The Blue Frog

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…

by Shekhar Ghosh (from Brave New World 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.

By Shekhar Ghosh
(from Bob Belden of Blue Note fame plays at Blue Frog!)

The stage looked bare on the 28th of February, a Thursaday at the Blue Frog. Like everyone else in the club, I didn’t know what to expect from this band. The only information available on them before the Thursday show was five voices – NO instruments – magically produce hip-hop, reggae, africanism among other music genres. So I had kept my faith in Blue Frog’s habit of showcasing some good new music in the city, and waited for the experience, gazing at that empty stage.

Then at near 11 pm, came the announcement. “Ladies and Gentleman… “. In the course of their introduction over the P.A., I remember the announcer mentioned something about Bauchlang “.. literally  creating music out of thin air..” I only got the pun much later.

Well, Bauchlang took stage. 5 guys and 5 microphones. Before anyone even knew that something had begun, a rich, multiple-timbred, comprehensive sound within a steady rhythm had already made its way into the people’s conciousness. The people looked confused.. where was all this coming from? The drumkit, the bass guitar, the vocal processors were nowhere to be seen.
Acapella.. BeatBoxing..  you can call that their technique. But there are very few words to describe their reaction on the audience. Thursday, Friday, Saturday- Bauchlang Bauchlang Bauchlang !!! Ustad Zakir Hussain and Taufeeq Qureshi too joined them on stage at a point.

   

The next day I heard them on a mumbai radio station. Bauchlang had come to india not knowing what to expect, so it was good to see the Mumbai music appreciators warming up to them so well. They had interviews on radio, there have been various write-ups on them in various newspapers and websites.
Its fair to say that Bauchlang dropped a bomb on Mumbai. Nothing like this has ever happened before on such a large scale in the city. Their art appreciated, and their shows loved.

After the show was over at the Blue Frog, one can imagine hundreds of people BeatBoxing  in their cars,  as they go back home! That’s called impact!
 

I have said this earlier and will say it again: Sundays are the best nights at Blue Frog. Last Sunday was no exception. In fact, I felt that Sunday’s gig kind of defined Blue Frog’s musical sojourn for me.

Georg Gratzer is a classically trained musician and plays saxophones, bass clarinet, flute and percussion. He has studied jazz saxophone in Austria and plays in a successful folk band there. Thomas Mauerhofer trained in classical guitar, studied jazz guitar at the prestigious Graz University, and plays in rock bands. Raul Sengupta, born in Hannover, Germany, studied various world percussions with international musicians like Luis Conte and Ismail Sané, and tabla with Pandit Shankar Ghosh (no relative of mine).

Together these three talented young men – can be loosely defined as world musicians – created magic on the stage. Bringing elements from all over the musical world to jazz compositions, Georg on his trumpet and Thomas with a huge repertoire of guitar music and styles, roped in Raul’s percussion rhythms to create jazz improvisations with sublime ease.

In a way this truly defines Blue Frog for me. Here’s a stage where some extremely talented musicians jam together, improvise together, discover new chemistry of sounds and use the energy of an applauding and appreciating audience to marvel at the revelatory harmonies and sounds that seem to be magically produced. That’s history in the making. That one new sound, that one new tempo, that one new octave, that one new unison that suddenly revealed itself while playing could well become the inflexion point of a defining musical chapter in later years. And acknowledge it or not, it all happened at Blue Frog.

And when this “jam” showcases a dance performance by Hina Sarojini, a name I was totally unfamiliar with, who brought in classic Indian dance forms ranging from Kathak, kathakali, Bharat Natyam, Odyssey, permuted and combined them with oriental kabuki kinda dance drama and displayed the power of Indian mudras that swayed with each change of scale, the result was mesmerising.

