JOIN USMesmerising jazz notes pervaded the atmosphere at the Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, Bangalore School of Music, as two accomplished troupes came together to set the mood for a soulful concert. ‘Dr Thomas Chandy and Jazz Revival Group’ and ‘The HeFi Jazz Quartet’ from Poland transported the audience into a bygone era with their beautiful renditions.
Titled ‘Favourites from the 50s, 60s, 70s and Jazz’, the evening was one among the series in the first ‘Jazz Week’ Concert organised as part of the Bangalore School of Music’s 15th East West Music & Dance Encounter 2017.
The focus was on jazz music of all kinds, from standards to contemporary, both instrumental and vocal. The first to take the stage, the 17-year-old band ‘Dr Thomas Chandy and Jazz Revival Group’, presented three instrumental and 10 vocal pieces, aptly covering American and Latin jazz as well as jazz standards.
The band members made skillful use of the trumpet, saxophone, trombone, clarinet and flute. ‘Blue Bossa’, ‘St Thomas’ and ‘Take 5’ on instrumentals saw the audience yearning for more. Then came the vocals with Dr Thomas Chandy as the lead vocalist. Pieces like ‘Take the A Train’, ‘Don’t Get Around much anymore’, ‘Spain’, ‘I love Paris’, ‘Kiss of Fire’, ‘Moon Dance’ and ‘Orange Coloured Sky’ added to the nostalgic flavour of the evening.
Featuring Leszek Hefi Wiśniowski on flutes and saxophones, Dominik Wania on piano, Bartek Staromiejski on drums and Maciej Adamczak on double bass, ‘The HeFi Jazz Quartet’ also won great applause with their performance. Belonging to one of Poland’s most renowned bands, the spirited musicians spilled their magic and impressed jazz lovers in the city with pieces like ‘A dance in the mist’, ‘Kinetics’, ‘Entropy’, ‘Parallax Error’, Deliberation’ and ‘Sleepy Knights’ among others.Mythili Anantharaman, a Carnatic singer present at the concert, said, “I attended the Polish quartet’s performance at Gurunanak Bhavan earlier and found it so lovely that I just had to come again.
They are producing something incredible. There’s precision, timing, melodies and harmonies — everything that’s required for a jazz concert.”Another person in the audience, Robin Colaco, said ahead of the performance, “What I am looking forward to hearing is a distinctive tonality, complex rhythmic patterns and a lot of improvisation.”Jofi Porinchu, a music teacher and enthusiast, was expecting a good amount of jazz including the older jazz and the broadway music. “I have heard the HeFi quartet before. Each member is truly talented and does their own improvisation. It’s going to be an exciting show and I am looking forward to having a great evening.”
Certainly, for those with a penchant for jazz music, the concert surely struck the
right chord. It was a rare musical treat that won the audience over.