to a mighty river traversing changing landscapes; cold and icy terrain; sunny days, reflecting white clouds and stormy weather; creating gorges and waterfalls on its way; harbouring fish, flora and water fowl, while sages and shepherds and herds of domestic and wild animals populate the river banks; where maidens bathe, and men sail and row.

     Man intervenes by building bridges to cross the river; canals to extend the river to irrigate crops and farms. And then dams are built  to harness the river. The river then mourns its own fate when man treats it as a sewer, littering it with carcasses, dirt and sin. The river regrets losing its balance, destroying and swallowing farms and people. The river with heavy heart for what it has become, goes on to its final journey; hurrying, it surges to sink itself ‘in the arms of the sea’.

     The stage had no props except a blue ramp running across the width of the stage, representing a stream.

     Both the dancers’ costumes were aesthetic in their simplicity – cobalt blues, aquamarines, dissolving and vignetting into turquoise, flowing into silken greens like the changing colours and moods of a river. The principal dancers’ costume, had a silvery fan and a pallu with silver motifs. And the colour of the costumes changed, with the lighting, which itself was designed to suit the mood of the dance, the words of the poem, and the variations and movements of the music.

     Both the dancers in the short periods that they danced together were precise and graceful with Priya having the responsibility of being the narrator of the poem, which was a casting coup of sorts, and a excellent decision by the choreographer to have one of the two dancers narrate, instead of having a recorded voice-over. Though it may have been difficult to speak expressively and dance at the same time, Priya Premanand did it with smoothness and apparent ease.

     Kiranmayee Madupu has charisma and a natural grace, her magnetic movements captured the eyes of the audience. Fluid and  elegant, her dance has the spring of a bow and the keenness of an arrow. With a softness and lightness to her movements. Her large jumps and leaps while depicting various terrain the river traverses were vigorous, yet elegant. Her rhythmic  Jaati’s, small jumps and fast, detailed footwork to the Nattuvangum, the little hand cymbals that are tapped at various angles to the different sounds of the dancer’s feet, were always fascinatingly precise. So were her midair Jumps, her alignment and symmetry delightful to see.

     And to me, the highlight of her dance was when she depicted menacing machinery in the building of the dam. When she made two quick tiny forward and back jumps with arms raised and a stern expression. It was so swift and expressive, that I thought I may have leaned forward and didn’t see the movement due to parallax error. But that movement created such controlled tension and release that there was a collective release of breath and applause from the audience for this. But, applause was a regular occurrence, whenever Kiranmayee completed a dance sequence.

     The music and the choreography and the dance were innovative, tasteful, melodious and harmonious. And though this was not a classic Bharata Natyam performance, it needed the knowledge, expertise and training of those steeped in the classical art. And without this experience, deep knowledge, training and skill in traditional classical Bharatha Natyam, this whole presentation could not have been concieved, composed and performed with such confident grace and splendour.

     The music itself could stand on its own as a piece of art, but, that it was composed to interpret a Bharata Natyam dancers’ conception of a poem, was a tribute to the genius of the conciever, choreographer and Guru extraordinaire, Hemamalini Arni, the ‘Guru of Dance’ for conceptualising a poem into dance, and, the composer and musician, Ravi Kiran to have presented the dancers and 

the audience a work of art that deserves to be memorialised.

     The musicians were - Ravi Kiran who had composed the music, on flute. Karra Srinivas whose effort on Nattuvangam and Mridangam was superlative. The faultless Kolanka Sai Kumar,  on Violin. Sudhakar on Veena. Srikanth on Percussion and Tabla and Pavan Kumar on Keyboard.

   Credit must go to - Sudarshan Bomma for Make-up, Principal dancer, Kiranmayee for Costume Design, Nagaiah, Tailor and Surabhi Purnachandra Sekhar for Lighting.

     I used to wonder why film actors get so much credit and earn so much money when film making is such a team effort; the director and writers, I felt, should really get all the credit for conceiving of, and making the film that they believe in. But, now I realised why the actors get the acclaim. Because they transform an idea to reality. They make an idea real. And that’s what Kiranmayee and Priya did, they transformed an idea, in this case a poem, and the conception of a dramatic presentation of it through dance, and made it real. 
     Written for Kalaparva in May 2015: http://features.kalaparva.com/2015/05/imaginative-conception-of-poetry-in.html

Preethi Tatambhotla - Kuchipudi - A JOYFUL PRESENTATION

A JOYFUL PRESENTATION OF ENERGY, CHEER AND WARMTH

Preethi Tatambothla at the Kalasagaram Annual Youth Festival Of Dance 15th March 2015 Keyes High School

      Culture is a sum total of man-made attitudes, arts, traditions and values acquired through living in society. ‘Art’, in culture, encompasses the visual arts, the literary arts and the performing arts - music, theatre, dance - the spoken word, and film & architecture, the last two, which amongst other things, include elements of the visual, literary and theatrical.

     Kuchipudi, in traditional classical Indian dance, unites music, dance and theatre. It is a dance form that tells stories, Abhinaya, telling stories that reach out to the audience. It is a dance discipline that requires dancers to use their whole ‘being’ to tell a story, using the body, hand gestures, legs and rhythmic footwork, facial expressions and the eyes to communicate a story.

     In this contemporary age of self obsession and crass consumerism in which ignorance and a lack of cultural understanding prevails; where beauty, love, creativity, awareness, and cultural consciousness live a very fragile coexistence, it was a pleasure to see a young dancer perform and raise hope for the future.

     The dancer was Preethi Tatambhotla. A student/disciple of the redoubtable Dr. Shobha Naidu, herself a most renowned exponent of Kuchipudi, choreographer and educationist.

     In the performance that I witnessed, Preethi, danced with joy and grace, and from her first high stepping entry to the stage in a garnet red blouse and amber/orange sari, her stage presence commanded attention, and she lived her dance.

     The distinguishing feature about the whole evenings’ performance was the imaginative and interesting choreography. The choreographer for all the pieces in the evening’s performance was Dr Shobha Naidu. The selection of music, poetry and choreography was outstanding, innovative and empathetically choreographed. In the notes I had made during the performance, I had noted that she had ‘dismissed sameness’ and that she had made the dances look ‘traditional and contemporary’ at the same time.

