Tag Archives: The Saturday Night Blues Band

A Tribute to the Women Who Rock Kolkata

This Womens Day we spoke to four women who helped revolutionize the rock circuit in Kolkata. We reached out to the bandmates, family members and close friends of these four iconic women from the Kolkata scene, and they spoke about what makes these women so special.

Jayashree Singh

If there is anyone who is entitled to the title of The Queen of Kolkata Rock Circuit, then that person is Jayashree Singh. Jayashree came to prominence in the 90s during her stint with the aptly named pop act Pop Secret. But it was her spell with Skinny Alley, one of Indias pioneering indie acts, which shot her straight to the doorstep of fame. Not only was Skinny Alley the forerunner of indie in India, it was also one of the first Indian bands to release an English album on a major label. The magic of Skinny Alley was carried forward in another avatar, PINKNOISE and Jayashree has been incredible as the frontwoman of two of Indias leading bands.

Both Jayashree and guitar god Amyt Datta were founding members of Skinny Alley and PINKNOISE, and not only have they been band members and musical collaborators, Amyt is also one of Jayashrees closest friends. There are very few people who know her as well as he does. We’ve known each other for more than 30 years now. Her music is singular and that aids the bond we have. We have been bandmates, friends, family and more. Its unique what we share and its safely beyond conventional tags. I suppose we’ve arrived at “that”, what we have is “that”. explains Amyt Datta about the unique bond he shares with Jayashree Singh. The one thing he envies about her is her ability to do nothing! And when quizzed about what she envies about him, he quips Absolutely nothing!

Jivraj Singh or Jiver as he is popularly known is another pillar in Jayashrees life. This dynamic duo is not only known for the mother-son bond that they share, but also because they are both band-members and musical partners-in-crime. How does one begin to describe someone who is son, friend, philosopher, guide, bandmate, fashion consultant and critic, driver for provision shopping and escort for late night gigs? That pretty much sums it up right there, doesn’t it? explains Jayashree. Jivraj Singhs all-time favorite song by Jayashree is ‘Dollar $cience’ the video for which is soon to be released and his message to all the female musicians in Kolkata would be Try to learn and grow constantly, work on your craft and build a really strong foundation of music basics to depend on. Regardless of what style of music or what culture you want to be a part of.

Arunima Banerjee

The Saturday Night Blues Band is not only the top blues band from the City of Joy, it is arguably one of the best mainstream blues acts of the country. The band has been enthralling listeners at Eastern Indias music mecca, Someplace Else, for years but the band has also played a fair share of gigs at some of Indias most prominent live music venues. Indeed, it would difficult to envision the success of The Saturday Night Blues Band without the telling contribution of vocalist Arunima Banerjee. But she would probably be the first person to tell you that she owes a large part of her success to her sons, Nikhil and Josh.

Nikhil and Josh are the special men in Arunimas life because they keep things real and always keep me grounded and no matter how impossible things get they always make me laugh! When we spoke to them, Arunimas children told us what makes her special to them She is special to us because she is our mom and she does everything for us. One thing they envy about her – she has a Mont Blanc fountain pen and that she can do whatever she wants whenever she wants like watch TV and use the internet! One thing they suppose she envies about them is that she can’t do gymnastics and turn cartwheels or ride a horse or a bike! Their advice to her would be to keep smiling and laughing and play with us all day long and NO STUDIES!

Tanya Sen

In 2005, Someplace Else Kolkata in collaboration with The Telegraph organized Boom-Bass-Stick: The Band Hunt a competition to unearth some of the citys latent musical talents. This competition was noteworthy not only because it provided a huge platform for the winning band Crystal Grass, but also for bringing to the fore-front a vocalist who has undoubtedly made it big in the years that followed. For Tanya Sen, her musical journey post-2005 has been nothing short of phenomenal. As front-woman of Crystal Grass, Tanya has never failed to captivate her core audience. And she has carried this vibe forward in her new four piece electronic-alternative outfit ZOO, which is currently the rage of Indias top music festivals. If comparisons may be made, then Tanyas voice is like a swift flowing river, sweeping everything and anything that lies in her path and probably no one would agree with this more than her Crystal Grass and ZOO bandmate, and long-time boy-friend, drummer Rohit Nandi.

