narenmusic

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  The Jazz Masters Listening Sessions Presented by : Sunil Sampat Genre : Jazz Details ; Little Theatre, NCPA, August 14 Over the past few years, jazz aficionado and Rolling Stone India columnist Sunil Sampat has been conducting The Jazz Masters Listening Sessions at the Little Theatre, NCPA. The objective is two-fold - to acquaint newer listeners about the intricacies of jazz and the contribution of various artistes, and to play some rarer music for those fond of the genre. In the latest session on August 14, Sampat shifted from his regular pattern of focusing on a particular instrument or style of jazz. His playlist comprised a varied selection of tracks, both old and new, thus providing a good mix. What was specially interesting was that he told stories about his interactions with some of the musicians, culled from six decades of attending jazz concerts. For instance, he played this French gypsy guitarist Stephane Wrembel, who followed the style of the legend...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Rhythm Roots/ Various artistes Genre : Indian percussion, semi-classical  Details : NMACC Studio, August 8 Rating ; **** The tabla and pakhawaj from the north blended with the mridangam and ghatam from the south and the shreekhol from the east. With a sarangi and violin providing the melodies, the ensemble at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) Studio Theatre paid tribute to Ustad Zakir Hussain on Friday. The 100-minute concert was titled Rhythm Roots, and what was particularly noteworthy was that the music was totally Indian, without any fusion elements thrown in. US-based tabla exponent Hindole Majumdar and violinist Ratish Tagde were joined by six musicians to create different styles. The show began with Gopal Burman playing the shreekhol, a two-headed drum used in Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali kirtanas, in an eight-beat cycle. Next came the tabla duet by Majumdar and his son Ayushman, with lehra by sarangi player Farooque Latif Khan. The music...

  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Buddy Guy/ Ain't Done With The Blues Genre : Blues Label : RCA Records Rating : **** Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy shows no signs of slowing down. To mark his 89th birthday on July 30, he did what he loves best - release an album. Aptly, he titled it Ain't Done With The Blues . Like BB King about 15 years ago, Buddy has attained the status of 'Godfather' in this genre. We in India acknowledge his role of playing at Mumbai's Mahindra Blues Festival five times, and spreading the word about the annual event among younger players. Even if he played a similar set each time, he has had his diehard fans. The new album contains a whopping 18 songs spread over 64 minutes. Maybe, he should have cut down a few, despite their short length, to make the album tighter. The question, perhaps, was what to leave out. Obviously, he had the material and wanted to go the whole hog. The result is a good balance of autobiographical numbers, tributes and standards. B...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR aswekeepsearching/ Kyun? (Album) Label: Self-released  Rating: **** After five years, Ahmedabad post-rock band aswekeepsearching are back with a full-length album. That should be great news to those who've heard Khwaab , Zia , Rooh and Sleep , released between 2015 and 2020. In the absence of founding member and guitarist-keyboardist Shubham Gurung, the new release Kyun ? features vocalist-guitarist and co-founder Uddipan Sarmah, bassist Robert Alex and drummer Sambit Chatterjee, with inputs by violinist Ajay Jayanthi. With 10 songs spread over 48 minutes, Kyun ? takes listeners on a heady sonic journey with some marvellous guitar structures and tight drumming. There's a logical flow in the song themes, making it like a concept album. The opener 'Why?' begins with the chants of children asking questions on why certain things happen around us, leading to a trademark guitar coda. The masterly 'You Left Something' has an innovative percussion st...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Prateeksha Srivastava with Akarsh Shetty/ Tum Jo Ho Yahaan Label: Self-released  Rating; *** 1/2 Singer Prateeksha Srivastava has a pleasant voice, and has sung some likeable numbers like 'Makhmal', 'Jiya Kaanch Ka' and 'Falsafa'. This blogger also saw her live performance at the Off Stage Live event at AntiSocial, Lower Parel, last week, where she displayed good stage energy and vocal control. Prateeksha's new song 'Tum Jo Ho Yahaan' is the first from her forthcoming EP Tinyt Truths . It's a simple love song accompanied by a video featuring her and Ishan Chaturvedi, and directed by Priya Mishra. The video begins with a request to wear a bindi, after which Prateeksha sings, "Jabse shaamil zindagi mein tum, jeene ka mila kaayda, jabse neendein poori hone lagi, jaana kya sukoon ka mazaa". The song has been produced and arranged by Akarsh Shetty, who also plays electric guitars. The acoustic guitars by Austin Furtado ar...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Obituary/ Chuck Mangione (1940-2025) Genre : Smooth jazz I remember the first time I heard Chuck Mangione. The year was 1983, and I was 19. I visited my regular record store in Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi, to check out some pop or rock records. An instrumental tune was playing on the speakers and I asked the owner who it was. He took out the record sleeve and told me it was 'Stepping Out' from the album Love Notes by Chuck Mangione, who played a flugelhorn which is from the trumpet family. This incident came back to mind on hearing of 84-year-old Mangione's death on July 22. My favourite tunes 'Feels So Good', 'Memories Of Scirocco', 'Children Of Sanchez' and 'Land Of Make Believe' came back to mind, and I played them on Spotify after hearing the news. I remember that introduction to Mangione's music very clearly. "What kind of music is this called?" I had asked - I must have heard the word 'genre' a...