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Photo: Murali kumar k.

Note worthy Amit Heri, Holger Jetter, Keith Peters, Hamesh and Mili Nair gave plenty of evidence of their virtuosity

Heri and Peters need no introduction to jazz cats or regular readers of my writing, but a word about Jetter would perhaps be in order. A resident of Auroville for the last 18 years, he is part of an apparently thriving jazz community in the place! He’s been heard here in Bangalore nearly a decade ago and what we heard of him on Monday was enough to convince anyone that once in ten years is not nearly enough. I’ve heard Hamesh a few more times in this millennium, but I would likewise wish his appearances to be more frequent. As for Nair, a first acquaintance left me with no doubt that I hoped she would go far.

The group performed about a dozen numbers, the first half of their concert being devoted almost exclusively to Heri’s compositions (except Herbie Hancock’s hit “Cantaloupe Island”) and the second half to jazz and pop standards (except for the closing piece, Heri’s “What’s That Smell?”).

From their track record, one would have expected most of the solo improvisations to come from Heri and Jetter. Indeed, they took a large share of the solos, and gave plenty of evidence of their virtuosity. But Peters has over the years stepped into the limelight more and more, and in this concert we got a fairly generous dollop of his solo work. And I was glad it was appreciated well by the audience. Hamesh’s work on the drum kit was top-class and on this performance especially I would place him very high among his professional peers in India. His drum solos too were a big hit.

Nair sang only three numbers, the first three after the intermission. But she sang like a true jazz pro, not just putting the words over with feeling and verve, but improvising vocally by the use of scat or nonsense syllables. It was a real surprise to hear her singing the Brazilian bossa nova hit “Chega de Saudade” with the original Portuguese lyrics and not in English (“No More Blues”).

The bad news? Not much really, but Nair’s voice could have been amplified more by the sound man so that we could clearly make out what she was singing rather than only judge the quality of her voice.

Also, the geography of Olive Beach leaves only a little room between the performers’ space and the bar for anyone who’d like to see the musicians rather than just hear them. There are all kinds of walls all round this area, beyond which the tables are placed, and if one is eating one only hears the music, although I can’t complain that one can’t hear them well – I took a walk around to verify that I could.

The next concert, on April 21, will feature the Gerard Machado Trio, and I’m hoping it’s as much of a treat.

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