Gig review/ Syncopation


BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Band: Syncopation 

Genre: Jazz-funk

Details: September 6, BlueBop Cafe 

Rating: **** 1/2

(Pictures taken by blogger)

Formed by guitarist Risshi S. Sachdeva, Delhi-based Syncopation first made news with its album Tune In, released in 2013. Their forte is their wonderfully improvised and energetic blend of jazz and funk, which came alive on Wednesday night at The BlueBop Cafe on Linking Road.

The band is ready with its new album The Indian Sky, whose first single 'Around My House' was given a four-star rating in this blog a couple of weeks ago. That was obviously one of the highlights of the show, where unreleased tracks 'Almora' and 'Motherlove' were also showcased.

After gigs in Delhi-NCR and Kolkata kicked off this tour, Mumbai attracted a moderate but appreciative crowd, being a mid-week slot. In a way, that was good, as the bar chatter often takes over the mood on Friday nights, when the venue regularly hosts shows. Tonight (September 9), they perform in Pune.

If Mumbai witnessed two guitar-driven shows by Warren Mendonsa's Blackstratblues and the Amyt Datta Electric Power Quartet at the NMACC over the past fortnight, Syncopation was more balanced, as each member got equal space. Saxophonist Aniket Chaturvedi and the boyish keyboardist Vatsal Bakhda had some incredible solos and fill-ins, whereas bassist Sonic Shori and drummer Nikhil Vasudevan combined on what was perhaps the most tightly-knit and pulsative rhythm section heard live in Mumbai over the past couple of months.

All the tracks, beginning with 'Homegrown' and concluding with 'Rishikesh', were composed by Sachdeva. Yet, he never tried to dominate the proceedings, making sure that all instruments combined to cook up the tastiest-possible balanced-diet dish. His own playing was marvellous, emphasising on melodic phrases and sudden twists.

The 10-track list included four numbers from the Tune In album - 'Amazing Love', 'Blues For Josh', 'Smoke It' and 'Overflow'. They all had strokes of brilliance, like everything else played that day. The album is available on the streaming platforms and definitely worth a check-out or a revisit, depending on one's familiarity level. Also worth a look is the YouTube video of 'Kashi', a collaboration with Rajasthani folk singer Bagga Khan as part of the Anahad Foundation's Equal Sessions series.

One looks forward to the rest of Syncopation's new album, and also to more gigs in Mumbai. The energy this band emanates is just incredible and the best part is that one never finds a moment where the musicality is compromised.






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