Suddenly, that Sunday gig transformed itself into a performance. A performance that would captivate any audience anywhere in any setting! It was clearly impromptu, but Ms Sarojini unravelled lots of grey areas for me. For once, the intricacies of Indian classic dance forms, the exaggerated eye movements, the sudden fluid change of dance scale (so to speak) made perfect sense when she started narrating the story of a jazz improvisation through her dance. I’m not kiddin’ but Hina added that fictional flesh to an esoteric jazz live act. Her dancing brought out the range of the music being improvised on the stage – from mellowness to sensuousness, from prankster fun to primal joy, it was all there. That to me was a revelation, a moment of bliss.

I been thinking about this for a while now, and discussing with friends, but the audience too plays an important part in getting the best out of acts. Several musicians have told me that they draw energy from the audience during their live acts. A positive energy from the audience enhances the quality, often surprising the musicians itself. An indifferent or negative energy so affects the act. One large, noisy table at Blue Frog ruins the experience for all of us. Its alright when electronica and thumping beats are deafening the senses anyway, but for crying out loud, when music is sublime, shrieking out loud even if four pair of cleavages get entangled is not kosher.

The musicians feel insulted, the audience helpless and frustrated.

I would definitely urge all true music lovers to drop by on Sunday evenings at Blue Frog. The music is great, the ambience mellow, the ladies are elegant, the men engrossed, the band often engages with you, everybody likes to stop and speak and perhaps say hello with just a glance.

- by Shekhar Ghosh

 

Avaaz or AVZ burst into life in 2004, in New York City.

What followed was a massive amalgamation of artists from all over the world pooling in their music and performances, and a monthly gathering.

 

Describing themselves as electro global discotek, the diverse sound of AVZ ranges from spoken music by an MC to electronic dance by a DJ, Jam-band music to Dhol’n’Bass. A lot of experimental music is given room to spread in AVZ

 

Thursday night at The Blue Frog was hosted by Ranjit (one of the original members of AVZ). He introduced to us 3 full-scale performances in a single night!

 

1 Ranjit and Friends

Ranjit on guitar and vocals began the night by singing his own compositions, and the band providing the up-tempo music to dance to. Shanks (who’s performed before at the Frog) played an array of instruments including the harmonica.

 

 

 

They played a song called ‘Indian in New York’ which was Ranjit’s version of the sensational Sting number. After singing this song, the intention of AVZ was clear. They want people to come together with music as the root, as opposed to an alienation of any kind. MUSIC SHALL UNITE US!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Shaa'ir + Func

With a new and ever-rising popularity, the beautiful Shaa'ir took the vocal microphone and Func picked up the guitar with the sequencer in front of him. Rock-based rhythms were generated with Lindsay hammering at the drums.

 

Information is spreading and music is reaching listeners globally. This is a fact that Shaa'ir and Func abide by. Keeping the people on their feet with electronic-rock, they continued to deliver energy late into the night.. the people cheering throughout!

 

3 DJ Nasha

Nasha, from the DJ console played between the Ranjit and Shaair + Func performances. I noticed him fiddling with his faders and records on the turntables while he was waiting to play. When Shaair + Func went off stage, Nasha got what he asked for.. the attention of all the people, willing to dance to the music!

 

The party continued till late in the night. The AVZ Bomb was dropped on The Blue Frog. I hope that the next time Avaaz is in Bombay, more people will gather and play an active part in the communication of ‘Unification via Music’

 

by  Eshaan Trivedi

 

 

 

 

Listeners of Jazz:

Look at the calendar on your wall.. If Feb 19^th, Tuesday isn’t circled, then you have missed out on something... You have missed out on an experience that gives you a reference for live jazz in India.

 

Good old Jazz.. that is what I would call Junckt.

Songs with structures so definite, that since they’ve been written, they’ve been played at jazz bars all over the world. I’m talking about songs like Nature Boy, April in Paris, Object of My Affection etc. Sometimes, its hard to know who wrote the original. These standards have been played by musicians since the early 1900’s.

 

Later, came musicians like John Coltrane, who sent these standard songs flying into another dimension, however, they maintained the original structure, the original blueprint, the original time and melody.

 

All 7 members of Junckt took stage at 9:30 PM on a Tuesday.

