Ranjit Barot and Serge Bromberg

Well one of the most important highlights of the Kala Ghoda festival was the Ranjit Barot concert. (on the 9th of February 08)
was held at the Asiatic Library, a stage was set up in front of the steps to the library and the audience was seated on the steps. great ambience, great feel and a great energy around the place was felt. i was expecting company but i reached there by myself. im a wanderer as u kno by now...so was happy by myself too.

the stage was getting its final touches, sound check, lightings and the likes...and then it started. the seven member band is structurally instrument driven. but its peppered with Vijay Prakash (vocals) lending his carnatic tones when needed. Shravan, a pale guy, offered freestyle vocals...(frankly i couldn't figure if he was babbling or singing. but no offense. (yeah! watever!)) the music they made was good. ranjit is a great percussionist. there was this black hand held casio kinda instrument he had with him which made sounds of the rain or the clanking or metal and stuff like that. all in all, it was good, would have been great had they lost babble mouth somewhere. (i think i'm being too harsh on him...mebbe it was just his bad day!).




By this time, my company was around and i was chattering non-stop. telling them all that they could see. two of them remained away the whole time. (they've learnt from their mistakes!).
this french guy was next on stage. Serge Bromberg was his name. he is passionate about films. and all sorts of film. old film, new films, ancient films and even film reels. he first showed us how the reel has improved over the years and then lined up movies that were more then a hundred years old. Ranjit and Serge supplied music to these old, simply magnificient films. It was such a treat i wouldn't forget it for a long time...Can't really describe the movies without being unfair, hence i won't do that...just trust my judgement when i say it was truly awesome.
Ranjit was real kind to oblige when i asked him for a picture...

next update to come up soon!

nighty nite!

well i kno im way behind schedule

the kala ghoda arts festival (kgaf) was such a soaking week and more...but soon after that i went missing and hence the stories too! kindly excuse moi!

i checked out a few more workshops and concerts. was very excited to check out the zumba workshop being conducted. though i didn't know much about the newly invented dance form. i was tres excited to check it out. I even caught the Odissi performance prior to the workshop. Since im a weirdo who likes to watch all types of dance (according to my cous who tagged along). Cous was site-seeing and i was site soaking. but he insisted that i take his pixx and put it up. (???)


the zumba was up next. and let me tell u i wasn't ready for wat was coming up. an RJ walks up on stage engages the crowd. she introduces a thin, dainty woman who's supposed to be a trained zumba instructor. she came on stage with gym pants and a jazzy top, gyrated. then got on some classical dancers on stage, danced with them in her ill fitting (does not mean loose fitting) clothes to it and then did some junglee thing. by junglee i dont mean afro-jazz kinda dance. im personally a fan of afro-jazz.



well bottom line, thumbs down. was a flop show for me. my cous cursed me.
thank you and good night.

black horse and the giant wheel

after the latin jazz show, i was walking towards the museum to catch a bus back to CST railway st. while walking form hutatma chowk towards prince of wales museum (i know its chhatrapati shivaji maharaj museum, but everything in this city is named after that one man!) when the exhibition at the kala ghoda arts festival was on. everything from art, food, finery and fame was present on that walk. getting its name from th black equestarian that once was a statue, kala ghoda is in its tenth year. for further info kindly log onto: http://www.kalaghodaassociation.com/
a solitary walk down the road was very (for lack of a better word) intriguing!
as the pictures will tell you, art was at its eccentric best. with different renditions of mr. Horse (i don't know how he'd take that, but what the heck!) a white one mid air with graffiti all over it, a mechanical, wired, fanned and brushed one (u'll kno wen u see it) and the regular black one.
airbrushed metal was a great attraction. all those bikes and car lovers were busy jotting down numbers and taking cards. Sudarshan is the guy responsible for all the kick-ass air spray art that was on display. (for his details pls contact me) a bullet with flames on it was the central model, a helmet sprayed like a skull got my vote. damn impressive i say!
a big giant wheel, according to me took the cake. this was not the regular giant wheel. this one had bicycles with dabbas on it instead of seats. (rad!!!)
another piece of the cake goes to the ceramic art by a bunch of art guys who call themselves, 'clay chakra' (again for details contact me). they get the cake for the specific reason that their art was themed upon shoes. (a very touchy topic with me). aa large boot (like the gum boots for rains) was done up with small ceramic shoes of different shapes. otehr pieces of art included a highly umcomfortably high heeled sandal, a wet and worn out boot, chappals, and floaters made out of clay.
the best part about it was the crowd, all were happy about being there at that time. i couldn't help but click these two old, but very beautiful women. i think i've summed up my evening.

a l'il bit of lotsa jazz

my first live tryst with jazz came at the celebrate bandra festival in november last year when a friend (if i could say so) sent me invites. real kind of him and i will owe him that first concert for all time. the band was a seven member band called- Junckt. Their lead guy is a flautist! and my friend. damn cool i say!
Since then i've told myself that i'll do more than just say that i want to watch and listen to good music. i actually will listen to good music. by good music i mean. some more genres apart from rock and heavy metal and the pop kinda rock(is that a term...and who invented it?)
was at the kala ghoda festival this time to watch a latin jazz band - Los Amigos. four member band. and one word. WOW! good show. the pianist and guitarist jugal bandi was great.
wat i like about jazz is that it all sounds like impromptu music. i cannot fathom that all of that music is pre decided. its just too spontaneous to happen over weeks.
the ambience was good. the crowd too was good. the pictures along side shud give u a better jist.