Shillong Blues & Jazz Festival was mind-blowing, says Summersalt member Kit Shangpliang
GOING BY the vibes of the 2nd Shillong Blues & Jazz Festival 2014, the Meghalaya capital could queue up as the other Indian destination for jazz and blues.
Over the years, Shillong jazz aficionados have grown qualitatively and quantitatively, age no bar. The show on September 27, supported by the Arts and Culture Department, Government of Meghalaya and organized by Imagenation, proved this right.
What a mega-gig, 8 bands-30 musicians and more – this time round! The Festival drew artistically intelligent crowd from the city and elsewhere in the region.
Towards twilight, U Soso Tham Auditorium wore a unique sound attire of blues and jazz, as lovers of these genres thronged the hall. If it is to be believed that these music styles only suit the ears of the wrinkled – it is, but only a myth – because the festival had witnessed like-minded crowd, both young and old enjoying every note of every bar.
As classical and Jazz music can be compared to Shakespeare and Mark Twain of English writings – it’s not liked by everyone, yet most genres are mostly usually based on their sure foundation. And why not? There’s always room for complex brilliance of these arts to meet the mundane mass popularity. And when Hollywood has done it, this niche movement in a small place like Shillong is gathering momentum.
In the recent past, when every such smooth artistic events are held, rest assured, you’ll find a foreign act that people looked forward too. This season, there was no foreign act (at least there was no need for one) as northeast’s very own proved to have reached another level of maturity to jazz it up – always finding a way to add the 7th and the 9th at the most appropriate time.
Says everybody, the show can’t start if the forever young Lou Majaw does not thud his guitar strings using his side-palm, tough and gentle, and he did just that. Then came the jazz standards of Ron Chaliha (keys) and Adiel Massar (Cello), soulfully interacting with their friend and opera-inspired singer Toshan Nongbet. After these, follow a host of other greats, in the likes of Rudy Wallang and the band, 4th Element, Plan B, Parvati la Catante, Fringes and more.
The artistes came, saw and delivered, but some left a Wow! impression like Plan B and Guwahati multi-genre band Chuck Wagon, a 3 piece instrumental cook-up that fell off the stairs but sounding really groovy. Did CW forget their bass guitarist somewhere? No – they did so well without one and this guy on the keys, Pritam Boro is unbelievable – he’s the bassman cum keys specialist at one given moment. The brilliance of his twin brother, Partha on the rhythm section and the architect of CW, guitarist Manas Mahanta, propelled the band to stand out.
Ian Khongmen, Imagenation, said: “The festival is just a drop in the ocean of music, but it brings together extraordinary musicians who are committed to and have made this art form a way of life. They come in all shades and colours, from the metros Delhi, Kolkata and mainland India to collaborate and run in the same groove with their brethren from the Northeast.”
“Blues & Jazz is but an evolution of the music culture. It is symbolic of our times and indeed breathes life into the music industry and still remains the foundation of a tradition that has evolved for many years”, he added.
Majaw said, “Music has no boundaries. My vision is to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood through my songs and music. We musicians treat our musical instrument as our arms and amenities to combat terrorism. This is our way of contributing towards peace as a musician. I fail to understand the madness behind terrorism. My song – ‘Well well well’ speaks my feelings when I see no sun on waking up in this world of terror. But life must go on.”
Haraba, the vocalist of Imphal based Blues band ‘Fringes’, was very excited with the initiative of Imagenation. Explaining about the nature of ‘Blues’, he said, “Through this form of music we can express our life’s experience and feelings. This form of the music is all about story telling of things happening in your surroundings.”
“Such initiatives by government give platform and meaning to our band and culture,” he added speaking on the initiative of Imagenation.
Delhi-based singer, Parvati La Cantante, was very excited to be part of the festival. On her maiden visit to Shillong she said, “We have never been in a town where music is so important, it is like the life blood of Shillong. The air is all about music, there is a rhythm in the air that I love. These musicians Lou, AJ and Rudy have huge influences on my life, I have grown up listening to them perform. I have never imagined coming to Shillong as a musician, I feel really honoured to be invited to perform at the SB&J.”
About her performance, Parvati added: “The set that we performed is a mix of all the songs that we enjoyed doing. There are influences of jazz, R&B and little bit of side trance to make it a little peppy. We did not want to limit our scope to just guitar and vocals, so we have tried to broaden up our horizon with these additions.”
Besides the music, there was Shillong Wine and BBQ & Sauce for everyone to sip and dip their fingers in. It was great branding for a potentially national and international affair. More surprises to come next year.