 

Classical Flute-   Rajeev Raja

Saxophone-        Rhys D’Souza

Trumpet-              Paul Rodriguez

 

Keyboards-           Tala Faral

Guitar-                    Hitesh Dhutia

Bass-                      Adi Mistry

Drums-                   Nirav

 

The horns section sounded rich and loud, with Rajeev, Rhys and Paul. Collectively, they played out familiar numbers like My Favourite Things, Take Five and Norwegian Wood.

Along with Tala and Hitesh, they took turns in improvising on the tunes, bending the structures, and giving their instruments a real test of timbre.

 

The sound of Rajeev’s flute was in unison with the sax and trumpet, and would at other times take off and float in the air for a while.

Tala, having played at the Blue Frog before, showed once again that he is a musician to be taken seriously, as he played on the keyboards all night.

 

A 1 UP for Jazz in the city, I’d say.

Keep playing guys…

 

- by Eshaan Trivedi

 

 

 

 

 

The stage is set.

Guitars, a Laptop, and Keyboards are placed defiantly, shining with metallic character, patient with potential.

Reflecting a most porous ultra-violet light, Ranjit Barot’s drumkit stood out like a monster among men… using more than 12 cymbals and crashes ..All gleaming.

 

 

 

 

The musicians assumed position.

 

Dhruv Ghanekar on guitars,

Ranjit Barot on drums,

Louiz Banks on keyboards,

Karl Peters on bass,

Aditya Poduval sequencing.

 

Music began immediately as Dhruv improvised over Ranjit’s various rhythms.

All attention on the guitar now. Dhruv gave his strings a total workout.. playing low, playing high.. scales and modes.. a bluesy tone escaped his guitar. It sounded near psychedelic to me, pulling at the roots of my mind.

 

Karl Peters on bass came in quietly, but before long, his sound was identified as a pillar of support... a pillar swaying to the sound of a sliding bass.

 

The performance was smooth on Sunday Night, as Louiz Banks, Aditya Poduval, Karl Peters, Ranjit and Dhruv jammed into the night.

 

A slow number was played, with Dhruv plucking his electric, and Ranjit playing on only his cymbals. This slowed the pace of the performance. It reminded me of a softer side of Clapton, or like Santana’s Samba Pa Ti.

 

Joined by Amit Chatterjee on guitar, and Shravan as a rapper, the band took various dimensions, continuing into the night.

 

Ranjit introduced the band.. a very personal introduction. He spoke of each musician fondly, like they were all brothers. That’s when I realized that the music scene in Mumbai has been strong since before I was even born. Musicians here have worked at their craft their whole lives, looking at all opportunities to play out loud! 

 

Thanks to places like the Blue Frog, we get to listen, and they get to play. It’s a great partnership.

 

 

 

Firstly, a big thankyou to the show programmers at Blue Frog.

It isn’t everyday that we get such a treat.

 

Flying down with the South London sound,

Shri burst back upon the scene at his home place.

Even with following and fame, the people exclaimed,

“Did he just do that with a bass?!”

 

 

The Band:

 

Drums:                                   Martin Kaine

Synths:                                   Grant Windsor

MC      :                                  JC 001

Bass, Tabla, Flute:               Shri

Percussions (addtl.):            Vivek

 

Shri made his entrance with the spotlight on his bass guitar. Handmade, wooden, antique-like. It really looked like doctored branches from a strong tree.. like something straight out of ancient Indian mythology.

He played it like a violin then, with a bow, emitting classical Hindustani music.

 

He solo’d for a while. Then suddenly.. The beat dropped, the tempo went up… The audience got an appetizer of the rest of the band.

 

Martin Kaine took charge of the rhythm, as he issued Drum ‘n’ Bass patterns to the crowd.

Grant Windsor was quick on the attack, with his twin synthesizers exuding those modulated, moogish sounds.

 

JC 001, as his name suggests, is infact a robot. Capable of rapping at high speeds, he also holds in him a sound library.. of various samples, and sound effects like choppers, dripping taps and cartoon voices. A fantastic performer. JC added an upbeat element to the Shri ensemble.

