Louiz Banks quartet to headline the Jazz India Circuit launch concert
New Delhi: Teamwork Arts’ Jazz India Circuit (JIC) is back with its 2018-19 season, featuring path-breaking contemporary jazz musicians from India and around the world, who continue to push the boundaries of the genre. JIC 2018-19 Season kicks off with the Jazz India Circuit Launch Concert on 2nd November as Teamwork Arts comes together with DLF5 to present a spectacular line-up of artistes headlined by the Louiz Banks Quartet. The concert is supported by Hines.
Louiz Banks has been spearheading the jazz movement in India for the past three decades. His album, ‘Miles from India’, produced along with the late Bob Belden, was nominated for a Grammy award. He has performed extensively with Pam Crain, Ramamani, Sivamani, Zakir Husain, Shankar Mahadevan, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Vidwan Vikku Vinayakaram and U. Srinivas, amongst others. He will be performing with jazz drummer extraordinaire Aron Nyiro, Mumbai-based guitar player and composer Sanjay Divecha and Indian bass player Sheldon D’Silva.
Also performing will be the Jass B’stards Projectile, who are essentially an expanded version of The Jass B’stards who themselves are the rhythm section and music writers of popular Indian dance band The SkaVengers. With the addition of percussion maestro Mohit Lal and virtuoso flautist, Kartikeya, they bring a distinctly international flavour to the already experimental jazz grooves that the band has been known for. The addition of more musical layers and textures has broadened their mix, occasionally letting up with sudden gear changes, to keep the crowd on their toes. The band project live visual mixes throughout their performance with Ritika Singh at the controls, who also doubles up as guest singer.
Having established themselves in Delhi’s parallel music scenes, The Revisit Project started out in 2014 as a tribute band, rediscovering some of the lost treasures of Hindi film music and giving a contemporary Funk-Jazz fusion touch to their renditions. The band comprises Abhay Sharma on the saxophone, Abhijit Sood on drums, Birraj Singh Taneja on keyboards, Varun Rajasekharan on percussion, Kanu Gangahar on the guitar and Karan Wadhwa on bass.
Speaking about their collaboration with the Circuit, Mr. Aakash Ohri, Senior Executive Director, DLF5 said, “DLF5 in order to engage its ever growing and vibrant community, curates distinguished events. Jazz is a mature form of music, universally known to have a distinct coterie. This is an incredible opportunity for all jazz-lovers and music aficionados to experience mesmerizing performances, by internationally admired musicians. DLF5 is delighted to host the Jazz India Circuit Launch with this phenomenal line-up of artists.”
Talking about the 2018-19 season, Sanjoy K. Roy, M.D, Teamwork Arts said, ‘The Jazz India Circuit has been creating new avenues to bring jazz to discerning and diverse listeners. The excitement of experimentation has helped grow this genre of music and we have been delighted to be able to present some of the best musicians of our time over the past few years.”
With a blend of the upcoming and talented The Revisit Project, the sublime skills of the JassB’stards and the assured elegance of the Louiz Banks Quartet, the launch has just the right mix to give attendees a taste of what the Jazz India Circuit is brewing up in the next few months.
The Jazz India Circuit (JIC) is like a modern-day speakeasy, giving music-lovers and jazz aficionados the freedom to dream and live their music the way they want to. The 2018-19 season will feature the Jazz India Circuit Tour presented by the US mission in India, which will be a four-city concert series, from 27th Nov to 8th Dec, with US-based group House of Waters, the Jazz India Circuit International Festival on 1st and 2nd Dec in Goa (to be headlined by two-time Grammy-nominated Australian-Soul quartet, Hiatus Kaiyote) and the Jazz India Circuit International Festival in Delhi in March 2019.