     The ensemble of musicians that accompanied Preethi were a pleasure to listen to, for a music lover such as I am, the music at a dance recital is heard with as much absorption as the dance performance, and this ensemble of musicians, veterans that they are, give off their best each time they perform, and they are truly a pleasure to listen to, especially in the composition ‘Vachenu alamelumanga’, by Annamacharya Keerthana, in which the dancer depicts the navarasas, and the music changes for each of the navarasa’s - Sringara, Hasya, Karuna, Roudra, Veera, Bhayanaka, Bheebatsa, Adbhutha, Shantha.

     The musicians were singer Swetha Prasad, Nattuvanar (wielder of cymbals) N. Ch. Raghunandan, Mridangist Sridharacharya and Violinist Kolanka Sai Kumar.

     And the dancer lived up to the superb music, the great musicians, the narrative drama and the choreography. The dances were executed with empathy. Preethi’s footwork was agile and vigorous where it needed to be, and delicate at times when needed. Her body language was energetic and languid in turns, and her hand movements and facial expressions were animated and yet subtle and nuanced, she communicated the narrative in each piece, mouthing the words so unique to Kuchipudi, in dance that was theatrical, and in a manner that was compelling and absorbing. 

     Her first entry to the stage on the evening at the wonderful outdoor venue at Keyes High School was to ‘Kanjadalaya dakshi’, composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar to Ragam Kamalamanohari to Tallam – Adi.

     The second item ‘Vachenu alamelumanga’ by Annamacharya Keerthana in Ragam: Hindolam to Taalam, Adadi was the main piece of the evening, and this performance was a tour de force for a Kuchipudi dancer to depict nine different rasa’s seamlessly.

     The third item on the programme was a Javali – ‘Apaduruku Lonaithine’ by Composer – Pattabhiramayya in Raagam: Khammas and Taalam: Adi

This Javali - Javali are quick,  often erotic, love compositions with catchy tunes – is about a fickle young woman who doesn’t know how to deal with her attraction to men, and this  Javali, needed the dancer to use her acting skills in combination with creative choreography  to depict the dilemma of the confused and flirtatious girl.

     The fourth and last  composition was  Mohana Kalyani Thillana to Ragam: Mohana Kalyani  

Talam: Adi, composed by, the brilliant violinist, Lalgudi Jayaraman. This was followed by mangalam - Ramachandraya Janaka

     Preethi’s perfromance was exceedingly good by any standards, but no little credit must go to the choreographer, Shobha Naidu, who lifted the dance performance out of the realms of the ordinary, and the truly wonderful ensemble of musicians. 

      And getting back to the idea of culture, tradition and the classical arts, it is a good sign that young dancers like Preethi Tatambhotla are continuing traditions and being standard bearers for Kuchipudi, and classical dance performance in this age of instant gratification and pop culture. It was truly a pleasurable evening. And Preethi made it so. 

First appeared in Kalaparva http://features.kalaparva.com/2015/03/continuing-threads-of-tradition.html 

Esharêh – The Music of Brittany

 
    Esharêh is music group that plays the music of Brittany, a region in the NorthWest of France which appears to have a culture distinct from the cultural traditions that France is popularly known for.

     The music of Brittany is also distinctive. And the group Esharêh treated us, the audience at the Alliance Francaise organised concert, to the traditional, and the folk and dance music of Brittany.
     Esharêh as it was, even before coming to India, was a non-traditional group, having in its line-up a Vocalist, Simon Dégremont, who also played guitar; Julien Lahaye who played the Zarb and Daf, and this is where the Persian connection comes in - both the Zarb and Daf are Persian percussion instruments. The Zarb is a goblet shaped Drum that Julien Lahaye placed sideways across his lap and drummed on the drum head with his fingers. The Daff was a giant tambourine that was struck with the palm of the hand so the metal jingles, jangled. The third instrumentalist was Matthias Labbe, on Tablas and Mridangam. These were the personnel of Esharêh that came to India, and here they met up with two Indian instrumentalists, Hindustani classical, Bansuri player, Vishal Vardhan, and Hindustani classical, Sarod player, Sougata Roy Chowdhury, who will continue with and as the Esharêh ensemble on their further travels around the world.

     The appearance: Though the first trio Esharêh were Frenchmen, the tabla player wore Pajama Kurta and the Zarb player wore what looked like Persian clothes, like a Kurta. And the singer wore a suit without a tie. All of them were barefoot. And except for the singer, they all sat down to play their instruments. The Sarod player and Bansuri player were attired as all Hindustani Classical musicians usually are.

     The music: The music that Esharêh played was unlike anything I had heard before. The language of this predominantly vocal music did not sound like French, it was probably Breton. The singer, Simon Dégremont, who appeared to be the musical leader of the group, was a virtuoso with a rich, mellifluous and dexterous voice. The songs he sang were love songs, ballads, folk songs, and songs for dance; the vocalisation was sometimes rapid and syncopated, with unusually placed rhythmic accents and stresses, sometimes lyrical and folksy; sometimes smooth and sometimes punctuated with piercing cries. The music this ensemble created seemed to draw from old traditions but yet had influences from all over the world.  

     The songs were all arranged for ensemble playing, with equal contributions from all musicians who accompanied the singer and sometimes took the melodic lead and did the fillers between verses and chorus – the repeated part of the song.  Since the Bansuri and Sarod were melody instruments, their parts were carefully arranged and the melodic interludes on these instruments were carefully set to sound as if they were the most natural instruments for this kind of music.  And there was never a discordant note or sound that was out of place in any of the songs, which speaks very highly for the skill and artistry of the Bansuri player, Vishal Vardhan, and the Sarod player, Sougata Roy Chowdhury, for blending in and sounding as a completely harmonious unit in this very alien music. 

     Even though the music of Brittany was unfamiliar  and played by an unsusual ensemble of instruments and instrumentalists, one could still tell which song was a folk song, and which was a ballad, and which was a traditional song. They sounded that authentic.