 

 

The chemistry between Shri, JC, and Martin Kaine was noteworthy. As soloists, they are accomplished as it is. Martin solo’d on his drums often, displaying his extensive skill as a drum ‘n’ bass artist.

 

So, first Shri played out the bassline alone for a couple of bars.. it was some outlandish melody, hard to explain, but loved by the audience.

The drums joined in with a hard snare, and plenty-cymbals. This kicked the energy level up for the crowd. The impact was felt on the dance floor.

But no, it didn’t end there… JC takes the mic, makes a noise, and really stirs the crowd up!

 

FULL IMPACT MUSIC- is what I would call it.

 

JC introduced the party factor, and the people took to it, enjoying the energy being pumped through the loudspeakers. The audience also got involved by chanting a baseline that Shri played. Throughout, there was a clear channel between the people and the band. They kept each other going through the night.

 

A serious elevation, and amplification of the Music Scene in Mumbai.

A special thanks to Blue Frog for bringing the music!

 

Groove Suppa got to release their self-titled album sometime in 2005. What they didn’t get, was a chance to perform it as much as they would’ve liked. For some reason, the band members were neither in the same place nor the same time.

 

So, I was glad to see the full convention, and all four associates there, on stage for the soundcheck.

 

Lindsay Dmello on drums

Tala Farhal on saxophone and keyboards

Dwight Patterson on bass

and Benoy Rai on electric guitar.

 

My first impression of the band, I remember, was that they were a calm lot.. Some talent from different parts of India coming together in Bombay, finding common musical ground, feeling good about their music and jamming on. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t expect too much.  

They showed me how ignorant I can be.

 

I had asked Benoy earlier how he would identify their sound. He said, “Blues… Jazz… Funk… you know..”  Yes I do know.. And so does everybody else.. But what we don’t see, we don’t really know.

 

Lindsay immediately began a planned assault on the drum kit, hammering from one drum roll into another. But then, on an unlikely beat, in an instant, the rest of the band took sudden shape.. a simultaneous surge of voltage.. Dual melody rang clearly, supported with a definite bass.

 

By ‘dual melody’, I mean Tala and Benoy playing scales and lengthy, rounded melodies together, telling a long story with accurate precision… like twins.

 

Benoy, armed with his headless, steinberger, electric guitar, carved out some sharp, bluesy notes to form jazz-like melodies. I particularly enjoyed his solos. They had a live, blues feel to them, even as they were spiraling into jazz. Benoy was playing solos, and duets with Tala. He is an integral part of the band’s positive, up-tempo, certain sound.

Once in a while, he broke into bluesy mellow riffs.

 

Tala’s artillery was extensive. He began with the Moog Rogue, playing those typical atonal, distorted Moog modulated sounds. He then balanced the sound with his second keyboard, the Korg Triton. Going in and out of solos and duets, and also sustaining the rhythm of the band, Tala was quite the eyeful for the audience.

 

I was satisfied enough with the foray that his keyboards were causing, but then he pulled out another weapon.. A Sax. A sax which he blew with all his might.. ‘Funk’, I might call it.. or Jazz.

 

Pure Funk was what Dwight Patterson was doing on bass.

Slapping, tapping, whacking the bass guitar for that thick groove sound, keeping up that tempo, Dwight’s energy and principles are absolutely essential for the Groove Suppa sound.

 

Lindsay Dmello on drums was like a hundred rounds of an assault rifle. He slammed the toms, smashed the hi hats and thrammed the snare. This gave the band that continuous upward motion that they seemed to have.. serious hardball-jazz!

 

Later in the night, the band was joined by Blue Frog’s very own Dhruv Ghanekar, who got a grasp of Groove Suppa’s  music structure, and before long, moved into his soulo’s (soulful solo’s)!

 

All in all, those present at the Blue Frog couldn’t help but follow the rhythm of the band. As they went from high to low, from fast to slow and from hectic to mellow, the audience enjoyed every helping of Groove Suppa.

