Compositions on unique themes

A jazz concert, ‘Live at Teatro Bismantova, Italy’, by the ‘Tarun Balani Collective’ was held at the Windmills Craftworks, recently. The performance saw a good crowd and was a soothing experience for many.

This pure jazz performance, which featured an eclectic group of artistes from India, Italy and the USA, comprised of Tarun Balani at the drums, Tiziano Bianchi on the trumpet, Grant Richards on the piano and Jayant Manchanda on bass guitar. This show represented Tarun’s vision as a composer and included different pieces with varied influences and themes. ‘Malala’s Dream’ was a bold tune that included a strong melody, a heavy piano riff and an interesting drum groove. ‘Let the Light In’, another piece, was a tune for someone in search of answers or a deeper meaning. It had a hypnotic drum groove combined with hybrid piano voicings. Other pieces like ‘The Other Side’ were about moving on to a new phase of Tarun’s life.

Despite having a reserved response in the beginning, the performance took off well after a few pieces were played. “The place has a lot to do with the performance too since the venue is a very classy and formal set-up,” said Tarun. He added that at the end of the performance, there were many who came asking about the compositions which were played and the crowd’s response was excellent.

“I liked the experience as a performer a lot as the venue has a great sound gear for a good performance,” he said. When asked about his favourite pieces, he said that Arjuna and Arjuna Reprise topped his list.

“I wanted to write a superhero theme and came up with this trumpet melody, which is almost like a call for war. It’s an aggressive tune with a driving bass line and drum groove. Arjuna Reprise is the other part where the melodic theme is stated but in a different format and creating a more heroic and epic mood,” he explained.Commenting on the performance, Sohan said that the group of artistes were talented and the venue added to the performance’s quality.

“There’s nothing like this venue in the entire city and the sound quality was amazing,” he said.Sam, a professional who was thoroughly impressed by the show, said that he had never been to a performance like this.
 “The music was very fresh, interesting and different. It wasn’t overpowering and one could just sit down and relax and carry on with a conversation, yet the tunes grabbed one’s attention,” he said.