NCPA Jazz Festival 2025 Review: Mike Stern and Dennis Chambers Make It Explosive

“Jazz is not what is played, rather how it is played,” Charles Mingus once famously said. Going by this criterion, an exciting three-day jazz festival was held in Mumbai at the Tata Theatre, NCPA.

It was a diverse three days of jazz music, and it would be fair to say there was something for every taste in jazz, from a classic acoustic quintet led by a traditional upright bass to an upbeat electric guitar-led band with a tireless drummer, and much more in between.

This annual jazz festival at the NCPA, first held in 2011, is perhaps the longest-running event of its kind in India. This year, the festival opened with New York–based pianist and vocalist Peter Cincotti and his quartet, featuring Anthony Glausi on trumpet, Michael Olatuja on bass, and Charles Goold on drums. As the set unfolded, it seemed possible that Cincotti wasn’t entirely sure what might connect with an Indian audience — his performance felt deliberately simplified, leaning more towards pop-jazz.

He played and sang “New York State of Mind,” a Billy Joel hit, and a few originals. A few jazz-based standards, such as “Sway” and “I Love Paris”, were interspersed with his version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and “I Hate to See the Sun Go Down.” Cincotti’s piano-playing was indicative of a deeper connection with jazz, in contrast to his choice and style of songs for the NCPA gig. His charming and personal storytelling created an easy rapport with the audience, keeping them fully engaged. Glausi on trumpet was a fine complement to Cincotti’s playing, and all in all, this set reached a fair-sized part of the audience.

Day 2 was opened by the charming upright bass player-vocalist Nicki Parrott and her all-Australian quartet. They opened with “I Love Being Here With You,“ made popular by Peggy Lee, continued with the famous “Squatty Roo,” written by Johnny Hodges for the Duke Ellington band, a bossa nova number called “Mais Que Nada,” “Destination Moon” from the Dinah Washington song book and several standards.

Nicki Parrott was charm itself as she spoke a long sentence in Hindi, and got everyone listening with rapt attention as she told a story for every song she sang. Her bass playing was of a high standard. On an audience request, Parrott broke into “Fly Me to the Moon” without hesitation and later surprised one and all when she sang, in a remarkable jazz style, “Srivalli” from the movie Pushpa (which she sang in Telugu!)

This was a happy set, but it was the second half of the evening that was explosive.

Mike Stern on guitar, Leni Stern on rhythm guitar, saxophonist Blaise Whitaker, bassist Naom Tanzer, and the 360-degree drummer Dennis Chambers played the second part of Saturday’s entertainment. The interaction between the dexterity of Mike Stern’s playing and the all-encompassing rhythm of Dennis Chambers was quite magical and stretched across the 90-minute set. The saxophone of Blaise Whitaker added a dimension to the otherwise intense artistry of Mike Stern. A number of local musicians, including some well-known guitarists, were in the audience; the skills of Mike Stern, even at the age of 70 plus, were very impressive indeed.

For us, the high point of the festival was on the final day when Brian Bromberg’s Quintet played a set of acoustic jazz of the finest calibre. Starting as a trio, the band played “Nardis,” a Miles Davis composition. Broomberg’s bass dominated this rendition.

Very few bass players lead their bands. Charles Mingus is one who comes to mind, as well as Ray Brown, who led a trio; both Mingus and Brown played acoustic bass. The sound of the bass was ideal for the acoustically perfect Tata Theatre, and Bromberg played it masterfully.

The band performed mostly in a quintet format, with Lin Rountree on trumpet and Doug Webb on tenor saxophone joining pianist Tom Zink, drummer Charles Ruggiero and bandleader Brian Bromberg. While the muted trumpet and saxophone had some pleasing solos, it was the acoustic trio that made the most impact on jazz connoisseurs in the audience. “Chameleon,” “Cold Duck Time,” and “What is this Thing Called Love” stood out from the performance of this band as the festival came to a close.

We have seen that the following for jazz has been growing each year since the NCPA launched its jazz initiative, which has consistently sought to bring the best in the genre to Mumbai. Given the steady rise in audiences and enthusiasm, it seems increasingly clear that the growth of jazz in the city is no mere coincidence.