You can love him or hate him, but damn you just can’t be indifferent to his music. It seems he played live after 14 years. Was it the stage block (a la writers’ block) that had been keeping him off stage? Or was it an intrinsic reticence on his part. A few times I asked him, he sounded rather defensive, “Aww I ain’t as talented as some of the guys who play here, I’m not actually a musician, I’m just a composer…”
In his own way, I think he was trying to tell me not to expect incendiary instrumental skills during his performance. I also feel he wasn’t too sure of the impact of the music on the Blue Frog audiences. He might even have been unsure of himself about how would he be able to pull on a live act. He must be feeling rusted, and nervous and apprehensive.
Thank God, Ashutosh Phatak did not pursue his Wharton MBA. And thank God for his dad who from the first row was egging him for an encore (“One for your dad?”). For, it must take special dads to be cool about opting for music instead of Whartons. I have a friend whose son – a maths grad, no less – plays in a band full time. This friend is special. SO I know what kind of dads inspire their sons, oh-so-subtly...
Ashu is a dreamer. And it reflects on his music. I don’t exactly understand what “psy-fi” (psychological fiction?) means. Sounds pretentious to me, but the music that Ashu had composed was anything but pretentious. Even a track titled Plastic Poetry had pretentiousness shorn off, loud and clear.
In fact, the music that night had all the ingredients that would captivate a 5,000 strong crowd. For the 350 odd present that night, it was indeed a brave new world that was transgressed that night. I don’t know if Ashu had soma – I’m sure he didn’t – but the operatic rendition of all inclusive genre of music that he had composed has to be listened to with scrutiny. If music needed to be added to Huxley, Ashu had got it pat. A composition would start with a blues flavour, progress into jazz, break into gospel, soul, funk, R&B, rhythm, shriek its way into metal and rock, and then come back to the soulful vocals. His compositions had them all, but what I loved was the way each merged with the other, seamlessly, effortlessly, liltingly and it was fuckin’ awesome!
Ashu’s music (not to be confused with Iron Maiden’s album, Brave New World – yes, that too is based on Huxley’s classic), particularly reminded me of Huxley and of what GBS wrote about Brave New World, “…A new bitterness, and a new bewilderment, ran through all social life, and was reflected in all literature and art. It was contemptuous, not only of old Capitalism, but of the old socialism. Brave New World is more of rebvolt against Utopia than against Victoria (as in Victorian self-righteousness)”
Alter the co-ordinates, add today’s social dimensions, set it against today’s context, and the 90 minute performance that night gains a significance that all musicians and patrons need to take note. Songs like Epiphany (confession: that’s the only name I remember now and Plastic Poetry, a name I didn’t like much) and the music that he has composed for all the tracks actually define to me not just the social and psychological angst of individuals, it throws open the political gauntlet too, in an individual idiom, of course.
The explanation of his music on the website reads, “Mumbai-born composer ASHUTOSH PHATAK’s music is the stuff of dreams. Opulent, lucid and at times unsettling, Ashu’s mystic soundscapes artfully weave stories of love and loss, of hope and fear: stories that are at once intensely personal and invitingly universal. His psy-fi rock operas are best listened to in their entirety, and offer an immersive sensory experience that immediately engulfs. Both his debut album ‘I’ and upcoming sophomore release ‘Epiphany’ are rooted in duality, and exist in fantastic worlds that are intimate, expansive and rich in their visual imagery. But listener beware: this is not music for the faint of heart, journeying as it does between the ethereal and the nightmarish.”
Discount the hype, delete the psychological mumbo-jumbo, just home in to the last line. It truly is not for the faint hearted or wimpy fence-sitters. This is a music that gets your adrenalin rushing, this is a music that will either prompt you to dig into your lover to draw blood or prompt you to snatch the batons from the pigs and break all the glasses in your vicinity. Certain tracks incite you to a never-ending foreplay while others made me feel like going back to boxing rink and pound each other’s flesh out. It made you scream, exult, cry, fight, in a truly cathartic way.
