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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience / Various artistes Genre ; Blues Label : Ground Zero Blues Club Media/ Universal Music  Rating : ***** Though he's primarily known as an actor, Morgan Freeman is also recognised for his passion for the blues. In 2001, he started the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and in his latest project, he brings together some stellar artistes from the genre to present blues anthems with a symphonic touch. As a performer, Freeman hardly appears in Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience , a 12-track album running into a brisk 43 minutes. He recites a short introduction to the history and role of the blues in the opening track 'Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground' before singer Keith Johnson takes over. Then on, we hear a wonderful line-up of artistes, with accompaniment by the Ground Zero Blues Club Band and the Chineke! Orchestra conducted by Martin Gellner. In the Indian context, wh...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Runway Historia/ Like No Tomorrow Language & genre: English, fusion rock Label: Self-released  Rating: *** 1/2 I recently heard Pune hard rock band Runway Historia play Guns N' Roses and AC/ DC covers at Mumbai's AntiSocial, opening for Teemeer Chimulkar's Sceptr3. They also did their original 'Like No Tomorrow'. The song was released in June, and what's interesting is that a sitar has been added to the hard rock sound. Vocalist Rons Thakur sings, "And we go, we go, we go at it like no tomorrow". The band has composer-lyricist Varun Singh on guitars and bass and Anshuman Walia on guitars, besides guests Stavya on sitar and Deep Menon on drums. The video shows them live in.a studio with Aarum on bass and Ranveer Singh on drums. The 'sitar aur guitar' jam lends some variety to this burst of energy. Peep Peep & Akash/ Tipsy Topsy Tears Language & genre: English, ballad Label: Self-released  Rating: **** Preeti Kuber...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Musafir Café/ OTT soundtrack  Music : Garvit-Priyansh, Raghav Kaushik, Neel Adhikari  Genre : Hindi OTT Label : Netflix Music/ T-Series  Rating : *** 1/2 Did Sudha (Vedika Pinto) do the right thing? Should Chander (Vikrant Massey) have gone to the hills? Poor Preeti (Mahima Makwana). The storyline and cast of Ruchir Arun's Netflix series Musafir Café seems to be the hot discussion these days - till something else comes up. What many people are not talking about is the music. And that's what this blog will focus on. After a while, here's an OTT soundtrack with some meat. What's interesting is that besides the original songs, the producers have released an album of Unplugged versions. Given the series theme, the songs deal with love or heartbreak. The lyrics, divided between Aniket Shukla and Amrita Saluja, are particularly impressive, matching the moods and situations in the narrative. They are backed by simple compositions, with well-layered harmonie...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Vernon D'Souza/ Lay Down With Me  Language & genre: English, pop-rock Label: Self-released  Rating: **** 1/2 Singer Vernon D'Souza has been a regular performer on Mumbai's live circuit. He has earlier released the song 'Gypsy On The Run' and now comes out with the anti-war number 'Lay Down With Me'. Interestingly, the self-directed video begins with a short clip of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The opening words are, "I can see them tearing at the night sky, they're slowly painting all our cities red, they pit you and I against each other, knowing that we both will end up dead". Hard-hitting! The video uses symbolic motifs like a masked man (played by Tuhin), a chess board and scenes depicting destruction. Produced by Paul Indian, the song falls in the pop-rock space, with some wonderful guitar parts. Overall, an excellent and timely piece. Noush!/ Snakes & Ladders Language & genre: English, Latino-pop/ dance Label:...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Friends often ask how I manage to attend shows every day. Obviously, I don't. What happens is that most events in Mumbai take place between Thursday and Sunday, and that's when a bit of binging happens. Not all the four days but on two or three, either if I have to cover them officially or if they seem exciting on their own. I still have four free evenings a week. Last weekend was filled with activities - so I managed four shows between Friday and Sunday. The good thing is that they spanned four diverse genres. Here are brief notes on all of them. Of course, attending them means I missed out on a few big ones. Friday, July 24: Khazana ghazal festival, day 1, The Trident, ghazals: This is the 25th year of the prestigious event, and as always drew a packed house. The special highlight was that Sonu Nigam would perform, though before the show, one wasn't certain what he would sing. Sonu nailed it, singing many of Pankaj Udhas' famous songs. After all, Pa...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Deepika Seth/ Ittefaq Language & genre: Hindi, love song  Label: Grapevine Records Rating: **** Deepika Seth's 'Ittefaq' is the first single from forthcoming album Qisse Kal Ke . It's about meeting someone, wanting to settle down and anticipating a strong relationship. It's a simple composition sung with feeling. The lyrics stand out, as Deepika sings, "Kya yeh ittefaq hai jo tum mile, lamhe azaad hai jo tum aa gaye ho". Later, she asks, "Talaash thi jis mohabbat ki, kya ye wohi ho raha hai?" Get the gist? The song has been co-written by Sagar Varma. Production is by Rohan Upadeo, with gentle strings by Protyay Chakraborty and guitars by Sambhav Pratap Singh providing the right ambience. Shraddha Pandit/ Kya Batayen Language & genre: Hindi, ghazal Label: Merchant Records Rating: *** 1/2 After starting off as a playback singer in the late 1990s, Shraddha Pandit has been recently focusing more on writing lyrics. However,...