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Journalism of Courage
Rajeev Raja is preparing to serve up his annual treat for Mumbai. The former advertising executive is known in the city’s music scene as an accomplished flautist, and every year since 2014, he brings together some of Mumbai’s finest musicians for an evening of jazz, and not the way most people would expect. “Four years ago, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) approached me because they were keen to promote jazz. In India it’s a genre that is mostly consumed by aficionados and is rather niche. So, I curated a concert for them, that aimed to promote jazz for the lay listener; we called the series ‘Jazzification.’ The idea is to take popular tunes known to most western music lovers and give them a jazz twist. It’s also a chance to see how some of the finest jazz musicians in India are interpreting and improvising music live,” says Raja, who is the co-founder of BrandMusqiq, an agency that creates musical logos or “MOGOS®️” that act as a signature tune for different brands. On Sunday, Raja and his co-arranger, Rahul Wadhwani, will lead an eight-piece band that will perform some of Broadway’s biggest hits, a little jazzed up.
The first edition of the Jazzification series featured rock classics such as Light my fire by The Doors and Stairway to heaven by Led Zeppelin. “We performed with a big ensemble, a horn section and keys. When an audience hears that swing, that syncopated beat, that’s when they realise they’re gaining insight into how jazz works and sounds,” says Raja. The first attempt was such a resounding success, that NCPA asked for a second edition. The following year, Raja showcased the music of The Beatles to a full house, and the series became an annual affair. “We had to come up with concepts, so in our third year we did ‘Jazz Goes to the Movies’, featuring renowned movie themes — The Godfather, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Purple Rain. Last year’s show was called ‘Jazz Beyond Borders’, and we performed music from different countries. We also pepper each performance with anecdotes about the tunes. For example, not many people know that Dave Brubeck came to India and met with tabla players. That’s where he picked up cyclical rhythms — his biggest hit, Take five, is composed in a 5/4 meter, it’s an odd time signature that steered away from the standard 4/4 time,” says Raja.
Joining him this year is a motley crew of accomplished musicians — Karl Peters (bass), Adil Manuel (guitar), Bosco Monsorate (trumpet), Nakul Mehta (tenor saxophone), Jarryd Rodrigues (alto saxophone), Aron Nyiro (drums), and Wadhwani (keys/piano). “When you look at musicals, a lot depends on the lyrics. With this set list, we chose tunes where the melody was strong enough for it to shine in an instrumental performance. For example, Don’t cry for my Argentina from Evita, is a slow ballad but our version is more upbeat, similar to samba. We did this without losing the soul of the song. That’s the challenge, but that’s also the fun of doing the series,” says Raja.
The event will take place at Tata Theatre, NCPA, on May 5, 7 pm