What was highly impressive was the musicians who came that night to accompany Ashu. Himself on keys and vocals, it was Vivian Pocha’s black mama’s voice, that added the soul, Sanjay Dwivecha’s guitar riffs and wails that permeated the genres, and most of all it was the drummer (I can never remember his name) who continued punching the adrenalin rush, inexorably, and mercilessly. I, however, missed some heavy metal guitaring in portions. There were times when Sanjay’s guitar plucks and wails needed to be complemented by some Hendrix-like electric guitar riffs and wah-wahs. In hindsight, its OK, because if they had a bit of heavier metal, who knows, the crowd could have stampeded or broken a few crockery.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I feel that maybe someone should make a rock opera kind of a movie based on Huxley’s Brave New World in the 21st century. Just film it on two characters, Bernard and Lenina and maybe John and Linda, posit it against the social indifference and Page 3 uniformity of today and you have a context. Put Ashu’s performance with live musicians on the stage and you have a recipe for an experiment worth trying.
If only I had the brains and creativity of Mahesh and his team…
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bob Belden of Blue Note fame plays at Blue Frog!
Am I willing to eat crow? Not yet but Bob Belden and his Animation came pretty close to making me eat my words. Guitarist Al Street, Drummer Rocky Bryant, bassist David Dyson and DJ Logic performed at Blue Frog and I was there both the days.
For those who might not be aware of Belden, he’s an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer. His sense of arrangement and compositions was quite evident on both the days, particularly the second night when he invited Mumbai artists to jam with the band. But to put things in perspective, one first needs to understand Belden’s credentials and his musical pedigree.
One of the most adventurous arrangers of the 1990s and 2000s, Bob Belden took the music of Puccini, Prince, and (with the most success) Sting, and turned it into jazz. (Remember in one my earlier blogs I did mention the jazz potential of Sting’s Probably me) In his formative years, Belden studied saxophone with Lou Marini Sr., father of famed jazz saxophonist, Lou Marini (Buddy Rich Big Band, Blood, Sweat and Tears, best known as "Blue Lou" of the Blues Brothers Band). Belden also assisted with Columbia Records' Miles Davis reissue program. He played in a duet with trumpeter Tim Hagans, issuing a live album on Blue Note in 2000 entitled Re-Animation Live!
But Belden will always be known for his 2001 release Black Dahlia. In 1947, a Hollywood actress called Elizabeth Short was murdered, It was covered extensively in the press and involved the entire Los Angeles police force. A young girl who moved to Los Angeles from Massachusetts to pursue her dream of fame, Short moved through a series of seamy encounters that eventually ended with her shudderingly gruesome murder. Police called it “The Black Dahlia Murder” because of the blackness of her hair and the attractiveness of her dresses. I think I have seen the movie as well. James Ellroy later wrote the novel, “Black Dahlia” that provided the inspiration to Belden.
It seems that the musical intellect of Belden merged with his interest in melodrama to spark a composition in 12 parts that captures Short's imagined state of mind. Starting with the “Genesis” section, Black Dahlia interjects an attention-grabbing exclamation before Belden develops a dreamy wonder described by Lawrence Feldman's alto. Alluding to Belden's fondness for Miles Davis' work, as does “Dreamworld,” “In Flight” then takes her from home, breezily depicted by muted trumpet and Ira Coleman's thrilling accelerated pace “City Of Angels,” as performed by Tim Hagans describes Los Angeles in serene, glowing harmonic ascents and descents with references to Jerry Goldsmith's stunning score for the movie Chinatown.
Black Dahlia, without a doubt, will be remembered as the most ambitious jazz recording of the recent past. Rather than a blowing session, influential though blowing sessions may be, Bob Belden's Black Dahlia is an extended story-telling, romantic and fatalistic suite that was three years in the making. In addition, over sixty musicians were required to fill the symphony orchestra that accomplishes Belden's vision.