     And all of this music by the Esharêh ensemble, though sounding authentic and well arranged and well rehearsed, had unusual or unconventional rhythms that were surely influenced by Indian music, because they seemed to follow ‘rhythm cycles’, instead of fixed time signatures common to European or Western music. And the tabla player, Matthias Labbe, was completely at home on his instrument and was a master of the rhythm cycle, and so was Julien Lahaye, who played some unusual beats on his Zarb, which had a distinct sound, but was very compatible with the tabla rhythms and the music of the ensemble. And what was very noticeable, was how much the musicians respected each others’ musicianship and enjoyed each others’ playing.

     At the end of the evening, and after two encores of music that energised and elevated all of us, the audience departed with great admiration for this ensemble of outstanding musicians and for the opportunity to listen to this unusual music.                                                                     

for Alliance Francaise website

GREENWOMAN - Malcolm Braff’s new band from Switzerland

ECLECTIC, ROCKING, ROLLING, SWINGING, POUNDING, GROOVE-ORIENTED, FUNKY, DRIVING, INTENSE AND STILL MUSICAL

     Greenwoman, Malcolm Braff’s new band from Switzerland that is touring Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkatta and at the Goa International Jazz Festival, played last evening, the 27^th of November 2014, at Vidyaranya School, Hyderabad. 

     Malcolm Braff the grizzly, bearded, big, bear of a man, is a keyboard legend; brilliant and inspired, he plays his keyboards with a rhythmic intensity that makes him sound like a rock artist. I don’t think anyone would vehemently object if I called him a keyboard virtuoso. His music is loud, rocking, rolling, swinging, pounding, intense and yet always very musical, sometimes very lyrical and always very interesting. His innovative music complements his creativity in improvising. He makes every note count; and though he cannot be accused of being gregarious, his short piano improvisations and solo’s are sometimes so blue, and so within the jazz idiom, that he sounds like a post-bop, beat poet.

     Greenwoman comprised of, besides Malcolm Braff, Singer Claire Huguenin, Bjorn Meyer on Electric Bass, Lukas Koenig on Drums and Alexandre Gaeng – video. What good band it was. All the musicians in Greenwoman are extraordinarily gifted!  

     All but one of the compositions that Greenwoman did were composed by Malcolm Braff. The evenings’ music began with ‘Good Morning Sin City’, and then, the only cover they did, was, ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ by ‘Tears For Fears’, and this was interpreted in such a way, that I’m sure, Tears for Fears would have loved it, and wished they could have done it this way. The other tunes were ‘Trisometric’, ‘Crimson Waves’,  ‘A Tick of Time’, ‘Metric’, ‘Standard After’, And the encore was called ‘Otis’.

     The music by Greenwoman was not Soul, it was not Rock, it was not Jazz, it was not Pop, it was not Electro, it was not Trance! But it was music that was eclectic, rocking, rolling, swinging, pounding, groove-oriented, funky, driving, intense and very musical, and very interesting. Listening to Greenwoman was a musical and visual experience!

     Every tune sounded ‘free’, free of the shackles of convention. Yet each tune was carefully structured, carefully arranged and carefully composed to give the idea that it was ‘free’ music. And when I tried to count the beat and figure out the time signatures of the music, I was foxed, just like I get foxed when I try to figure out the rhythm cycle when I listen to Hindustani or Carnatic music; I just couldn’t figure out the rhythm and meter of any of the pieces, though the band was in perfect time, and in perfect synchronicity, yet in every composition, the syncopated rhythms were out of sync, but yet, the band was perfectly in sync! ‘Time’ and ‘meter’ was the key to Greenwoman, the music was being played with a different concept of time and metrics, and in some pieces rhythm patterns changed every few bars. It was indeed a marvellous display of musicianship by every member of the band, to play this out-of-sync, yet in-sync, music. The performance was enhanced by imaginative visual effects.   

     The vocalist, Claire Huguenin, had a soaring, clear, bright, vibrato-less, powerful voice, and her vocal styling reminded me at times of Björk, the innovative Icelandic singer, and sometimes of Grace Slick, of Jefferson Airplane, but, Claire was quite the original, she perfectly matched Malcolm Braffs compositions. Claire had also written the lyrics to some of the compositions. And, to add to her performance, and to Greenwomans personality, was her quirky dancing; her completely, and refreshingly simple and unaffected steps and body movements which were so communicative that they complemented the extraordinary, yet joyful music of Greenwoman.

     Björn Meyer played six-string-electric-bass, and his bass playing was empathetic, expert and expressive, he had to manage to keep the pulse of the music with its strange rhythmic meters and syncopation, and he had to keep his tone true-to-the-band, yet, he too made his playing sound simple and appropriate, though it was music that was not at all simple to play.

     Lukas Koenig on Drums, maintained a percussive barrage of rhythms, sounding much too adroit to be a rock drummer. He was surely a jazz drummer who experiments with poly-rhythm, especially on these Malcolm Braff compositions that ‘play’ with rhythm and meters. Though the rhythms were hard and rhythmically complex, the drummer was totally in the zone, using the whole drum kit well, playing with intensity, keeping the groove, driving the rhythm and yet being subtle or forceful as the composition required.

     The visual effects which were an integral part of the performance was managed by the last member of the band, Alexandre Gaeng.  

     Greenwomans performance was nothing short of electrifying. I for one was riveted. And the audience were more than satisfied with the music and the band, not wanting to leave when the performance ended. Yes it was a fabulous evening of music! 

     This was the concluding event of the Concert-Series that celebrates the 5 Years of Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, a registered non-profit set up in 2009 as a forum for musicians and lovers of Western Music in Hyderabad to meet, interact, understand and appreciate different genres of Western Music - Classical Music, Jazz, Cross-cultural and Interdisciplinary music - and make this music accessible to a larger audience. Creating a forum for intercultural musical exchange in the belief that music has the power to unite people, propagate pluralism and create Harmony.    

 For hydmusic.com November 2014

ANIL SRINIVASAN & SHARIK HASAN - KEYS TO INDIA CONCERT

     ‘Keys to India is a spontaneous sharing and interaction of two creative minds”  conceptualised by Anil Srinivasan and Sharik Hasan, the Hyderabad Concert was the duo's last leg of a five city tour of India. 

    Though they come from different places musically - Anil Srinivasan, Chennai-based classical-contemporary pianist, has been trained, just as Sharik Hasan has been, in Western Classical piano, but went on to find his unique place as a musician playing Indian music, Indian contemporary and Indian classical music. And Sharik Hasan, New York-based Jazz pianist, found his metier in jazz.