Tanya and Rohit met in school and have been making music ever since. They work and hangout together and Rohit has been her closest friend and she says I have to say I consider myself the luckiest to have found such a great friend in my partner. On asking Rohit what makes Tanya so special to him he says When one has spent more than a decade with someone it might get a little difficult to recall how one found someone to be special and also on the other hand if you are still wondering why you fell for that person it just means that all’s right, you can’t possibly point out how someone is so special – they just are! He goes on to say that at times he just reflects and appreciates he really appreciates her ability to deal with complex situations with ease and dignity and goes on to say that very few people have this gift! What most of you don’t know about Tanya is that she is a brilliant cook…anybody who has had her Asian or Italian creations can vouch for that!

Chandrani Banerjee

1993 was a huge year for Indian Rock. For the first time ever an effort was made to bring together rock music artistes from across the country under the same umbrella. The brainchild of Amit Saigal (founder of The Rock Street Journal), The Great Indian Rock (or GIR in short), showcased musicians from the four corners of the country and one of these artistes to be featured was a young woman named Chandrani Banerjee. Chandranis song ‘The Ministrel’ successfully showcased her singing and song-writing talents, which led her to becoming an over-night success.

Currently, Chandrani is vocalist of the legendary Krosswindz, one of the pioneers of the Bangla rock band movement. Krosswindz has also made huge strides in the genre of World Music, and Chandranis contribution to the bands success has been huge and her husband, and Krosswindz lead guitarist, the legendary Vikramjit Tuki Banerjee would be the first person to acknowledge this fact, She is a big-hearted musician. She is really special because of her unassuming ways and she never imposes her presence. She is always ready to play a supportive role in any situation if required and is always there to lend a shoulder and a keen ear. She makes me a better person, just being with her has been a huge privilege and I have grown to be the person I am today due to her healing presence in my life. I envy her humility.

Priyanka Roy

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Jamsteady feat. Neel and The Lightbulbs at Princeton Club, Kolkata

Neel Adhikari is without a doubt, one of the unsung icons of the Kolkata rock circuit. The last two decades have seen this gentleman be an integral part of some of the best and well-known bands and projects in the city which includes the whos who of the Kolkata music scene over the last 10-15 years. My point here, however, is not to highlight how many bands hes played in, but rather highlight the fact that Neel has never been afraid to experiment with his music. He has refused to give in to stagnation and has accepted new trends in this ever changing music scene.

Neels songwriting has matured through the years and in his latest avatar, Neel and The Lightbulbs, his maturity as both a front-man and a songwriter is clearly evident. For the past year or so many young singer-songwriters have taken the stage and have adopted indie-ness with open arms and from this motley crew, Neels latest project has managed to surge ahead to the top, which is not surprising, because the packaging of this bands music (live and recorded) has allowed them to showcase their years of experience and knowledge of the scene.

Neels Lightbulbs comprise of some of the best musicians the scene has to offer, both in terms of talent and years of experience: guitarist Subhodip Banerjee (founder member of the now defunct alt rock band Safire, but more well-known as the guitarist of the Anupam Roy Band and for the popular indie duo Ifs and Buts), bassist Roheet Mukherjee (ex-member of Pseudonym and Five Little Indians, currently holding bass duties for both The Anupam Roy Band and the experimental punk act Ganesh Talkies) and drummer Avinash Chordia (ex-member of Krosswindz and the current skin thrasher for The Saturday Night Blues Band, however people in the city mostly know Chhotu as the drummer for one of Kolkatas top-notch acts, The Supersonics).

On the 2nd of August at The Princeton Club, Messrs. Adhikari, Banerjee, Chordia and Mukherjee made their appearance for that weeks Jamsteady session. Singing a staggering 18 songs and 1 encore, the band performed a little over an hour and a half to a huge crowd comprising of friends, fans and music-lovers. The musical diversity on display that evening was interesting and did not fail to capture the attention of the crowd, many of whom were familiar with the songs. Starting their set with the song Blue Stripes, the band steadily progressed through the evening with a list of originals, both old and new, including numbers from their well-received EP House In A Car. The songs featured on the EP were the ones that were most cheered by the crowd while the newer songs played their part in getting the ladies dancing.

