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By Narendra Kusnur Concert: My Brazilian Suingue Artiste: Jim Porto Genre: Bossa nova Details: Tata Theatre, January 22 Rating: **** The transition was so smooth that the Tata Theatre audience was taken totally by surprise. After four balladsy, romantic numbers, Brazilian bossa nova artiste Jim Porto went into dance mode, and everyone clapped in chorus. Congadrums, timbales and shakers maintained the rhythm. Now settled in Rome, Porto has been a regular visitor to India for the past two years. Besides gigs in Goa and New Delhi, he performed at the NCPA International Jazz Festival in 2018. His style is rooted in traditional 1960s bossa nova, the Brazilian genre blending jazz and samba, but towards the end of the show, he did improvised versions of Latino-dance hits. Saturday’s concert, titled My Brazilian Suingue , lasted two hours and there was no intermission. Besides playing piano, Porto sang brilliantly, displaying perfect pitching. His dancing was a treat to watch

By Narendra Kusnur Concert: Bombay Brass Artistes: Bombay Brass, led by Rhys Sebastian Genre: Jazz, fusion Details: AntiSocial, Lower Parel, January 22 Rating: **** (Pic by Rishabh Chadha) Around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, four musicians walked into the main door of AntiSocial, Lower Parel, playing their instruments. Two of them carried a saxophone, one had a trumpet and another a trombone. The packed venue cheered as Bombay Brass began its set. Led by Rhys Sebastian on alto and tenor sax, the musicians played a scintillating mix of jazz, funk, Latino, Hindi film tunes and Indo-fusion. The gig also marked the launch of the group’s four-track self-titled EP, now available on the streaming platforms. The band had that thing called swing. For about 80 minutes, they played tunes that oscillated between the contemporary and the old school, flipping through genres smoothly. Besides Sebastian, who composed the original tunes, the line-up comprised I.D. Rao on sax,

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Rare Artiste: Selena Gomez Genre: Pop Label: Interscope Records Rating: **** Four years after her last record Revival , American singer-actress Selena Gomez comes out with her new collection Rare.  In the meanwhile, she's suffered from lupus, a neurological disorder, undergone treatment for depression and anxiety, and broken up with her exes Justin Bieber and The Weeknd. This 14-track collection thus contains a mix of songs on past relationships and tunes that talk of her fightback. It's a very young-audience-friendly set, with a simple pop sound and occasional doses of dance flavour. Her Christina Aguilera singing influence and Bruno Mars composition style are evident on many numbers. “Baby, you’ve been so distant from me lately, And lately, don’t wanna call you baby,” she sings on the opening title track, before saying somebody else will accept her for being rare. The mood continues on ‘Lose You To Love Me’, which goes, “We’d always

By Narendra Kusnur  Album: Hyperspace Artiste: Beck Genre: Alternative Label: Capitol Records Rating: *** Since he made his debut in 1993, American alternative singer-songwriter Beck Hansen has been pretty prolific, releasing amazing albums like Odelay, Sea Change and Colors . His style is very eclectic, drawing from folk, rock, blues and hip-hop but blending it with electronic effects, samplework and dominant chorus lines. On his latest album Hyperspace,  mostly consisting of songs of gloom and failed relationships, he teams up with singer-rapper-producer Pharrell Williams on seven of the 11 tracks, and even has a guest appearance by Coldplay’s Chris Martin on one number. Individually, the songs have their strong points, but overall, the album somehow lacks the funk and fizz of the previous gems. You don’t mind playing it in the background, but very little grows beyond a point. After a short introduction on ‘Hyperlife’, one is pleasantly surprised to hear the tabla on

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Thanks For The Dance Artiste: Leonard Cohen Genre: Singer-songwriter Label: Columbia/ Legacy Rating: **** Canadian singer Leonard Cohen’s 14th album You Want It Darker  was released just 19 days before his death in November 2016. A collection that talked of death, ailment and spirituality, it received a great response among fans. One would have presumed that would be the legend’s swan song, but his son Adam Cohen had now put out the album Thanks For The Dance,  containing pieces the maestro recorded but never completed. And mind you, this isn’t a series of leftovers from previous records, but songs he had planned to eventually release. In many ways, this project is reminiscent of An American Prayer,  where other members of the Doors used poetry recorded by Jim Morrison. Even the tracks here have subdued instrumentation, concentrating on simple acoustic guitar lines, as Cohen renders his writing in a semi-spoken, poetry recitation format. The