     On the stage were two pianos with the two pianists facing each other. And during the concert, what was noteworthy, was that though the pianists represented different genres of music, they shared a great empathy and enjoyed the process of creating music and playing with each other.

     The pianists had divided the concert into four parts which they called 'Nature', 'Romance', 'The Human condition', or 'Triumph of the human spirit' and 'Seasons'.

     In the first part, ‘Nature’, Sharik started solo with the haunting and lustrous song  Nature Boy. Anil then did his solo of a Schubert composition which recalled the season of Spring, he then carried on by interpreting a Carnatic classical piece that was made famous by M.S. Subbulakshmi the renowned Carnatic vocalist. To end this part called 'Seasons', the two pianists dueted on Autumn Leaves.

     The second part, ‘Romance’, was interpreted with Sharik starting with Gershwin’s I Loves you Porgy, he was joined by Anil who played on his keys, some striking, Indian classical,  sitar-strum like glissandos on this tune. They went on to do Cindy Lauper’s Time after Time, after which, Anil took the lead in playing a dance-worthy, rhythmic Tillana.

     The third part, ‘The Human Condition’ was started by Anil playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, selected to represent the ‘Triumph of the Human Spirit’ as Anil announced, because Beethoven wrote this piece when he was deaf and had to resort to unorthodox methods to try and hear the piano. Sharik followed up on this with his own composition called Hymn, and this was followed by Anil and Sharik collaborating on a piece called Everybody Hurts written by the Alternate Rock group, R. E. M.  This piece, exposed as the duo did, brought out many melodic aspects of this song imaginatively and creatively, giving it a completely new outlook.

     The next part was called ‘Seasons’. In this part of the programme, the duo played Sharik’s composition Jack ‘O’ Lantern, which had a very Indian feel to it. And then Anil played a couple of Indian Classical compositions based on Raga Basant usually sung in Spring. The two then collaborated on My Favourite Things, from The Sound of Music, which turned out to be a fun outing, with both the pianists enjoying themselves, bringing out the mischief and humour in them, and making music that sounded at times like carousel music that we hear at a carnival.

     The concert ended with a sombre though uplifting rendition by both the pianists in a unique collaboration, of Vande Mataram, the Hymn to the Motherland, by Bankim Chandra Chatterji, which played an inspiring part in India’s struggle for freedom from British Imperialism. 

     Both pianists displayed a refinement of touch and technique that brought polish and elegance to the music throughout the evening. And though they often played independent solos, whenever they played together, their musical interactions were seamless and smooth, they dovetailed and segued rhythms, chords and runs artfully, without ever colliding or competing; producing inventions that were at times sublime and sometimes poetic and always charming.

     The audience enjoyed the performance and particularly got a sense of participation when they recognised Anil Srinivasan’s pianistic quotes and references to popular Indian film tunes that he incorporated in his piano outings.

     This was indeed an enjoyable collaboration that was gifted to the audience with the wonderful Idea of bringing about communal harmony through music.

     As Anil and Sharik said, the duo, find through their music, “a common ground to bring people together in harmony… in these times of polarisation and divisiveness… of communities, and of different religions, classes and backgrounds. Music is used to transcend distinctions between peoples, and place the arts in the service of the community and not place the community in the service of the arts’.

     

For hydmusic.com August 2014 

THE MADRIGALS, ETC. - Choral and Instrumental Music Ensemble

 Music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras

     The Madrigals, Etc., is a choral and instrumental music ensemble from Bangalore which performs music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras.

     The ensemble that performed in Hyderabad consisted of 11 members: Berenice da Gama Rose – Soprano, Usha Aron – Mezzo Soprano, Jerusha Lawrence – Alto, Charan Raj – Tenor, Nevin Thomas – Bass and five Swedish Soloists, Lena Moen – Soprano, Maria Forsström – mezzo soprano/alto, Jonas Olsson – tenor, Torbjörn Tällberg Marthins – bass, Jan H Borjession – Bass + Keyboard soloist/accompanist and Neecia Majolly – Soprano + Director of Madrigals, Etc.

     The voices of the eleven member ensemble filled the whole church with beautiful harmonies and a fabulous, rich sound - a tribute both to the quality and the blend of voices of these gifted musicians.

     Enough cannot be said in praise of this ensemble. They were well trained, well directed and well organised. They were true in pitch in ‘acappella music’, and they blended well and were impressively accurate in difficult passages. This was no ordinary ensemble, there was a wonderfully professional quality to their sound; their harmonies were clear and distinct, their intonation was excellent. The overall sound was rich, with close harmonies and excellent dynamic control, and on top of all that, their rhythms were precise and the tonal quality was pure and balanced.

     What was so flabbergasting was that they achieved this complete mastery of music and word, throughout the evening, without a conductor. Neecia Majolly, the director of Madrigals, Etc., unobtrusively from her place amongst the sopranos, led and set the timing and the pitch for each piece. The ensemble discipline was precise. The performance standards of this Ensemble left a lasting impression on the audience.

this was an ensemble piece, easy to listen to but hard to sing well, and it was carried off with aplomb, making it sound easy.

     And now to the music – The Madrigals etc., presented the choral works of Renaissance & Baroque composers Bach, Handel, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Purcell and Thomas Weelkes.

.    J.S. Bach’s popular composition ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’, 

Bass solo by Torbjörn Tällberg Marthins,  ‘Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage Together’ by G.F. Handel from the Oratorio Messiah. 

.    Adoramus Te Christe  by C. Moteverdi  - a Motet, sung reverently and expressively by the ensemble.

.    Cantate Domino by C. Monteverdi – a polyphonic motet  sung joyously and with spirit. 

.    Ombra Mai Fu by G.F. Handel an aria from the Opera Serse (Xerxes)by G.F. Handel. Sung by Maria Forsström – mezzo soprano/alto brought out the beauty of this sublime song in her gorgeous voice - her voice at the same time so tender, her notes so perfect, so exceptionally smooth, her tone so beautifully rounded and her dynamic range a joy. She shaded the song flawlessly. 

