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Concert review/ Raja Miya

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Raja Miya/ Udayswar@Prithvi Genre : Hindustani classical vocal Details : Prithvi Theatre, June 21 Rating : ***** ( PIc taken by blogger. (l to r) Shashi Vyas of Pancham Nishad, Mukundraj Deo, Raja Miya, his son Naved and Sudhir Nayak) Around 7.45 a.m., what could be as satisfying for a Hindustani classical aficionado than a nom-tom alaap sung in pure Agra gharana style? The fact that the venue didn't use microphones added to the aura, as senior vocalist Raja Miya began the morning raga Ramkali. Over the next 90 minutes, the magic was ceaseless. The Prithvi Theatre was packed for the June session of Udayswar, organised by Pancham Nishad. And the moment he concluded with a gem in Bhairavi, everyone rose in spontaneous and rhythmic applause. Ustad Ghulam Husnain Khan, popularly known as Raja Miya, may be described as an underrated genius. But as he proved on Sunday morning, every minute of his performance exuded perfection. The son of Ustad Anwar Hussain Khan, he h...
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Gig review/ Joe Alvares @ Abbey 301

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Dr Joe and The Patience/ Live in Khandala  Genre : Jazz Musicians : Joe Alvares, Tea, Clement Rooney, Clifton Rodricks, Jarryd Rodrigues, Zidaan Details : Abbey 301, Khandala, June 13 Rating : **** On Saturday, June 13, Abbey 301 hosted its 10th show. Dr Joe and The Patience, led by veteran singer Joe Alvares, presented a set of jazz standards and retro tunes. The venue is actually a restored church in Khandala, and therefore heading there was a nice picnic, as Salsa Fortynine drove us down the distance. In the group were ace photographer Ashok Salian and journalist Steve Fernandes. It's a beautiful site in the hills, though the weather that day wasn't too different from a breezier Mumbai. The chapel, named after the area's postal code, has been held by the Kotak family since 1973. Its recent restoration was led by Kamini Kotak and architect Adil Dholakia of Five Cross Architects. Safala Shroff is the chairperson of the steering committee, with Pushan Kri...
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Naren's indie round-up/ June 2026, Ep 1

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Sharmistha Chatterjee/ Mere Saiyaan Language & genre: Punjabi, love song Label: Self-released  Rating: **** Besides her own repertoire, Mumbai-based Sharmistha Chatterjee has sung with the famed Mekaal Hasan Band. Her latest song 'Mere Saiyaan' is a pleasant Punjabi song. Sharmistha's voice is backed by the soothing acoustic guitar lines of Neil Mukherjee. The words, written by the singer herself, are, "Mere saiyaan, saiyaan saiyaan, mere saanwal, mere dholna, tenu dil diya chaahi, chhad ke na jaave mere saiyaan". Manish Gupta's black n' white official video, which uses a shorter edit, lends a retro look. The entire audio offers a more elaborate listening experience. Kavya Limaye/ Sochiye  Language & genre: Hindi, ghazal Label: Sufiscore  Rating: *** Young singer Kavya Limaye sings her father Sachin Limaye's composition 'Sochiye', written by Ajay Saahab. This was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The so...
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Gig review/ The Think Floydian

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR The Think Floydian/ Tribute To Pink Floyd Genre : Classic rock Details : AntiSocial, Lower Parel, June 4 Rating : ***** The sun was the same in a relative way, but nobody grew older. A few minutes past midnight, as the calendar shifted from June 4 to 5, singer-guitarist Rohit Kulkarni announced that their band The Think Floydian would be playing their last piece. What few people expected was that he was referring to the entire The Dark Side Of The Moon album, presented from start to finish. Though the show had begun two and a half hours earlier, the excitement increased even further. The Delhi-based tribute band's performance at AntiSocial, Lower Parel, was a Pink Floyd fan's dream experience come true. The venue was jam-packed, some people in their early 20s even came with their parents, some of them in prism-spectrum tees. Everybody seemed to know every song by heart. From the popular 'Time' and 'Comfortably Numb' to the fan favourites ...
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Ilaiyaraaja/ Valiant - Symphony No 1

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  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Ilaiyaraaja/ Valiant: Symphony No 1 Genre: Western classical Performed by: Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Mikel Toms  Label: Mercuri Foundation  Rating: ***** Let's face it. The majority of Ilaiyaraaja's fans have grown up on his south Indian film music. From Annakili to Ajantha , Geethanjali to Gunaa , the favourites have been in Tamil, Telugu and at times Malayalam and Kannada. In that field, he's been king, and his Hindi work, though lesser in quantity, has been appreciated too. He's often shown influences of western classical music in his film scores, like Salil Choudhury had done a generation earlier in Hindi and Bengali music. But to write a full-fledged symphony requires a completely different approach, mental sinew and skill-set. Even for a listener, it needs a completely different mindset, understanding and taste, and it wouldn't be surprising if a large number of his fans have never heard an actual symphony before. Wi...
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Naren's indie round-up/ May 2026,.Ep 3

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Divyam Sodhi feat. Anirudh Varma Collective/ Aas Language & genre: Hindi, semi-classical Label: Self-released  Rating: **** In this dream collaboration, the immensely talented vocalist Divyam Sodhi teams up with the brilliant Delhi-based Anirudh Varma Collective (AVC). On 'Aas', Divyam is accompanied by Anirudh Varma's keyboards, Rohan Prasanna's sarod and Ishan Sharma's tabla as he sings, "Kaise main jaane doon, piya tohe aaj, nainon ki tu hi hai aas". The song talks about longing and has a semi-classical feel. It has also been performed with the label first.wav by Divyam with Khwaab and Aaghaz. The video has an intimate drawing room setting. There's a picture of the late Kavya Singh, vocalist with AVC. This is an apt tribute - Divyam, Kavya and AVC had earlier performed together on the melodious 'Mausam'. Aanchal Srivastava & Swarupa Ananth/ Charkha Language & genre: Punjabi, Sufi-folk Label: Self-released  Rati...
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Gig review/:Perfect Strangers

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR An Evening With Perfect Strangers Genre : Indie/ rock-fusion Details ; NMACC Cube, May 24 Rating : **** With Bengaluru band Perfect Strangers, one can never tell when jazz blends with rock, and funk mingles with pop. The music seamlessly moves from one style to another, as two vocalists are accompanied by electric guitar, keyboards, saxophone, bass and a hyperactive set of drums. In a departure from their regular practice of playing to a talkative standing crowd at alcohol-drenched nightclubs, they performed for a disciplined and focussed sit-down bunch at the NMACC Cube on Sunday. And they seemed to enjoy every bit of the 90-minute set.  Vocalists Ananya Raja and Pranav DM coordinated perfectly, with the former having more of the singing share. The group's founder, guitarist Debjeet Basu, played some smooth solos, and keyboardists Joshua Costa and saxophonist Pranay Gulvady chipped in with neat inputs. Bassist Vishal Varier and drummer Preran Gulvady firmed up t...
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