The songs dished out definitely offered a lot of variety and it was interesting to hear the different influences each of them had. MP3, Broke, Universe, Cracks, Coolio, One Time, Go Back, Padampada, Bull, Spider and Uh Oh all these songs had something different to offer to the crowd in terms of either musicality or lyrical content, but the diversity in sound was best highlighted by two songs – the bombastic Big Mistake which boomed into our ears and had this little touch of swing influence and at the other end of the spectrum you had Friends In The Right Places, a simple song with oh-so-simple lyrics, reminiscent of a cross-over country/pop number and yet it is this simplicity that captivated the crowd and egged them to sing along with the band. ‘Friends In The Right Places‘ was definitely the evenings stand-out song and came closest to defining the sound of Neel And The Lightbulbs.

The band seemed to be having a ball on stage and their presence delighted the crowd. A combination of light banter and goofy stage antics work well, and so it did for The Lightbulbs that evening. However as much as I enjoyed the evenings performance, it must be mentioned that the band did fail to capture my attention for the entire duration of the gig. Performing 18 songs one after the other is no easy task, and as much as the band must have wanted to showcase their wares, after a point things started to get hazy. After an hour all the songs started to sound the same, despite the fact that none of them actually were.

However I did manage to get back into the groove towards the latter part of the show when The Lightbulbs played songs from their EP, including Lights And Tunnels, Throw It All Away and House In A Car. The final song on their featured set-list was the ever popular Don’t You Worry, a song which had actually been made famous during Neels Span days. This song is probably Neels best known composition, and it showed from the crowds excited response to the song. After 18 songs you would think the crowds appetite for the band had been whetted. Well you would be wrong! Calls for an encore could not be ignored and Neel and his merry men boomed up Princeton Club with a re-rendition of Big Mistake to finally bring down the curtains on this indie evening! A fine performance by the band no doubt, but the success of this gig and the huge crowd turnout is also a good indicator of the fact that the indie movement in Kolkata is gaining momentum.

Prasanna Singh

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Day 2 of Indigo & Blues – International Jazz and Blues Festival at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

It really is a shame that a combination of traffic, miscommunication and uncharacteristic tardiness on my part had me walk into the venue just as Adil and Vasundhara were wrapping up their set. I would’ve loved to watch them live but had to instead rely on rapturous one-line reviews from people around. But I wasn’t too perturbed as there were some more world class acts to follow – The Saturday Night Blues Band from Kolkata, Blackstratblues from Mumbai and, of course, the headliners Bobby Whitlock and Coco Carmel all the way from the US of A. The stage was well set up, the sound was perfect, and the weather couldn’t have been more pleasant if it tried, and I took my seat to drown myself in the blues.

The Saturday Night Blues Band started off loud and very proud with ‘Blues is my Business’, and apparently (as the lyrics go), “Business is good!” and it sure sounded like it! Singer Arunima Dasgupta’s voice was powerful, intense and in control. The band had a very tight old school blues sound. The Saturday Night Blues Band consists of Jayanta Dasgupta on Guitars/Vocals, Arunima Dasgupta on Vocals, Stuart Munrao on bass, Rohan Ganguli on the guitar and Avinash Chordia on Drums.

They played a mix of slow blues and danceable numbers like ‘6345789′ by Wilson Pickett and the great SRV’s ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’. Their rendition of ‘Look Don’t Touch’ by Hubert Sumlin had an amazing Boogie Woogie rhythm and this was a song where they showed great stage presence and connected with the audience. Jayanta Dasgupta’s solos were quite incredible on every song. Ganguli, though somewhat silent at the start and playing only the rhythm parts, blazed his fret board every time he graced us with a solo. They ended their set with ‘What Good Can Drinking Do’ and ironically the audience raised their glasses to bid them goodbye!

As I looked around the venue, I had one major problem with the way it was organized – the strange seat segregation. There were three passes- Silver, Gold and Platinum. The Platinum – the costliest one (with free booze) – was right in the front and was only some 20 feet from the stage. It was the only section that stretched across the breadth of the lawn venue. The rest of the sections (Silver and Gold) had a chunk cut out from the left side to accommodate the monstrous sound console section. Moreover I felt that dividing the venue into three sections when the strength of the audience wasn’t more than 500 was an unnecessary waste of space.

