A 'tree'mendous effort

Socialite and danseuse Vani Ganapathy was one of the main guests at the event, along with popular blues singer Dana Gillespie. Prior to the inauguration, the two ladies spent sometime chatting with each other and decking up a Christmas tree.

The two were then called on stage for the official launch of Habba. “Bengaluru Habba is something that people look forward to every year. It’s going to be great even this year and all of you should come in large numbers for it,” said Vani. While Dana was extremely excited to be in India. “It’s been a while since I played here,” she said.

Post the launch, popular Bangalore-based jazz musician Gerard Machado and his band took the stage. Known as The Gerard Machado Network, the band comprises Gerard Machado on guitars, Yogendra Tillu Hule on drums, Karan Joseph on piano and K N Prakash on bass. The foursome played soothing jazz numbers, which included their own compositions, and a cover of Duke Ellington’s I Ain’t Got Nothin But the Blues. Post this, fusion band Moon Arra consisting of Madhuri on vocals, Jagadeesh on nylon acoustic guitar, Prakash Sontakke on Hindustani slide guitar, Wilson Kenneth on bass and Karthik Mani on drums took the stage. Karthik Mani even played on special drum called cajon, a Peruvian instrument. Said Jagadeesh to Metrolife, “I have also been coordinating events for Habba and this has been one of our best performances.”

The band which started off mellow became high tempo towards the end. “We ended the show only by 11.20 pm as there were many encores,” he added. Moon Arra played many of its own compositions including a cover of Love Trap by Susheela Raman. “Jazz is one of the most inclusive forms of music,” said Jagadeesh and the audience that loved the show, proved him right.