How Bangalore’s Jazzing up

The backdrop of the jazz festivals in Bangalore, until recently, was a rundown, decrepit palace that had fallen into neglect much like the once vibrant jazz scene in the city.

The backdrop of the jazz festivals in Bangalore, until recently, was a rundown, decrepit palace that had fallen into neglect much like the once vibrant jazz scene in the city.

However, this weekend, the lawns of the former Jayamahal Palace, once owned by a Maharaja from Gujarat, has been spruced up to host one of India’s biggest jazz and blues festivals in recent times.

Sponsored by a local radio station, the International Jazz and Blues Festival, held on Saturday and Sunday, was the biggest jazz festival to be held in Bangalore since the Jazz Yatra last paid a visit here in 1991.

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Home to a clutch of rock fans, the city has played regular host to the cream of international rock and heavy rock acts — Jethro Tull, Deep Purple (twice), the Rolling Stones, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Roger Waters, the Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden.

In comparison, though jazz greats of the likes of Jean Luc Ponty, John McLaughlin and Bunny Brunel have graced stages here, high profile jazz events have been few and far between in recent times, and the Blues are a virtual dot on the music scene.

Also while homegrown rock talent emerges regularly from the college circuit, the local jazz cupboards are still filled by long-standing musicians from Mumbai and Bangalore dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.

At the festival this weekend, the headliners are the acclaimed German band Café du Sport, winners of the 2000 Hennessy Jazz search, and French jazz guitarist Bob Bonastre.

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Local musicians also feature in seven of the 11 acts. “Somebody interested in the music needed to get involved. We have promoted many genres of music in Bangalore and felt jazz needs a revival. We want to promote Bangalore as a venue for future jazz festivals. This is just a beginning,” M R Jagadesh, head of events at Radio Indigo said.

“The revival of the jazz festival adds vibrancy to the music scene and life in general in Bangalore. They go to enhance the international status of Bangalore,” says Sunil Lambert, an advertising executive and amateur musician.

The jazz festival in fact is one among an unusually long list of musical and cultural treats lined up in the city this December.

From its days as an English cantonment, the pleasant winter days leading up to Christmas and New Year in Bangalore have been dotted by festivals of music, dance and drama — both Indian and western.