.    Jehova, Quam Multi Sunt Mei – by Henry Purcell – A declamatory solo and choral work. The ensemble performed this piece with verve and the tenor solo by Jonas Olsson was beautifully sung with suitable fervour and expression. 

.    Rejoce Greatly Oh Daughter of Zion – By G.F. Handel, this aria from the well known Oratario ‘Messiah’  was sung by the other great soprano in the Ensemble, Lena Moen whose sweet-toned soprano, though mature, is a beautiful instrument with a full range; her voice is light, yet rich, lovely and attractive. Only trained singers of a high standard can take the long runs and yet give the song so much colour and emotion.

.    Nun Komm Der Haiden Heiland – J. S. Bach, This Organ Prelude was played on the Pipe organ by Jan H Borjesson, a choir master and organist in Gothenburg, The full range of the pipe organ was given a work out and was made to sound perhaps as Bach had wanted it to sound.

.    Hear My Prayer O Lord – Henry Purcell – This was handled by the ensemble brilliantly, capturing the very difficult dissonances, and the clear harmonies, with a ease. 

.    Betracht Meine Seel  - J.S. Bach – This was from the sacred oratorio, The St John Passion, this was sung by the Ensemble with its usual competence

.    Hosanna To The Son Of David – Thomas Weelkes – this dark yet resplendent little gem was done justice to by the ensemble.

     Part Two of the programme was a rendition of Gloria by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi. Gloria is his most famous piece in twelve parts.

     And though it is a conservative piece, it is full of attractive moments typical of Vivaldi’s vigorous and effervescent melodic energy. The choral singing was skilfully balanced and the opening ‘Gloria’ was lively and neatly articulated. The soloists were as usual absolutely professional and sang their parts with feeling and understanding. Of particular note was the ‘Domine Deus’ duet by the Mezzo soprano and the Soprano. This was an example of perfect harmony and proficient interpretation. 

     This was an evening of wonderful music that took place at St John the Baptist Church, Secunderabad, from a choral ensemble that has offered the twin cities so generously of its talent and energy. It was definitely an evening to be cherished. 

  For www.hydmusic.com Posted 15th February 2011

DOBET GNAHORE – Singer Dancer Percussionist

The featured artist, Dobet Gnahore, from Cote d’Ivoire, is an immensely talented singer who plays several percussion instruments; is an amazing dancer, performer and entertainer. Though her songs are steeped in social and political comment and socially relevant messages, the energy generated by her music is electrifying and absorbing! The melody and fervour of her songs; their passion and spirit, drew the audience to the music like a heavy magnet, and compelled the listeners to dance and sing along. The audience couldn’t help but to boogie, shimmy, shake and stomp their feet in response to the music. That was how affecting the music was!

     The music of singer, Dobet Gnahore could be described as African music, probably music influenced by the traditional music of Cote d’Ivoire, fused with rock, funk, and a rich mix of African grooves and rhythms. 

     The band accompanying the singer was a seemingly ordinary group of Guitar, Bass, and Drums, until they began to play. Then you could hear that they were all individually advanced musicians on their instruments yet they gelled like a single organism.

     The concert began with a deep yet pleasing voice being heard, which filled the venue with a distinctive tone and timbre, a rich brew of a voice - mature and expressive, warm and powerful. One looked for where the voice came from, and then one saw the singer walking on to the stage; young, slim and striking; she held our attention with her voice and vocal expression, despite our ignorance of the language she sang in; She was joined on stage by the rest of the musicians and completed the song, after which she explained in English that the song was about money, because "money has taken over the world; money has destroyed people's minds." She is a multi lingual singer and though one didn’t understand the words, we all (the audience) just loved her music.

   The next song which she announced in English was dedicated to her mother, and the next to her grandmother. She also sang a song dedicated to her country, a song called Cote d’Ivoire, and another song on deforestation. Another, to women who fight for a better world, and in one song, which I think was dedicated to the joy of childhood, a little four year old girl came on to the stage and danced without inhibition, to the amusement of all; especially the singer, who danced with the girl. Amongst the last songs that she sang, she said, was called ‘I’m Tired’, she explained “I am tired with politics in my country. I’m tired with politics in the world.

    I can only aspire to describe in words, the dance that punctuated her performance and emphasised the intensity of her convictions. Her dance itself, true to African tradition, was communication. Her dancing expressed her emotions; joy and optimism. Her dancing was energetic and complex, passionate and graceful, full of supple movement, high leaps - both legs spread wide, rapid twirls, swaying on her haunches, rippling, contracting and releasing her body with all the grace of a true dancer; she used the whole stage at times. Her dancing was breathtaking. Her performance was an aural and visual spectacle.   

    The drummer, from Togo, was a magician of rhythm; and though he played a conventional drum set, what set him apart from conventional drummers was his intrinsic African ability to widen the scope of rhythm, by modernising indigenous rhythms; playing contrasting rhythm patterns; juxtaposing two different rhythms at once, and weaving an intricate, immaculate garment of rhythm and sound as a backdrop to the melodies. 

    The bass player playing an electric bass guitar was excellent, he played the bass sometimes as a lead instrument while he indulged in occasional explorations, but, his playing always gave a solid foundation to the music, and provided a very good intermediate sound and support to the drummer and guitarist during their interludes and sustained a steady backing to the singer.

    The guitar player was a Frenchman Colin Laroche, Dobet's companion, collaborator and co-composer in her music. He plays the electric guitar, but the delicate sound and style of play approximates a mix of the flamenco guitar, delta blues and African folk lute. The guitar is played so that every note is played to be heard in a typical order, chords are seldom struck, and the guitar keeps up a continuous backing melody which we can conclude is typically West African. The style is simple, but as we all know, to attain simplicity in sound and melody or in anything we do, it requires talent, skill, desire, discipline and hard work. So we can surmise that the guitar players’ sound and style was like a traditional African stringed instrument.

   The band and the singer were one consistent, unified, music producing unit of a high quality. They were made for each other. The bass player and guitar player harmonised and sang very close seconds to Dobet’s lead vocal, on many songs. 

   The evening with Dobet Gnahore ended too soon. She had managed with her stage presence; her great singing and rich voice to make the audience sing and dance. She varied her style of singing, at one point yodeling a riff and making the audience yodel along, the audience participated with zest and delight. A certain section of the audience danced throughout the performance, at every song; some of the dancers were so emboldened as to climb on to the stage and dance, which was also good humouredly enjoyed by the musicians.

