Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre Welcomes Jazz on a Sunday Morning

Kunal Kapoor of Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre has initiated a regular series of live jazz concerts on the morning of the last Sunday of each month. It has been an exciting experiment and we saw a sold-out concert at the unlikely jazz hour of 11 AM. 

Jazz musicians are notoriously late risers — one dare not risk calling them before noon, and particularly on a Sunday morning — and to have not just five top musicians from Mumbai but also about 150 keen audience members in attendance at this hour is a testament to how well received Kapoor’s endeavor has been. He says he loved the tradition of Sunday morning jazz jam sessions at several Mumbai restaurants in years gone by and is trying to bring back that atmosphere.

There are several factors contributing to this success. The acoustics at Prithvi are marvelous; the theater could well have been designed for live jazz. The setting is perfect for watching and listening and this band was a well-chosen band of musicians who worked well together.

Jazz is resilient and it is pliable; it can be used as a vehicle to transform an ordinary, straightforward song into an improvised, exciting version. Christmas songs and carols have been favorites of jazz musicians for creating a swinging, energetic rendition. 

This Christmas Eve, Rudolph (yes, the reindeer with the red nose) was running behind schedule; so he hitched on a turbo-charged V-8 engine to his sleigh and made up for lost time. Or so it seemed when tenor saxophonist Mark Hartsuch played this Christmas favorite with exuberance and swing. This uptempo version of the age-old Christmas favorite was typical of the treatment given to the usual sing-along festive fare. 

In keeping with the all acoustic setup — except Mohini Dey’s amplified bass, the musicians adjusted their playing with subtlety. Gino Banks played drums throughout the session using only brushes while Dey had her bass amplified to a bare minimum. The sound of an upright piano in this setting was very pleasing and Arka Chakravarty played with a subtle touch to further raise the quality of the jazz.

Meanwhile, Samantha Noella sang without a microphone. She opened the session with an unaccompanied “Holy Night.” She might have been a little handicapped by the lack of amplification of her voice and was perhaps a bit inaudible at the rear of the auditorium.

Swing versions of “Cool Yule”, “Let it Snow”, “Winter Wonderland” and “Santa Claus is coming to Town” were all vocalized by Noella while “Merry Christmas Baby” was an interesting slow blues version — with a fine blues solo on piano from Chakravarty.

“This Christmas” was a funky take on the song and Mohini Dey was in her element with the liberty to set her groove. Oh! The versatility of jazz interpretations.

Guest pianist Louiz Banks replaced Arka at the piano for “Jingle Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Louiz was greeted by the appreciative audience with a standing ovation, which is just a testament to his years of dedicated service to jazz and the status he has achieved from it.

Special mention is due to the bass playing of Dey in this set of jazz; she modulated her performance in keeping with the acoustic setting. At times she played a ‘walking’ bass much in the style of an upright acoustic bass and her solos were melodic and understated. On his ‘brushes only’ drum playing, Gino sounded quite sophisticated. Subtle playing on drums can add a very pleasant dimension to a jazz concert, as it did at Prithvi that morning.

Hartsuch was also at his brilliant best and he and Chakravarty are a welcome addition to the Mumbai jazz scene. Noella was, as always at her melodic best, if somewhat hampered without a microphone.

It was altogether a high standard of jazz and hopefully, we can hear more from this outstanding quintet in time to come.

Sunil Sampat is a jazz critic and Contributing Editor of Rolling Stone India. Write to Sunil at jazzwala@gmail.com