The story was necessary to understand what Bob Belden was doing those days in India and at Blue Frog. He would start a tune, a melody , and let DJ Logic play magic with his hands and vinyl. Born Jason Kibler, DJ Logic is a turntablist active primarily in jazz and with jam bands. His own recordings are perhaps best described as contemporary soul jazz with a strong hip hop feel. An early interest in hip hop led to his using the turntables, but he was also interested in funk and jazz music, and began collaborating with various musicians. His own recordings are perhaps best described as contemporary soul jazz with a strong hip hop feel. Kibler tours often with his own group, Project Logic, and has recorded or performed with Vernon Reid, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bob Belden, Jack Johnson, Chris Whitley, Uri Caine, Christian McBride and others.
And he sure turned the tables that separated the men from the boys. One hand would pluck notes like in an acoustic guitar while the other one turned the vinyl. But the electronic sound tasted different. It had the finesse of avante garde jazz, rhythm of swinging dance beat, panache of jazzy improvisations and the maturity of knowing when to seek inspiration.
That inspiration was provided in no small measure by the bassist David Dyson. Unfortunately, there were only a few moments by Dyson but I was almost transfixed by his jazz-funk style of bass. At times, he let loose a two-minute slap groove that left my mouth in a perfect “o.” It didn’t lack for pyrotechnics, but what floored me was how the rhythmic and melodic content of the slap lines kept evolving, as if it were a simple fingerstyle R&B or blues bass line. His slap technique showed up as a flawless extension of his musicality.
I also felt that Al Street would play the blues as brilliantly as rock. He showed traces of both. And what a guitarist he is! A bit subdued at times, but once he gets the cue, man, you don’t need a wild imagination like mine to guess his potential.
Once again, I found the Sunday show at Blue Frog as the climax. In the second set, when Beldon invited our own Dhruv and Louiz, and Harmeet with his magical fingers (I can bet they had met earlier and kind of jammed a bit), the effect was magical. With DJ Logic and drummer Bryant keeping the tempo going, Dhruv, Street, Harmeet and Bassist Dyson were just magical. That Dhruv never ceases to surprise me with his repertoire. It was a class act in all senses of the term.
And when Beldon announced that his next album will have Indian sounds, remember my first blog. This is what Blue Frog is all about: a catalyst in the musical future. Last Sunday, the Frog leaped across yet another threshold of respectability.
For those who might not be aware of Belden, he’s an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer. His sense of arrangement and compositions was quite evident on both the days, particularly the second night when he invited Mumbai artists to jam with the band. But to put things in perspective, one first needs to understand Belden’s credentials and his musical pedigree.
One of the most adventurous arrangers of the 1990s and 2000s, Bob Belden took the music of Puccini, Prince, and (with the most success) Sting, and turned it into jazz. (Remember in one my earlier blogs I did mention the jazz potential of Sting’s Probably me) In his formative years, Belden studied saxophone with Lou Marini Sr., father of famed jazz saxophonist, Lou Marini (Buddy Rich Big Band, Blood, Sweat and Tears, best known as "Blue Lou" of the Blues Brothers Band). Belden also assisted with Columbia Records' Miles Davis reissue program. He played in a duet with trumpeter Tim Hagans, issuing a live album on Blue Note in 2000 entitled Re-Animation Live!
But Belden will always be known for his 2001 release Black Dahlia. In 1947, a Hollywood actress called Elizabeth Short was murdered, It was covered extensively in the press and involved the entire Los Angeles police force. A young girl who moved to Los Angeles from Massachusetts to pursue her dream of fame, Short moved through a series of seamy encounters that eventually ended with her shudderingly gruesome murder. Police called it “The Black Dahlia Murder” because of the blackness of her hair and the attractiveness of her dresses. I think I have seen the movie as well. James Ellroy later wrote the novel, “Black Dahlia” that provided the inspiration to Belden.
