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2017 roundup in Bangalore: Showcase of Jazz, Blues, Fusion

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The year 2017 wraps up with a superb series of jazz, blues and fusion performances at Bangalore venues such as The B-Flat Bar, Blue Frog, Windmill Craftworks, and Humming Tree, along with other locations like Alliance Francaise and Pragrup!

In our regular annual deep dive, we look at some of the groups who delighted jazz fans this year in Bangalore. See my earlier Jazzuality articles for a roundup of 2016, 2015, and 2014, and my pick of Jazz Quotes and Blues Quotes (by the late great B.B. King).

Kefaya-2

 The year kicked off with one of the best performances of the year, by Kefaya at B-Flat. The band featured Italian guitarist Giuliano Modarelli, keyboardist Al Macsween, bassist Domenico Angarano, and drummer Joost Hendrickx. The guitar and drum solos in tracks like ‘Jyothi’ were outstanding, and the compositions drew on influences from the Middle East, Europe and Europe.

Magic-Flutes-2
The quartet Magic Flutes had two superb performances at B-Flat and Alliance Francaise, featuring French flautist Jean-Luc Thomas paired with Ravi Kulur, along with percussionists Giridhar Udupa (ghatam) and Muthu Kumar (tabla). French gypsy tunes and Carnatic melodies picked up whether the other left off, and blended together to rousing crescendos. Flautist Amit Nadig also appeared as guest musician at the B-Flat performances.

Burning-Deck

An unusual performance took place in the basement of Goobes Books on Church Street, with Burning Deck. Singaporean violinist Huich Goh played with Sandeep Madhavan on bass and electronics. Creative visuals were displayed on a backdrop of packed bookshelves.

Nadishana-2

Bookshelves are also the backdrop for another superbly designed venue in Whitefield: Windmill Craftworks, where multi-instrumentalist Nadishana performed with percussionist David Kuckhermann and ace bass prodigy Mohini Dey. This trio explored fresh new frontiers with hang drums, ethnic woodwinds and folk percussion instruments.

Sax-Machine

The trio Sax Machine delivered a high-energy performance at The Blue Frog, with Guillaume Sené (saxophone), Pierre Dandin (trombonist of Sergent Garcia) and Chicago vocalist Racecar. The set packed deep funk with hard bop, and lots of looped groove.

Perfect-Strangers

The Perfect Strangers had a high-energy set of jazz-rock and blues at B-Flat, with Raphael Emileenaa and Pranav DM on vocals. They were backed by Debjeet Basu (guitar), Steve Rajan (keyboards), Prashanth Gnanamuthu (bass) and Preran Pramod Gulvady (drums).

Klaus-Graf-Jazz-Quartet-2

Another European jazz band, this time from Germany, also played at B-Flat: Klaus Graf Quartet. It featured the founder Klaus Graf (alto sax), Olaf Polziehn (piano), Axel Kühn (bass) and Meinhard Obi Jenne (drums). Founded in 2001, the quartet played original compositions as well as ‘Jive Samba’ and ‘Minha Saudades’ (Cannonball Adderley).

Rotem-Sivan-Trio

The Rotem Sivan Trio featured a superb collaboration by guitarist Rotem Sivan along with bassist extraordinaire Mishko M’ba (see my earlier interview) and Mexican drummer Karina Colis. Rotem has performed at Montreaux Jazz Festival, Sonora Jazz Festival (Mexico), and Bern Jazz Festival. Mishko shuttles between France, Reunion island, and Pondicherry (South India).

Shreya-Bhattacharya-collective

Blues and funk fans were also treated to a performance by Shreya Bhattacharya Collective, with Shreya Bhattacharya (vocals), Joshua Costa (keyboards), and Wesley Newton (drums). Abhishek Dey on bass was outstanding, with a series of brilliant riffs.

Hang-Massive-1

Hang drum duo Hang Massive played a superb set at Blue Frog. The first half consisted of haunting acoustic tunes, followed by fat electronic grooves. The band has a huge fan following in India; in fact, the founders Danny Cudd and Markus Offbeat first met on the shores of Goa, and continue to tour India extensively.

SubraMania-3

Two of the best performances of the year in Bangalore were by SubraMania, formed in 2013 by violinist Ambi Subramaniam and vocalist Bindu Subramaniam. They are the son and daughter of violin maestro L.Subramaniam, and are accomplished musicians and composers in their own right. Their performance, aptly titled ‘Next Generation Shining,’ also featured percussionist Karthik Mani, guitarist Alwyn Fernandes, and bassist Keith Peters. Carnatic music and contemporary sound fused seamlessly at their second performance as well, at the end of the year at Pragrup.

Tajdar-Junaid-1

Tajdar Junaid performed a pleasing set of ambient and folksy jazz at Windmill Craftworks. The multi-instrumentalist from Kolkata played with Rohan Rajadhyaksha (keyboards), Rohan Ramanna (drums), Nathan Thomas (bass) and Sangeet Mishra (sarangi). Tajdar’s recent album is ‘What Colour is your Raindrop.’

