The day the music died

With iconic South Mumbai club Not Just Jazz By The Bay suspending operations, SoBo's idea of a night-out will be devoid of live music. Meals take precedence over music making survival toughu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

On Sunday night, Usha Uthup clutched on to the silken end of her Kanjeevaram, and a heavy cord of nostalgia, to mark what would be one of her last performances at South Mumbai's sea-facing live act venue Not Just Jazz By The Bay (NJJBTB). The club that marked her rise to fame on a lucky night back in 1969, when she brought the house down with her unmistakable husky voice, is contemplating taking on a new avatar. Temporarily suspending operations, it could come back as a restaurant-cum-lounge with a designated space for a live band performance, says the management.


Flying Cats band during a performance at Not Just Jazz...

What that means for South Mumbai is the loss of one of its last surviving live act venues. What that means for the owners is an emphasis on food rather than live music, a move that makes absolute business sense, says real estate consultant and CEO Mumbai Properties Vibhoo Mehra. "With rent rates as high as Rs 300 per sq ft carpet area, it makes sense to open doors to those who want to enjoy a meal. That's a far bigger chunk than the one that patronises music for an entry fee." Throw in the cash it takes to cajole a popular band to perform, technicians and fab acoustics, and you have a risky affair brewing, especially if a gig fails to draw a crowd.

What's being termed the Lower Parel-factor isn't helping SoBo's music cause either. With defunct mills offering gargantuan venues like Blue Frog and Hard Rock Caf ufffd that can accommodate huge crowds and the paraphernalia a live act demands, Mumbai mill areas have turned into a hot bed of live music activity, robbing South Mumbai of its song. That corporate offices dotting the area offer a ready audience that's looking to unwind over a tune and tequila, is a bonus.u00a0

"The scene is not as buzzing as it used to be half a decade ago," admits Riyaaz Amlani of Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality, better known as the man who gave us the Mocha caf ufffd chain. "The young, hip and single crowd has moved to central and north Mumbai thanks to lower costs of living. With them, the buzz and energy has migrated too. SoBo may have more spending power, but the suburbs guarantee twice the footfall."

The end of an era
Musician-writer-filmmaker Uday Benegal's memories of NJJBTB are "mostly drunken". "The place has terrible acoustics, and South Mumbai has been long dead. Quite a shame. When I was growing up, it was a place big on the fun stuff -- you had dozens of theatres to watch movies, Rang Bhavan to listen to live music, and hip colleges to hang out at. But it's lost its mojo. Rang Bhavan's closure was indicative of the end of an era," he says.

Benegal is candid when he says that the venue concentrated on karaoke sessions rather than serious music, making it a place to drink and make merry. Bands indulged in "party music". Pit that against a Blue Frog that employs a programming team of four who's job it to constantly listen to new stuff being churned out and pick the best talent to fill their monthly event schedule. "South Mumbai clubs fail on logistical support. Where is the place to head-bang!" says Aditya Akolkar, co-owner of Flypside Entertainment and manager to young bands like The Echoes, Ruckus, Joy And The Icecreams and Fiddle Me This. A shift of corporate offices from Nariman Point to swankier addresses at Bandra-Kurla Complex have meant a shift in audience location.

Losing out to Bandra-Andheri
Restaurateurs lucky enough to own properties in South and North Mumbai, say the difference is apparent. "Concentrating on lunch is key to surviving in SoBo because that's where the offices are. Dinner and drinks is what rocks the suburbs," says partner at Fort's Soul Fry Casa and Bandra's Soul Fry, Meldan D'cunha. Casa, known for its karaoke and once-a-week live music acts, intends to keep the music going, although its authentic Goan menu is its USP. "With NJJBTB closing doors, we might up live music evenings from one to three times a week," says D'cunha.u00a0

What's doing well in South Mumbai, though, are high end restaurants like recent entrant Villa 39 and Spanish eatery Valhalla, both catering to well-paid, well-established, middle-aged guests. As for the nightspots, it's the booty-shaking ones like Oba and Polly Esther's at Colaba rub shoulders with watering holes Leopold, Mondegar and Woodside Inn, that rake in moolah to keep them going.u00a0

Not quite a jazzy affair
Jazz loving audiences are a sliver of the already slim slice of live-act loving guests, making a venue like NJJBTB, tough to sustain.