It seems that the musical intellect of Belden merged with his interest in melodrama to spark a composition in 12 parts that captures Short's imagined state of mind. Starting with the “Genesis” section, Black Dahlia interjects an attention-grabbing exclamation before Belden develops a dreamy wonder described by Lawrence Feldman's alto. Alluding to Belden's fondness for Miles Davis' work, as does “Dreamworld,” “In Flight” then takes her from home, breezily depicted by muted trumpet and Ira Coleman's thrilling accelerated pace “City Of Angels,” as performed by Tim Hagans describes Los Angeles in serene, glowing harmonic ascents and descents with references to Jerry Goldsmith's stunning score for the movie Chinatown.
Black Dahlia, without a doubt, will be remembered as the most ambitious jazz recording of the recent past. Rather than a blowing session, influential though blowing sessions may be, Bob Belden's Black Dahlia is an extended story-telling, romantic and fatalistic suite that was three years in the making. In addition, over sixty musicians were required to fill the symphony orchestra that accomplishes Belden's vision.
The story was necessary to understand what Bob Belden was doing those days in India and at Blue Frog. He would start a tune, a melody , and let DJ Logic play magic with his hands and vinyl. Born Jason Kibler, DJ Logic is a turntablist active primarily in jazz and with jam bands. His own recordings are perhaps best described as contemporary soul jazz with a strong hip hop feel. An early interest in hip hop led to his using the turntables, but he was also interested in funk and jazz music, and began collaborating with various musicians. His own recordings are perhaps best described as contemporary soul jazz with a strong hip hop feel. Kibler tours often with his own group, Project Logic, and has recorded or performed with Vernon Reid, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bob Belden, Jack Johnson, Chris Whitley, Uri Caine, Christian McBride and others.
And he sure turned the tables that separated the men from the boys. One hand would pluck notes like in an acoustic guitar while the other one turned the vinyl. But the electronic sound tasted different. It had the finesse of avante garde jazz, rhythm of swinging dance beat, panache of jazzy improvisations and the maturity of knowing when to seek inspiration.
That inspiration was provided in no small measure by the bassist David Dyson. Unfortunately, there were only a few moments by Dyson but I was almost transfixed by his jazz-funk style of bass. At times, he let loose a two-minute slap groove that left my mouth in a perfect “o.” It didn’t lack for pyrotechnics, but what floored me was how the rhythmic and melodic content of the slap lines kept evolving, as if it were a simple fingerstyle R&B or blues bass line. His slap technique showed up as a flawless extension of his musicality.
I also felt that Al Street would play the blues as brilliantly as rock. He showed traces of both. And what a guitarist he is! A bit subdued at times, but once he gets the cue, man, you don’t need a wild imagination like mine to guess his potential.
Once again, I found the Sunday show at Blue Frog as the climax. In the second set, when Beldon invited our own Dhruv and Louiz, and Harmeet with his magical fingers (I can bet they had met earlier and kind of jammed a bit), the effect was magical. With DJ Logic and drummer Bryant keeping the tempo going, Dhruv, Street, Harmeet and Bassist Dyson were just magical. That Dhruv never ceases to surprise me with his repertoire. It was a class act in all senses of the term.
And when Beldon announced that his next album will have Indian sounds, remember my first blog. This is what Blue Frog is all about: a catalyst in the musical future. Last Sunday, the Frog leaped across yet another threshold of respectability.
The Washington Post Story
Well, within three months of Blue Frog, Washington Post carries a story on Blue Frog. Well, Mahesh Mathai is NOT a Bollywood film director and the sound engoneers are from London, NOT LA. Rest is for you to read.
Time Zones: Friday Night at a Mumbai Hot Spot
Where the Glitterati Go to Listen, Hip-Hop Meets Indian Classical
Gallery
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 11, 2008; Page A14
MUMBAI It's 10:30 on a Friday night and already a big, breathless crowd is trying to get into a former warehouse here. Inside is the Blue Frog, one of this city's few live music venues, which six nights a week hosts a stream of international rock and hip-hop acts that often fuse their sounds with Indian classical music.
People who make it through the door squeeze up to the bar. Apple martinis, cranberry flirtinis, cosmos and mojitos are all on offer, the usual libation lineup on the globalized lounge scene.