India’s favourite trio Blackstratblues took to the stage next. The band has been revolutionary in the way they have popularized their brand of blues-based instrumental music to college audiences in the country. Originally the brainchild of guitarist/composer Warren Mendonsa, he was joined on stage by his live band consisting of Sidd Coutto on drums and Johann Pais on bass.

Blackstratblues are a thrill to watch live, always pushing their music to the limit, playing entire sets without losing the vigorous intensity that makes their performances so special. After a fierce blues-rock intro, they started their proper set with ‘The Happy Billi Song’ from The New Album. This was followed by a couple of new songs, ‘The Universe Has a Strange Sense of Humour’ and an untitled song. All the new songs they performed, named and unnamed, had a distinctly darker sound than the usual Blackstratblues material. The songs involved more layers of rhythm than just plain guitar solos. Here we also saw Warren playing around and jamming with his delay and wah guitar pedals almost as if the pedal board was the fourth musician on stage!

‘Blues for Gary’ from the band’s debut album Nights in Shining Karma put Warren’s guitar playing in the spotlight, clearly showing his unique mix of playing styles, which involves a typical blues style of soloing but with that pinch of India thrown in and always served with some extra Bombay for good measure. The same goes for ‘Ode to a Sunny Day’ that was the last song of the set, though this song is a lot more folksy. Written by Warren when he was going through a tough time in his life, this is a song that always inspires. It sounds like the narrator is running towards the light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe someday reaching it too. And who is the narrator? It’s the black strat, of course, that conveys all of this without ever speaking a word!

Finally, we had Bobby Whitlock, Coco Carmel and their band get on stage. Their band consists of Jeff Plankenhorn on guitar and Austin Robbie Venturini on bass. They started their performance with ‘Anyday’, the first of the many songs from The Derek and Dominoes album that they played. All of the songs from that album have stood the test of time for almost half a century. Whitlock and Carmel’s rendition that night was proof enough that music so powerful and ever-relevant won’t fade away too easily. The song also featured Jeff Plankenhorn’s unconventional style of electric guitar slide playing where he keeps his fretting hand over the fingerboard and plays it like a lap steel guitar. The sound he got out of it was incredible, a Duane Allman-esque sound that is quite new to most Bangalore ears.

This was followed by ‘Keep on Growing’, again from the Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album, and ‘Got to Get Better in a Little While’, which wasn’t in the original album but was later released as a bonus track. Most of these songs have unique southern rock harmonies, not powerful in terms of loudness or range, but in intensity and emotion.

Coco Carmel, after having played rhythm guitar accompanying her vocals until then, took up the saxophone for the rest of the gig. The volume was slightly low at the start, and after a few of the audience members complained (and the band and the sound guys finally realized that it wasn’t just drunken shouting), it was soon rectified.

Towards the end of the gig or perhaps the reason for the gig to prematurely end was a visibly uneasy Whitlock. They ended the gig with ‘John the Revelator’ and ‘Layla’. Their rendition of both the songs was quite slowed down. It was a very different take on Layla. It alternated between a slowed down verse and an upbeat chorus with, of course, the iconic main riff. At this point, Whitlock looked quite ill and had to get up from his keyboard numerous times. Immediately after Layla, the gig took an unfortunate twist as Whitlock ran backstage and passed out. He had to be carried to a car and rushed to the hospital. It turned out to be a severe allergic reaction caused by a mix up in medication that was given to him.

The fact that even after getting so ill halfway through the concert, he still gathered all his energy to give an amazing performance shows the immense passion for music that Bobby Whitlock has. Even though the gig was cut short slightly, it was immensely entertaining. On the whole, though I had some issues with the way it was organized, music-wise, Day 2 of the Indigo Blues and Jazz was quite enjoyable. This was just one of the many blues festivals and gigs that have been happening in the city lately. As a blues and jazz fan, I would hope to see this trend continue.

Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash is a Bangalore based guitarist and is a third of local act Groove Chutney. He loves jazz, street food, Woody Allen movies and often pretends to be a writer.

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