narenmusic

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Salim-Sulaiman feat. Shankar Mahadevan/ Shringaar  Label: Salim-Sulaiman Music Rating: **** 1/2 Salim, Sulaiman and Shankar Mahedevan are joined by top musicians on this heartfelt tribute to tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain. 'Shringaar' is a track from the Salim-Sulaiman project Bhoomi 2025 , and even features voice and video clips of Zakir. "Without love, without music, without harmony, we are nothing," he says. How true. The prolific Shraddha Pandit writes the lyrics which begin, "Kaahe kare shringaar sajaniya, jaga tope jaaye vaar sajaniya, sab se sundar naar sajaniya, kaahe kare shringaar sajaniya". Shankar's voice flows smoothly and effortlessly. While the composition and lyrics have traditional flavours, the orchestration uses modern elements. The musicians include Salim on piano and synth, Sulaiman on Zen drums, Raj Purohit on keyboards, Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar, Rhythm Shaw on guitar, Ralph Menezes on bass, Ojas Adhiya on...

⁴ BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Matt Bianco/ Live in Mumbai Genre : Pop-jazz Details : Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, September 7 Rating : **** From their discography of 15 studio albums, one would imagine British group Matt Bianco would have a tough time choosing its set list. But then, frontman and founding member Mark Reilly has done hundreds of concerts, obviously having a clear idea of what would work at their maiden India appearance. The Sunday crowd at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was obviously more familiar with the first two albums Whose Side Are You On? and Matt Bianco , which were hits in the mid-1980s. Reilly spaced the popular songs judiciously, and whether the folks knew them or not, the band made a huge impression with its energy and virtuosity. The sound was an ever-changing mix of pop, jazz, funk and Latino flavours. Most songs were filled with surprises. One never knew which direction the arrangements would take, and listeners had to be constantly attentive to enjoy the twists. Som...

  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Jazbaat/ Pratibha Singh Baghel Genre : Ghazals, Sufi, Hindi film Event by : W&M, Vivikta Details : Nehru Centre, September 5 Rating : **** 1/2 ( Photograph taken by: Mehul Mehta) Despite the festival traffic and rainy spells, it was heartening to see a near-packed house at singer Pratibha Singh Baghel's concert Jazbaat at Nehru Centre, Worli, on Friday. What was even more welcome that many knew the songs, and stayed till the end, asking for more. For two and a half hours without an intermission, Pratibha had the audience humming along to a carefully chosen selection of ghazals, geet, film classics and Sufiana numbers. The accompanying band was tight, and the interaction between songs alternated anecdotes and descriptions with impromptu humour. Though this blogger has seen Pratibha perform a few numbers at the annual Khazana festival, and followed her numerous recordings and videos, this was the first full-length concert he attended of hers. Naturally, one...

  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Film review/ Songs Of Paradise Director : Danish Renzu Cast : Saba Azad, Soni Razdan, Zain Khan Durrani), Taaruk Raina, Sheeba Chadha Platform : Amazon Prime Rating : *** 1/2 Followers of Kashmiri music would know of the enormous contribution of Raj Begum, the first singer on Radio Kashnir Srinagar in the early 1950s. Danish Renzu's film Songs Of Paradise is loosely inspired by her life. The film begins in.1954. The singer here is Zeba Akhtar (played by Saba Azad), who later changes her name to Noor Begum to hide her true identity. Her father (Bashir Lone) is a small-time tailor and her mother (Sheeba Chadha) is someone who follows societal norms, thereby opposing the idea of women singing in public. Zeba is enormously talented but it takes the observation of a respected guru (Shishir Sharma) to notice it and develop it further. A foreign-returned poet Azaad (Zain Khan Durrani, of Mukhbir fame) also hears her In a competition, which she wins, and guides her o...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Janisht Joshi & AtharvaMusic/ Julie Label: Self-released  Rating: **** Two things immediately strike you about the video of 'Julie', released by Janisht Joshi and AtharvaMusic. One is its really cool video, with a retro look and simple storyline. The second is the song's catchy hook, with the line, "Julie, Julie, Julie, maan ja".  The song involves a scene being shot, with a man proposing to a saree-clad lady, who first rejects him and even throws his flower back at him. Of course, all well's that ends well. Nothing earth-shattering about the story, but the presentation is superb and wacky, with Ashmita Meghrajani and Vansh Sethi playing the lead. Janisht's videos have always been above par, examples being 'Nahi', 'Yeh Duniya Jala Do' and 'Kaagaz Ke Phool'. In 'Julie', the.musicians themselves dress in 80s-styled attire, and come up with a catchy song, with AtharvaMusic doing the songwriting. Please n...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Justin-Uday and Hamsika Iyer/ Chai Ki Chuski Label: Judo Music  Rating: **** From 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' to 'Ee Hai Bambai Nagariya', there have been many songs about Mumbai. The latest one 'Chai Ki Chuski' is by composer duo Justin-Uday and singer Hamsika Iyer, with Jairaj Padmanabhan's marvellous video to boost. The film shows typical scenes from regular Mumbai life, from local trains and BEST buses to cutting chais to pomfret bais to sugarcane vendors and vada pav joints to Marine Drive and cricket maidans. Hamsika's singing is exuberant, using street styles and phrases, and she puts in a good video performance too. It's a fun song, with rhymes like chuski , dip ki , risky and kiski . Sriram Iyer's lyrics represent the Mumbai spirit, and Justin-Uday's composition bring out the city's cacophonous, chaotic charm convincingly. Jhakaas! Sanyanth Naroth & Ankur Tiwari/ Kuch Na Rahe Rating: Self-released  Rating: *** San...