Adil & Vasundhara Plot Tour With New Lineup

Adil & Vasundhara. Photo: Tanmay Jones Chakraborty

Starting September, jazz duo Adil & Vasundhara enlist new members to begin their six-city tour starting next month. The duo, with original keyboardist Rohit Gupta, are joined by bassist Jayant Manchanda [replacing Saurabh Suman, who is busy with an American tour] and drummer Siddharth Jain [replacing Sava Boyadzhiev, who is currently occupied with teaching at the American Embassy School in Delhi]. Says guitarist Adil Manuel, “We’re a very collaborative band so when new members come in, they bring their strengths to the front, and not do what we want.”

Adil & Vasundhara will play from their untitled 2010 EP and their debut full-length Ampersand besides new material [at least three new songs, promises Manuel] during their tour of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kochi, Chennai, Puducherry and at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, close to Chennai, next month. The duo has played most of their recent shows in Delhi [and their next show is at the launch of music-and-travel TV show SoundTrek at Blue Frog, New Delhi on August 23rd], and Manuel says the capital  is the “most happening scene” in the country right now. “There are at least 10 venues inside Hauz Khas Village itself and barring Mondays, there are three or four options [gigs to choose from] every day,” says Manuel.

Manuel adds that his band has gained an impressive following in Bengaluru, recounting the band’s two sold-out shows at Windmills Craftworks in April this year. “We played with Louiz Banks and [Thermal and A Quarter frontman] Bruce Lee Mani at the first show and with [sessions guitarist] Tony Das, [Raghu Dixit Project drummer] Willy Demoz and Prakky [former TAAQ bassist] at the second show. They had to send people away at the doors and we sold about a 100 CDs across two days,” says Manuel.

Returning to the topic of setlists, Manuel says they will premier three new songs at their first stop at Blue Frog, Mumbai. “Mumbai has always been a testing ground for new songs for us. Of the new songs, one of them is in the R&B space, another one’s an odd-time funk number and there’s one I wrote yesterday which is Calypso-influenced,” says Manuel, adding that their new drummer Jain’s funk and R&B background will mean that the band will also show the crowd a good time as they reinterpret some jazz standards.

Adil & Vasundhara September 2013 Tour

September 4th ”“ Blue Frog, Mumbai

September 5th – Shisha Cafe, Pune

September 6th ”“ Bflat, Bengaluru

September 7th ”“ Via Milano, Bengaluru

September 11th ”“ Springr Café, Kochi

September 13th ”“ Purple Fest at Boardwalk Ramada, Chennai

September 14th ”“ Alliance Francaise, Puducherry

September 15th ”“ Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, Swarnabhoomi

Follow Adil & Vasundhara on Facebook and listen to their debut album Ampersand here.