narenmusic

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Various artistes/ Jazz City original soundtrack Genre : Bengali OTT series music/ jazz, regional Label : Sony Music  Rating : *** 1/2 In a sophisticated Calcutta nightspot, the resident vocalist Pamela sings lines like "The city of jazz, the city that moans" and "The winter's warming up, come on fill up your cup, a little bebop, a little bebop tonight". The piano and brass are very typical of the jazz sound of the late 1960s. However, while the soundtrack of the Sony LIV Bengali language series Jazz City may appear like it's dominated by jazz, the truth is that the genre forms only half of the song-list. Director Soumik Sen's narrative is based on events that led to the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, and the Jazz City here refers to a popular (and fictional) club frequented by Calcutta's rich and famous. Hence, a good chunk of the music also comprises traditional Bengali songs, with a few penned by maestro Rabindranath Tagore. T...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR BombayMami/ Gulabi Mantra Language & genre: English, pop/ RnB Label: MNRK Records Rating: *** 1/2 Indo-Swiss singer BombayMami made news last year with her single 'Fire In Delhi'. She is now due to release her debut album Peaceful Attitude next month. As part of the build-up, she has released 'Gulabi Mantra' to mark International Women's Day on March 8. The song is nspired by the women's collective Gulabi Gang, known for standing up against violence and injustice. The motif, therefore, is the line, "My body, my voice, my kitty, my choice". The song is backed by a well-choreographed video using pink as its theme. Director Aron Randhawa and choreographer Divya Nebel bring the best out of the tune. BombayMami's voice has that smoky club feel, which balances contemporary rhythm n' blues with an innate desi aura. Looking out for the rest of the album. Malvika/ online/irl (EP) Language & genre: English, pop Label: Self-rel...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Gorillaz/ The Mountain Genre : Synth-pop/ multi-genre Label : Kong Record rating : *** Video rating: ***** The brainchild of English musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, virtual band Gorillaz is known for creating music spanning a variety of genres using mutiplie collaborations by its 'members' Murdoc, Russel, 2D and Noodle. Its latest album The Mountain features a host of Indian artistes like singers Asha Bhosle and Asha Puthli, sitar exponent Anoushka Shankar, sarod brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash and flautist Ajay Prasanna. To add to the Indianness, the cover has the word 'Parvat' in Devanagari script. Though Indian instruments are used on many tracks, only a couple of songs are strong on Indian melody. The opening title track has wonderful bansuri by Ajay and a recording of late actor Dennis Hopper's voice, and 'The Shadowy Light' features Hindi vocals by Asha Bhosle, alternated with English lines by Welsh vocalist Gru...

  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 49 Strings - An Indian String Quartet Artistes : Ambi Subramaniam, Mehtab Ali Niazi, Eklash Khan Langa, Dare Khan Manganiyar, Akshay Ananthapadmanabhan, Latif Khan Presented by ; Reliance Foundation  Details : NMACC Studio, March 8 Rating ; **** We've seen plenty of Hindustani and Carnatic jugalbandis, and also many folk-fusion concerts. Here was a unique blend of north and south Indian elements with Rajasthani folk. 49 Strings , held at the NMACC Studio on Sunday, was spearheaded by composer and violinist Ambi Subramaniam. who represented the Carnatic segments. There were four stringed instruments - the number of strings, we guess, added up to 49. Mehtab Ali Niazi played sitar in the Hindustani style, and there were desert-folk contributions by Eklash Khan Langa on sarangi and Dare Khan Manganiyar on kamaicha. The combination of three bowed pieces and one plucked instrument provided a charming mix. For the percussion, two double-headed drums were used -...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Antariksh/ Naaqis Language & genre: Hindi, rock Label: Self-released  Rating: **** Delhi band Antariksh teams up with Polish guitarist Jakub Zyteki and sarangi exponent Momin Khan on its new song 'Naaqis', part of its forthcoming album Rehguzar . The song blends progressive rock styles with Indian classical elements, provided through the sarangi. Lead vocalist and songwriter Varun Rajput sings, "Chaaron aur bas dhuan hi dhuan, reh na jaaye adhuri dastaan, oonchi lehren aur gehra dariya, kashti hamaari doobi jaaye re". While Shrikant Biswakarma and Varun do most of the guitar parts, Jakub comes up with a sizzling solo. The song talks of betrayal and disillusionment, along with the determination needed to move forward. Using AI, Ishita Singh's black n' white video depicts a boat in troubled waters. It's a classy production, both aurally and visually. Singing Saints / Jhini Re Jhini   Language & genre: Hindi (old), bhajan Produced...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Various artistes/ Rehnuma  Genre : Indo-fusion Presented by : Prithvi Theatre  Details : Prithvi Theatre, February 28 Rating : **** ( Pics of Prithvi (top) and Lollapalooza shows taken by blogger) Exactly two years ago, Ustad Zakir Hussain performed at the annual Memorial Concert at the Prithvi Theatre, in remembrance of Jennifer Kapoor on her birthday. After homage was paid to the tabla maestro by his brothers Fazal and Taufiq Qureshi last year, another group of musicians came together on Saturday came together to carry forward his dream of promoting young Indian artistes. Led by Indus Creed's Zubin Balaporia on piano, Rehnuma featured the same musicians who had performed at the Lollapalooza multi-genre festival at Mahalaxmi Race Course on January 24 under the name Prithvi Theatre Presents. Though guitarist Rhythm Shaw couldn't join this time, the others contributed to the magic of the evening. The crowd comprised a mix of theatre personalities, musicians ...