Nearby there's bright white pod seating, surrounded with glowing blue lights. Positioned around the stage, each pod looks something like a giant lily pad tinged in blue. Patrons are left to imagine the blue frog that might be resting on it.
Those lucky enough to score a pod -- heroes and heroines from Bollywood films, models and modelizers, plus a few literati -- settle in for the evening. They eye the crowd. But this is not a place where people come just to see and be seen. They come to listen.
Around them beats one of India's most powerful sound systems. Concert-size speakers are bolted to the rafters. The off-white walls are bubbled, as if beach balls were trying to squeeze through, the contours cutting the acoustic bounce that can muddy the music.
A sound engineer from Los Angeles designed the system, and high fidelity extends from the nightclub to the recording studios next door, which produce some of the up-and-coming acts that take the stage here.
Pushing through the crowd at 10:46 is Mahesh Mathai, a popular Bollywood filmmaker who co-founded the three-month-old club, along with a few musicians, a restaurateur and an MBA.
Mathai, who sports a sleek Caesar haircut, delivers a quick double-kiss hello to a pretty female friend. Then, raising his voice to be heard above the din, he explains that the club is "every boy's dream. . . . We wanted music to be the soul of the club. Everyone in Bombay thought it was time for a place that broke all the cliches of listening to classical Indian music in a conference hall. We wanted our sound to be fresh, to break down global boundaries."
As India's economy rises, it seems, so does the quality of its music scene.
The Blue Frog provides visual stimulation, too. On giant video screens suspended above the stage are streaming psychedelic montages of animated dancing babies, 1960s-style light-show shapes pulsating to the beat and cartoon-like figures rocking out with air guitars.
Since this is India, where people love to eat when they drink, there's a full kitchen with an award-winning chef, dishing up plate after plate of chi-chi foods -- ricotta and tangerine tortellini pot stickers with saffron aioli, perhaps, or duck breast with maple, mustard and coffee marinade.
Sucking down a cold beer and biting into some sweet chicken wings, Shiram Misra, 32, sits in one of the pods, which hold five to 10 people and are positioned so that the stage is always visible over the heads of others.
"The place is stunning and the food is a hit. But this place has music at its heart," said Misra, who does marketing for a liquor company. "We were so desperate for this in India, to find a place that really centers around the acoustics. It's a gift to India and anyone who appreciates sound."
At 11:15, the evening's live band explodes onto the stage. It's a six-man Austrian hip-hop group called Bauchklang, which might be translated as "tummy tones." They have no instruments.
They do bass with ultra-fast roars from the gut, they whistle, they blow out puffs of air -- all the time holding microphones close to their lips. They make keyboard sounds with blips and burps and mouth clicks. The group's latest CD describes one member as "mouth percussion," another as "human beatbox."
All of the sounds are amplified; the bass makes the whole room tremble. Clubgoers, in awe, pour onto the dance floor. Everyone is grooving and moving.
But the highlight of the night comes at 11:45, when classical Indian crooner Shilpa Rao, who sings for Bollywood movies, joins the band onstage. The resulting blend of hip-hop sounds and her velvety voice is smooth and magical.
Soon another Indian artist joins the Austrians to imitate the Indian tabla drum with his mouth. Tak, dada, tak, tak. The Austrians add their own beats. The crowd cheers, camera phones click, cocktails are polished off.
"We are in Bombay, the new India. Why not have this kind of club?" exclaimed Sarah Jane, one of the country's several Miss Indias. "When we hear the music of young India we feel more alive."
Outside, just after midnight, the line is growing longer, with the young Indians bobbing their heads to the beat filtering out.
ends
I bet there'll be many more international media coverage on the Frog!
Time Zones: Friday Night at a Mumbai Hot Spot
Where the Glitterati Go to Listen, Hip-Hop Meets Indian Classical
Gallery
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 11, 2008; Page A14
MUMBAI It's 10:30 on a Friday night and already a big, breathless crowd is trying to get into a former warehouse here. Inside is the Blue Frog, one of this city's few live music venues, which six nights a week hosts a stream of international rock and hip-hop acts that often fuse their sounds with Indian classical music.