Says Time Out, Mumbai, Editor Naresh Fernandes, "Even when it opened, there were just a handful of musicians in the city. So, it was natural that they'd start to entertain other genres of music, mainly covers. Downing shutters wouldn't mean a great loss for jazz in the city. Unlike places like Blue Frog which have been able to bring a variety to programming, Not Just.. wasn't able to."

Fernandes, who is working on a book on the influence of Jazz on Hindi film music in the middle of the last century, finds his words echoed by Louiz Banks, who has been spearheading the Jazz movement in India for three decades. "When NJJBTB was Jazz by the Bay, it was rocking. But things died down slowly."u00a0

u00a0For Sidd Coutto, lead singer of Tough on Tobacco, the loss means little. Other than amateur college bands trying to find their feet, Not Just ufffd 's new avatar will bother few.

"For me, it's always been the place where middle-aged people went to have their steak, and listen to covers."
u00a0But newer bands like The Echoes found their audience, and their voice on NJJBTB's tiny stage. They played there three times a month last year. "It had become homeground for us. We could experiment with the crowd," says vocalist Shawn Pereira Docarmo.u00a0

A decade ago, Juhu's Razzberry Rhinoceros was where metal fans clad in black tees would head, and Jazz was for "uncles and aunties eating dinner". Even then, Not Just... charged a Rs 150 entry, which meant that the younger, peppier crowd was kept away. "It's still not a place where you go to listen to good music. The acoustics s'ck. If it shuts down, humko kuchh farak nahin padta," says Coutto.

Fresh sounds find a home
Tune in to Radio One 94.3 FM on Sunday afternoons, and you can listen in to artistes who play everything other than filmi music. Dope on their new numbers, songs they haven't released yet and unplugged versions are yours to dig. One Music, One Mumbai is the show that gets together artistes doing fab work in Rock, Pop, Jazz and Blues. Catch snippets from live performances, and if what you hear catches your fancy, log on to https://www.artistaloud.com/ to download it. If you are a musician, anything from a sentimental Punjabi song to a bluesy folk tune works. Quality is all that counts

Birth pangs
Short film club Shamiana was conceived at Not Just Jazz by the Bay (entry Rs 100), but come Thursday, and you will be able to get into Lower Parel club Blue Frog free of charge, to view their monthly line-up of films. Says founder Cyrus Dastur, "Blue Frog is a sexy address. Hosting the film club at Not Just Jazz was like living in a bungalow, rather than a penthouse. It reminded you of an era that's history. You can't beat the location, but you have to admit that Frog is trendier.

With corporate and media offices in Frog's vicinity, we are expecting better footfalls. Jazz could accommodate barely 120 people; Frog takes 400."

Who downed shutters in SoBo?
Velocity (Tardeo)
Bootlegger's (Colaba Causeway)
Henry Tham (Apollo Bunder)

How alive is the live act scene in SoBo?

Ravi Iyer, member of English rock band Para Vayu
The live music scene has shifted from South Mumbai to central Mumbai, with Hard Rock Caf ufffd, and Blue Frog as key venues. NJJBTB was one of the places to have introduced live music to the city. But recently, the focus had shifted to amateur bands. Very few joints have a mix of good atmosphere, a crowd that knows and appreciates music. And that's vital for a band.

Gary Lawyer, singer
To say live music, especially Western music, is on a roll in Mumbai, is foolish. There aren't enough places to perform. Real estate prices in South Mumbai are ridiculously high, and that makes it tough to keep the business going. NJJBTB has an incredible location, and I'm hoping they will use it to their advantage in the new avatar.

Louiz Banks, Veteran Jazz musician
With newer clubs providing musicians a platform, live music is picking up. Jazz has always had a niche audience, and can never truly be mainstream. But it's heartening to see the youth take an interest in live acts at clubs like Blue Frog that promote Jazz now and then through international artistes.