    The evening ended with only happy faces to be seen everywhere. That’s what music’s ultimate aim is. To make people happy! To make people sing and dance! And that’s what the music of Dobet Gnahore and her band did! 

 Taj Banjara, Hyderabad 8^th January 2010

Francois Jeanneau . Uli Lenz . Muthu Kumar Varadarajan - JAZZ CONNECT

. Francois Jeanneau - Soprano Saxophone 

. Uli Lenz – Piano . Muthu Kumar Varadarajan - Tabla/percussion

     The musicians are from three nations, France - Francois Jeanneau, Germany - Uli Lenz, and Muthu Kumar from India, and they made music that is hot, tuneful, complex, modern, brilliant and most importantly, marvellous to listen to!

     The music was not for a second, not entertaining. It was compelling and amusing; it was swinging and it was contemporary; it was everything one wanted to hear in Jazz, it was creative, it was emotional, there was improvisation of a high level; the arrangements and rhythms were intellectually stimulating, and with every tune they played, one felt satisfied and happy for the privilege of being at the Emerald Hall, Taj Krishna, to listen to these great musicians.  And for this privilege we have to thank the Alliance Francaise, Goethe Zentrum Hyderabad and the French Consulate General in Bangalore, and the German Consulates General in Bangalore and Chennai, because this concert is a result of the Elysee Treaty of cooperation between Germany and France.

     The musicians, Francois Jeanneau, Uli Lenz and Muthu Kumar were a perfect match. Every note they played, every rhythm they explored, every tune they interpreted, was done with impeccable understanding and coordination. The Jazz was modern, European. The feeling of the music was dazzling and cheerful, and the artists were masters of their instruments.

     Many of the compositions they played were by Francois Jeanneau the French veteran, who has been a part of the French jazz scene since the 1960’s.  His compositions were elegant expositions of modern jazz, the arrangements complex yet very interesting, and very like classical compositions; one could hear a flow from one movement or mood to another. His soprano saxophone sound - bright and smooth, his playing - fluent and cadenced, he was a true master of this genre of music. One of his compositions ‘Kotor’, was named after a town on the Adriatic sea.  Another was called ‘Bric-a-Brac’ with a piano introduction like a church organ interlude which went on to be a rhythmically intricate and interesting work of art. And as Uli, the pianist, said later, “it was like an opera”! Another Francois Jeanneau composition was a ballad called ‘Juje’, a place in Senegal.

     Uli Lenz is a master of the keyboard and in his compositions, ‘Darling’, ‘Elle’ and ‘Berlin’, -the last named after his home town- he displayed his expertise in jazz, as a composer, arranger and pianist. He showed himself to be a towering musician, an entertaining artist, and a talented skillful pianist. All his compositions were highly syncopated, swinging, funky and melodious.His fingers dancing over the keys, in turns tip toeing, tap dancing, hammering and pounding the keys. Both hands showing the same dexterity and willingness to improvise; unbelievable chords and melodies wrought from the structure of the compositions. And through it all there was so much joy expressed. Even the pianist’s body participating in the pleasure of performance, with his body weaving and swaying to the music that he was producing. This too was a master class of piano playing.

     And there just a few superlatives left after what went before to describe the percussion of Muthu Kumar. His ability to keep time is metronomic. A master of time! And watching him play is as entertaining as listening to him. But what really stood out with Muthu Kumar Varadarajan is his sense of music, his ability for interplay. His ability to adapt, to innovate and to change to suit the various moods and timings and riffs that appear out of nowhere in the compositions while playing with these two masters of jazz. His ability to produce the right sort of rhythmic percussion to suit the mood of the moment, playing on his array of percussion instruments, chimes, cymbals, bells etc. perfectly, to augment and bring out and raise the stakes in the music. Of course it goes without saying that he is a master of the tabla. A creative artist exemplar!

     And so it went! A wonderful, well spent evening. Thanks to a trio of masters of music.

 July 10^th 2010

ERIC TRUFFAZ & MALCOLM BRAFF INDIAN PROJECT

     On the stage was an unusual quartet, Eric Truffaz on trumpet, Malcolm Braff on Piano, Indrani Mukherjee, a Hindustani classical singer, on vocals, and Hindustani classical musician, Apurpa Mukherjee on tabla. 

       This was a strange combination of musicians. Musicians of different disciplines and with completely different musical ideologies performing together. It is not easy to combine Hindustani classical and Jazz, unless the Jazz musician is also studying Hindustani classical music and is in complete empathy with the other musicians. S/he then plays with the knowledge of an Indian classical instrumentalist -- otherwise the jazz instrumentalist plays with an Indian rhythm section and tries to play what s/he thinks sounds like Indian music. But then most of the fusion with Indian Classical musicians’ sounds likes Indian music, with Indian rhythms, but with an unusual western touch.

     The common factor in both Hindustani classical music and Jazz is that both have elements of improvisation in it which musicians of both schools try to exploit in their own way.

     In this concert, none of the musicians tried to play the others’ music, and yet the band produced music that was transcendent, artistic and stimulating.   

     The music began with Eric Truffaz’s Jazz trumpet heralding the beginning of a wonderful evening.

     Eric Truffaz’s sound was fluid; lyrical, atmospheric.  He played Jazz with sensitivity and restraint, his sound sparse and personal, yet he could honk and screech, as he demonstrated, as the improvisation led him to. Playing in response to the melody and rhythms of the composition yet maintaining the feel of Jazz. Though the work was not jazz.

     Indrani Mukherjee, on the other hand as the other soloist, was elegant in her approach to the music and had such a pure, bright, mellow voice; and held true to her traditional Hindustani classical training, she was confident, and the nuances of her singing and improvisation were a pleasure to hear.

     Malcolm Braff who played the keyboard was a muscular soloist who kept up a solid block chord rhythm with his left and yet kept the improvisation going with his right, making every note count with both hands. Sometimes his rhythmic intensity made him sound like a rock artist, and he sometimes played so blue within the jazz idiom that he sounded almost lyrical, and yet at all times interesting.