People who make it through the door squeeze up to the bar. Apple martinis, cranberry flirtinis, cosmos and mojitos are all on offer, the usual libation lineup on the globalized lounge scene.
Nearby there's bright white pod seating, surrounded with glowing blue lights. Positioned around the stage, each pod looks something like a giant lily pad tinged in blue. Patrons are left to imagine the blue frog that might be resting on it.
Those lucky enough to score a pod -- heroes and heroines from Bollywood films, models and modelizers, plus a few literati -- settle in for the evening. They eye the crowd. But this is not a place where people come just to see and be seen. They come to listen.
Around them beats one of India's most powerful sound systems. Concert-size speakers are bolted to the rafters. The off-white walls are bubbled, as if beach balls were trying to squeeze through, the contours cutting the acoustic bounce that can muddy the music.
A sound engineer from Los Angeles designed the system, and high fidelity extends from the nightclub to the recording studios next door, which produce some of the up-and-coming acts that take the stage here.
Pushing through the crowd at 10:46 is Mahesh Mathai, a popular Bollywood filmmaker who co-founded the three-month-old club, along with a few musicians, a restaurateur and an MBA.
Mathai, who sports a sleek Caesar haircut, delivers a quick double-kiss hello to a pretty female friend. Then, raising his voice to be heard above the din, he explains that the club is "every boy's dream. . . . We wanted music to be the soul of the club. Everyone in Bombay thought it was time for a place that broke all the cliches of listening to classical Indian music in a conference hall. We wanted our sound to be fresh, to break down global boundaries."
As India's economy rises, it seems, so does the quality of its music scene.
The Blue Frog provides visual stimulation, too. On giant video screens suspended above the stage are streaming psychedelic montages of animated dancing babies, 1960s-style light-show shapes pulsating to the beat and cartoon-like figures rocking out with air guitars.
Since this is India, where people love to eat when they drink, there's a full kitchen with an award-winning chef, dishing up plate after plate of chi-chi foods -- ricotta and tangerine tortellini pot stickers with saffron aioli, perhaps, or duck breast with maple, mustard and coffee marinade.
Sucking down a cold beer and biting into some sweet chicken wings, Shiram Misra, 32, sits in one of the pods, which hold five to 10 people and are positioned so that the stage is always visible over the heads of others.
"The place is stunning and the food is a hit. But this place has music at its heart," said Misra, who does marketing for a liquor company. "We were so desperate for this in India, to find a place that really centers around the acoustics. It's a gift to India and anyone who appreciates sound."
At 11:15, the evening's live band explodes onto the stage. It's a six-man Austrian hip-hop group called Bauchklang, which might be translated as "tummy tones." They have no instruments.
They do bass with ultra-fast roars from the gut, they whistle, they blow out puffs of air -- all the time holding microphones close to their lips. They make keyboard sounds with blips and burps and mouth clicks. The group's latest CD describes one member as "mouth percussion," another as "human beatbox."
All of the sounds are amplified; the bass makes the whole room tremble. Clubgoers, in awe, pour onto the dance floor. Everyone is grooving and moving.
But the highlight of the night comes at 11:45, when classical Indian crooner Shilpa Rao, who sings for Bollywood movies, joins the band onstage. The resulting blend of hip-hop sounds and her velvety voice is smooth and magical.
Soon another Indian artist joins the Austrians to imitate the Indian tabla drum with his mouth. Tak, dada, tak, tak. The Austrians add their own beats. The crowd cheers, camera phones click, cocktails are polished off.
"We are in Bombay, the new India. Why not have this kind of club?" exclaimed Sarah Jane, one of the country's several Miss Indias. "When we hear the music of young India we feel more alive."
Outside, just after midnight, the line is growing longer, with the young Indians bobbing their heads to the beat filtering out.
ends
I bet there'll be many more international media coverage on the Frog!
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