 

 

After the December 21st, 2007 outburst, where Jalebee performed at the Blue Frog for the first time, one would expect patterns to repeat themselves. But the Cartel had other plans.

 

“8th February: Jalebee Cartel (DJ SET)

9^th February: Jalebee Cartel (LIVE SET)”

 

Reading through the Blue Frog calendar was a celebration in itself for dance and electronica fans in Mumbai. Those who had missed them the last time around had 2 second chances! And one of them, a Live Set!

 

Jalebee Cartel has been gaining a solid reputation. In the last few years, they’ve catapulted like a cannon ball taking off from the Indian soil, flown directly over critics (who didn’t think that India can make progressive dance music) and landed in the front seat of the country’s electronica/ dance scene… and now, traveling around the rest of the world, showing what the Cartel can do.

 

 

Arjun Vagale (laptop, mixing and scratching), Ashvin Mani Sharma (laptop and synths), Ash Roy (vocals and percussions), G-force Arjun (backing vocals and bass) arrived at The Blue Frog for a sound check rather accommodatingly, completely unaware of what could become of an otherwise ordinary Friday evening.

 

Friday Night

When I first heard the Jalebee Cartel sound, I tried comparing it to that of Psychedelic Trance artists. But it didn’t quite fit there. Then I tried identifying them with Progressive Dance, but there was something more than that in their sound. It had elements of IDM, but I wouldn’t leave it in that bracket either.

 

The other thing I didn’t know about Jalebee Cartel was that their fan following is ‘ever-growing’, particularly in the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

 

Soon after Ashvin and Arjun began to spin, the levels at the mixer were cranked up and the four subwoofers started woofing out the heavy basslines and a tight, sledge-hammer kick, the club steadily began to fill up. Electonica-Dance lovers from all over the city made their way to the Blue Frog.

 

By 11:30 PM, the extent of Jalebee Cartel’s popularity, and the measure of the Mumbai Electronic scene lay before me… The Blue Frog was covered from wall to wall with people. There was no place to move! The bar was moving continuously, but the movement which occupied the senses was that of 550+ people dancing! Dancing to the rhythm churned out by Jalebee Cartel.

 

The beats seemed to get thicker and thicker and the rhythm layers seemed to multiply, building up to a mass of electrons that couldn’t hold themselves for even one more second…  Then, silence from the console.. Just the sound of over five hundred people screaming! Asking for it! Then they got it... The collected mass of electrons exploded out of the DJ console, through the loud-speakers, straight into the crowd!

 

And the people, they danced on through the night…

 

Jalebee Cartel delivered.

 

Saturday Night

A live set scheduled for 10:30 PM. Most of the people who had experienced the Friday show, said ‘Oh yes... We’ll be back tomorrow!’ On Facebook, there were more than three hundred confirmed guests, and knowing Jalebee’s reputation, I knew nobody would miss this.

 

The live set! Ashwin and Arjun on their laptops and midi controllers looked ready as ever during the sound check, and I knew that they would deliver better than Friday... On vocals and tabla was Ash, and Arjun (G-Force) on bass.

 

Jalebee Cartel began with a DJ set to start the crowd up. Soon, the laptops were powered, the mics were on, the bass guitar was plugged up, and the music began to flow.

Ash’s vocals seem to be floating in the air, processed by the softwares on Ashwin’s and Arjun’s laptops. Ashwin and Arjun brought us the hard, progressive beats and the Jalebee special, twisted basslines!

 

A special mention to Ellie on vocals. The beautiful Swedish vocalist gave the Cartel an unmistakable element in their sound. And watching her lucid dance was a trip in itself.

The club was jam-packed by midnight, and the music continued to thrill. Innovative basslines and melodies flowed on, and the endless, progressive beats kept the crowd in non-stop motion. The music had reached such heights, that one would not expect it to descend. Late into the night, Jalebee Cartel went back into a DJ set and continued the beat till 2:30AM

 

For those who missed the show / shows, I’d like to let them know that good live performances are always appreciated at the Blue Frog, and Jalebee Cartel will be back!