     The tabla player Apurpa Mukherjee was a veteran who had accompanied several classical musicians in his career and like the competent and yet inventive musician that he was, was able to adjust his playing to suit each of the melody makers, and was able to lead and suggest subtle changes which both Eric Tuffaz and Eric Branff were able to follow and change direction and yet stay on the middle path. 

     The music they produced was not like anything we had heard before in fusion or world music, it was sublime music in which there were no compromises. The Jazz musicians did not try to play like Indian musicians and neither did Indrani Mukherjee and Apurpa Mukherjee try to do anything except Hindustani classical music. The music was in turns rousing, stimulating, gentle and always melodious. 

  The Eric Truffaz & Malcolm Braff - Indian Project performed on  

10^th January 2008 at Taj Banjara, Hyderabad 

SHARIK HASAN AND ADRIAN D'SOUZA - connecting to our souls

An evening of jazz & Blues with Sharik Hasan and Adrian D’Souza.

     The intimate setting of Bhaskara Auditorium at the Birla science Centre on 7th August 2012 was ideal for an evening of Jazz and Blues - and taking into account that it was a Tuesday evening of a working day in the rainy season with sudden showers peppering the evening, there was a good turnout of people considering that this was sober, thinking, yet swinging music that can be played only by proficient, intelligent and expert musicians and appreciated only by an intelligent audience, like jazz always is, unlike peoples perception of Jazz as being rollicking, flashy music that requires little skill or artistry. 

     The artists, Adrian D’Souza on drums, and Sharik Hasan are extraordinarily talented, professional musicians from Mumbai and Bengaluru, who have led their own bands and played in each others ensembles whenever they can.

     Sharik Hasan on organ - is a young pianist/organist of International standing, he has performed at venues all over the world including the Blue Note (New York), Panama Jazz Festival, and Nancy Jazz Festival (France), he attended the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music in the United States, and in 2007, moved to Paris for two years to study at the Bill Evans Piano Academy, resulting in the ‘Sharik Hasan Paris Trio which played at several international venues. During a scholarship awarded to him at Berklee College of Music he was selected to be part of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the tutelage of Danilo Pérez.

     Adrian D’Souza on drums - is an intellectual on the drums, always appropriate, always in the moment. In New York from 1997 onwards, Adrian has played with the who’s who of the Jazz world, Art Davis, Eddie Gomez, Joe Temperly, Ken Werner, Ratzo Harris, Gary Bartz, to name a few. In 1999, while playing in Memphis, he studied percussion under Peter Erskine who taught at the University of Memphis. Adrian has performed with Al Jarreau, George Duke, Earl Klugh and Ravi Coltrane at the 2005 Vh1 Jazz Masters. His debut album as a leader was recorded in NJ – USA, and featured Don Braden, Allen Farnham, Chieli Minucci, Roseanna Vitro and Bob Bowen. Adrian has had successful performances in Slovenia with the 'Maribor Philharmonic Orchestra'. He was invited by the 'World Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra and big band' to perform in South Africa for the United Nations - World Summit on Sustainable Development.

     Amongst the Jazz standards that the duo played with great artistry, were ‘Autumn Leaves’, ‘Georgia’ and the Jimmy Smith Organ composition, ‘Back at the Chicken Shack’, the audience was treated to  Sharik’s own compositions ‘Odyssey’, and ‘Song for Bobby’ amongst other glittering tunes that studded the sparkling evening.

     Sharik and Adrian excelled in the evenings performance, Sharik, played the organ and sometimes the digital piano, and sometimes both together, as the tunes required. His keyboard skills are deceptively simple, his fingers caressed the keys and expressed his inventiveness and excellent rhythmic sense, bringing out poetic textures from the keyboard which emitted the unique and exciting sound of the ‘Jazz organ’ which was played and heard for the first time in Hyderabad.

     Adrian employs a holistic, restrained style of playing the drums; always listening, and when needed, provides powerful drive and dynamic flair, combining impeccable timing and style with improvisational ingenuity and presence of mind, as was seen when he took a dynamic drum solo when power failed for a short while.

     This was one of those rare and beautiful evenings, the music was good and left all in the audience feeling mellow and magical!  And it was progressive, sensitive and discerning of the sponsors - to encourage this kind of musical performance (jazz), because like most classical arts, considering what popular music is like today, there was wisdom in this music; and jazz is connected to everyone’s soul!

     It is musical performances like this which encourage and create pluralism and harmony and make the world a better place - which is the ultimate aim of the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, the organisers of this event. It was indeed a very rewarding evening!   

For www.hydmusic.com 8th August 2012

THE SHARIK HASAN NEW YORK QUARTET - Monsoon Jazz

The Sharik Hasan New York Quartet  

Sharik Hasan – Piano

Philippe Lemm – Drums

Marco Zenini  - Bass

Pawan Benjamin – Saxophone & Bansuri

     During the concert,  while listening to the Sharik Hasan Quartet on the 3^rd of July, 2014, one was struck by how all of Sharik Hasan’s compositions were so like Sonata’s. Not only that, each of the musicians who took a solo in the course of the tunes, whether it was Sharik on piano, or Pawan Benjamin on Tenor saxophone, or Marco Zenini, on Upright Bass, or Philippe Lemm on drums, they all, like the great musicians that they were, soloed in the sonata form. Yes that’s true.

     The Sonata form, in Jazz? Yes of course, though Sonata is a western classical term, simply meaning ‘sound’, for instrumental music. The Sonata form is a pattern of organising a musical composition: Introducing a theme or main melody; revealing the main melody clearly and developing it; transiting to variations of the theme; concluding the exposition logically, and then, recapitulating the main theme with slight alterations. And, when one thinks about it, it is the most logical way to go. All forms of music, whether it is Western classical music, Hindustani classical, or Carnatic classical music, all these forms of music use the Sonata form or structure in their music. That is, they all follow a logical pattern of exposition, opposition, intensification, and resolution.

     The Sharik Hasan New York Quartet performed nine tunes, out of which three were Jazz standards; the other six were Sharik’s compositions. Each of Sharik’s compositions was a single movement Sonata, though, in Western classical music, a composition is usually, but not always, divided into at least three clear movements.

