Bombay Bandook, a band of collegians who fuse Classical ragas with Jazz and Blues, look set to take the genre forward
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Colonial Cousins and Indian Ocean are among the early acts in India that set the trend for Fusion music. Later, bands like Swarathma, Advaita and The Raghu Dixit Project followed suit. Now, Bombay Bandook -- a six-piece band from the city -- seems to be taking it forward. They will be playing a set of originals at an open-air concert this weekend.
Vocalist Sannidh Shah explains the story behind the band’s name. "While we were registering for an inter-college band competition, we had to come up with a name. Bombay had a metropolitan sound to it, and we added Bandook to it because a revolver has six bullets, and there are six of us. We fuse Indian Classical ragas with Blues and Jazz," he shares.
Their first song, Sagariya, was appreciated by bigwigs of the music industry when it released two years ago. "It is based on Asavari thÄu00c2u0081t (notes with seven different pitches in Hindustani Classical music). People like music producer and Fusion artiste Karsh Kale and Indian Classical vocalist Kaushiki Chakrabarty praised our work and shared it on social media," informs the 22-year-old. Being an all-original gig, listeners can also expect their other popular tunes like Ginti (based on raga Charukeshi) and Ritu Rani.
The band has always stuck to creating original music. "Every 45 days, we aim to release one original with a music video. At times, it is difficult to maintain the flow, since we juggle academics with music. There is a lot of investment, and we don’t earn that much. Thankfully, our parents support us when needed," adds Shah, who has been training in Indian Classical vocals from Padmashri Purushottam Upadhyay. "He calls me his disciple, and doesn’t charge me for lessons. I am lucky," he admits.
The line-up includes Samay Lalwani (tabla), Chirag Jaisinghani (keyboards), Jagravi Rao (bass), Brijesh Joshi (guitar), Anurag Gawahle (guitar), Jai Chheda (drums) and Shah on vocals.
"We all hail from different musical backgrounds, like Blues and Progressive Rock. But the crux of our music is Indian Classical," concludes Shah.
On April 28, 6 pm
At Courtyard, High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel.
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