BOMBAY BLUES

Our first night in Mumbai and we are out on the town. I have been on the lookout for live musical performances since the trip was confirmed, but it was only recently that I came across a gig at the Blue Frog that looked promising. The Bombay bustle only starts to abate at around ten at night and we honked our way to an area called Parel where an old Mill Compound had been transformed into a sort of cultural/entertainment hub – pretty much like our own gentrified areas back home but owned by locals.

We had a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Busago which is situated directly across from where the music was happening. After we had eaten a delicious Thai stir fry we went across and sat outside smoking while a solo singer/songwriter did her thing as the opening act.

The sound of a kick drum beckoned us in and I was introduced to the Bodhisattwa Trio. From the outset I was reminded of Eric Truffaz or the free-jam sessions between James Kibby and Hilton and Eldred Schilder on a Sunday night at Carnival Court. A pulsating, grooving drummer (Premjit Dutta) backed by a Pastorian bassist (Bijit Bhattacharya) and the front-man Bodhisattwa Ghosh who describes their music as Indian jazz-rock.

These young musicians are all consummate performers in their own right and together they are simply ‘out-there’ and cooking like an (excuse the reference) Mumbai rooftop restaurant and as hot as a bowl of fresh green chillies! But that was not all…

After two or three of their original compositions, they were joined on stage by one of India’s premier blues guitarists, Ehsaan Noorani. Together the quartet redefined what I thought the Indian pop scene had to offer. Complex rhythms and soaring solos that at times reminded me of John McLaughlin, but on speed!

And all of this in a club with modular circular booths and a full twirling and twisting light rig with crystal-clear sound set up and for once, the sound engineer did not think that he was god.