     We all know Jazz is partly planned and partly spontaneous music. So Jazz needs to follow a highly defined plan and a precisely written melodic structure, and it all has to be arranged to make good music, and since there could be more than one melody instrument playing together along with a rhythm section, all the instruments have to be in perfect harmony at all times. So it is very difficult to play the spontaneous or improvised sections and still be in perfect harmony. It needs musicians of very high intelligence and very high musical and technical calibre to play Jazz. And every one of the Sharik Hasan Quartet had all these qualities. And all the musicians in the quartet followed the Sonata form in each of their solos. They played the melody, they played variations of it that opposed it, intensified it and resolved their solos in a logical conclusion. And it was all done in perfect harmony.

     The first piece was called ‘Onward’ by Sharik Hasan. The second was also a Sharik composition called  ‘Jack-o-Lantern’, where the pianist and the band showed enormous control over this dense but radiant composition, Sharik’s intro and development of the theme on the piano led to Pawan Benjamin on Tenor Sax taking a lyrical solo; and the bass player Marco Zenini played on his upright bass so melodiously that the bass was as good as a lead instrument, and all the time, the drummer played with flair and good taste, it was a joy to watch him play.

     The third tune they played was a Jazz standard, ‘Take Five’. The quartet did a very unusual arrangement of this piece with a brilliant piano intro and with some beautifully executed solos by saxophonist Pawan Benjamin and the drummer Philippe Lemm.

     The fourth tune was an untitled composition by Sharik Hasan dedicated to the monsoon season. Sharik’s piano intro to the tune was so suggestive, one could almost feel the rain, this was an evocative composition that was written and developed very well and the quartet showed complete and yet soft control of this composition. A suggested name could be ‘Mellow Monsoon’, or ‘Mellow Moods of Rain’!

     The fifth was ‘Moments Notice’, best known as a ‘Coltrane’ tune. This was a well balanced performance by the Quartet.

     The sixth was again a Sharik Hasan composition called ‘Hymn’.  This too was a very beautiful composition, very devotional, very beautifully structured and arranged and this gave a good work-out to the drummer, Philippe Lemm, who used this piece to showcase his mastery and empathy with this piece of music - on the drums, sometimes using his brushes, sometimes mallets, and his sticks, to coax and shift rhythms and patterns and make use of the whole range of sounds and dynamics on the drum set; to watch him play was itself a joy!

     The seventh was a Jazz standard called ‘When I fall In Love’. The Quartets’ take on this composition was true-to-form, well arranged and well executed.

     The eighth tune was Sharik’s composition, called ‘Confluence’. This was a sort of tour-de-force for the band and showed each one of the musicians for their expertise and skill and their proficiency at their instrument. And they were so marvellously proficient! They were all in-the-zone on this piece, right from the martial sounding drums and bass intro, to the well structured and melodic sax solo by Pawan Benjamin, to Shariks’ imaginative piano outing, or the bassist and the drummer in full flow, playing with such creative artistry.

     Though it was a one movement piece (sonata), one could feel the different moods and movements the composition went through, sounding very often like an Indian classical work. And it was - sort of - because though composed in the idiom of Jazz, it was a modal composition, where the music is based on a set of notes rather than the typical chord patterns that most Western music is based on. So if there was an Indian feel to it, this was because it was based on a modal scale, just as an Indian classical Raga is. Sharik announced that this composition of his was based on George Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm’. Though he had turned it on its head and made it like something Gershwin would never have thought of!

     The ninth tune was another Sharik composition named ‘Odyssey’.  This was another sonata in a single movement, but we could feel the different movements as the composition unfolded.  The composition started with Pawan Benjamin playing the intro on a bamboo flute, a bansuri, and he played it so surprisingly well. It is not easy for a Western oriented musician to play the bansuri like it is meant to be played. It needs an Indian classical music mindset and feeling to play it the way it should be played. And Pawan did it, like he was born to it. Perhaps he was!

     Anyway, this too was a highly developed composition on which every musician could show his chops, alone and in tandem. So we were treated to wonderful piano solos with an empathetic bass creating the right touches of harmony; there was the amazing bass solo, with the bassists’ dazzling, yet harmonious sound, on the bass. His melodious bass solo sounding out a challenge to all bassists for his dazzling technical ability and imaginative playing.  The drummer too, played an inspired and inspiring solo shifting and changing rhythms, and accompanied the others so sympathetically and well, especially in this tune with Pawan’s sax, playing in perfect sync in the rapid glissandos that they did together. Suffice it to say that Sharik is a major composer/arranger and his piano playing is world class.    

     And that brought an end to the evening! And that was a memorable evening of world class music by this quartet of world class musicians.

      This is not the end of this report, because it is not the complete report of the music of the evening. This music report really should have started with a tribute to the great bunch of amateur Jazz musicians from Hyderabad that opened for the Sharik Hasan New York Quartet.
     This band was called Jazzed Friends, an eight piece band with a four piece horn section. And they played an enthusiastic and rousing set of Jazz standards and they played their hearts out, making the audience of Hyderabad proud of its first Jazz band with a horn section in the city since the 1960’s.

     The Jazzed friends are Dennis Powell, a school music teacher, on Piano. Triveni Sunkara, a student, on Electric Bass. Kartik Kalyan an IT Consultant, on Drums. Shakila Dausi, a corporate trainer, on vocals. Humayun Mirza, a businessman, on Trumpet. George Hull, a medical Doctor, on Saxophone. Raphaelle Courtois, a Marketing manager, on Clarinet. Joe Koster, HR Consultant, on Trombone.

     The Jazzed Friends performed four well arranged ‘set pieces’. The first one was ‘Take the A Train’. They next did a vocal ‘Just Friends’, with Shakila joining in and taking up the vocal duties. The song turned out well. ‘My Funny Valentine’ was next, followed by ‘You Can’t Take That Away From Me’. It was a pleasure to hear a local jazz band with a horn section which sounded really good. And it was  delightful to hear the zeal with which the horn section punctuated the music with fanfares and syncopated rhythmic patterns.All the musicians did a creditable job.

      That takes care of all the music that was performed. A good evening of music! Perhaps, a great evening of music! Very fulfilling!

Reporting for Hyderabad Western Music Foundation http://www.hydmusic.com/?q=node/372

Posted 7th July 2014