Ikarushka-&-Ancient-Science-2

Acoustic and electronic music in two sets were delivered by Ikarushka & Ancient Science. The diverse mix of musicians included Varun Lulla (moorchunga), Mehdi Dehbandi (Iranian guitarist), Yashar Bagheri (on the Persian bowed instrument kamanche), Shreyas Selvaraju (drums), and Petr Nesterov (on the Russian instrument goosli).

EYM-Trio-1

Another outstanding band from France was EYM Trio, with Elie Dufour (piano), Marc Michel (drums) and Yann Phayphet. Sounds of Eastern Europe and Africa blended seamlessly with jazz; the band has an album release scheduled for 2018, and will be touring India again. One of their tracks is called ‘Bengaluru,’ and another is named after Kuala Lumpur.

Brian-Molley-Quartet

The Brian Molley Quartet, who also played at the Madras Jazz Festival, performed at B-Flat with Scottish founder Brain on saxophone along with Tom Gibbs (piano), Mario Caribé (bass) and Stuart Brown (drums). Their recent album is titled ‘Colour and Movement,’ and features tracks inspired by Rajasthan.

Aayushi-Karnik-1

Young blues guitar powerhouse Aayushi Karnik wowed the audience with her energy and riffs at B-Flat. Her ensemble included keyboardist Aman Mahajan, guitarist Sylvester Pradeep, vocalist Shreya Bhattacharya, bassist Avishek Dey, pianist Joshua Costa, and drummer Ashwin Shekhar. Aayushi drew round applause in the middle of one riff where she walked off the stage and climbed onto a couch to continue playing.

Trio-Francisco-Lelo

Guitarist Francisco Lelo de Larrea brought Latin American sounds to B-Flat, with his quartet of Gabriel Geszti from Brazil on the piano, Camiel Jansen on the upright bass from Netherlands, and Karina Colis on the drums from Mexico. Their mellow music was a nice contrast from the traffic-choked streets outside.

Pablo-Lapidusas-Trio-1

More Latin jazz, with lots of influence from Cuba, Portugal and Brazil, came to Windmill Craftworks with the Pablo Lapidusas Trio. Pianist Pablo Lapidusas was joined by the able Marcelo Araujo on drums and the brilliant Leo Espinosa on bass. Pablo has a master’s degree in jazz performance from the Superior Lisbon School of Music, and now lives in Lisbon.

Karsh-Kale-Soundsystem

The venue hosted another fabulous performance by ‘tablatronic’ ace Karsh Kale from New York, who was accompanied by Warren Mendonsa (of Blackstratblues) on guitar and Carnatic flautist Ajay Prasanna. The high-energy set had the audience enthralled, with loops and crescendos showcasing the musicians’ diverse skillsets.

Bangalore also witnessed other gigs by guitarist Sumith Ramachandran with vocalist Rila Banerjee; Ministry of Blues (anchored by guitarist-vocalist Philipe Haydon); German alpine brass band Erpfenbrass; Ziia & the Swing Mates (from France/Reunion Island); and Raghuram Quartet (Raghuraman Ramasubramanian on guitar; Yann Phayphet on bass; Vivek Santhosh on piano; Jeoraj George on drums).

More musical delights were in store from IndoSoul (by violinist Karthick Iyer – see my earlier interview); Girish & The Chronicles (blues rock); Big Band Blues (with vocalist Diyatom Deb); By2Blues (anchored by guitarist-vocalist Ananth Menon); IST (Indian Standard Time – with Arati Rao on vocals); Bansal Band (with musicians from Norway, Nepal, India, Czech Republic); Latination (Latin jazz band from Kolkata); and the aptly titled Songversations (with singer-songwriter Mathangi Jagdish).

Zakir-Hussain

The year also featured a number of outstanding Indian classical music performances by maestros who have collaborated with jazz musicians, such as tabla legend Ustad Zakir Hussain. “Knowledge transfer in music is now happening not just between branches and roots of a tree, but across fences,” said Zakir.

Other festivals to track in India are the Mahindra Blues Festival (see my write-ups on the 2017 and 2016 editions), Goa International Jazz Live Festival and Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (Mumbai). The Jaipur Literature Festival features superb music showcases in the evening; blues and fusion bands such as Soulmate, Aga Khan All Stars and Ronnie Malley performed this year.

I picked up a range of CDs from many of the artistes for review, and look forward to another inspiring year of jazz and fusion ahead in 2018! See also my app Oktav (‘Music Quotes & Proverbs’) available on iTunes (https://appsto.re/in/ah1u4.i) and on Android (free version: https://goo.gl/FTFOt5).

Written and photographed by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ, World Music and Jazz;
Bangalore
Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com .


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