Music Naka
Red and Gold
To describe Autumn Leaves as a jazz standard is an understatement. It has a much wider appeal with covers by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Seal. It is a song of nostalgia, of fond and yearning memories of a time of romance. But with legions of artists ... Read more
The Multi-layered Sound of Music
A friend sent me the Jazztronica playlist from Spotify. Jaga Jazzist opened with Lithuania and I was hooked. It’s a Chemical Brothers meet Weather Report kind of vibe, and it really works! I can even quote my immediate reactions as I heard it for the... Read more
My Favourite Five Takes on Take Five
Take Five, a song from Timeout by Dave Brubeck's quartet, is technically set in a five beat cycle, but it is so delightful and accessible! No wonder it became the first jazz single to sell over a million copies. I have run into several fascinating co... Read more
Mercurial yet Everlasting
I first heard Queen on FM radio, in India. It is the song “The Show must go on” which really is Mercury’s swan song. Mercury was quite unwell during the making of the album and ended up dying within 10 months of its release. Listening to Mercury sing... Read more
Short but Bittersweet
I heard Emily Remler on air, gushing with admiration for Wes Montgomery. Remler carried Montgomery’s torch forward, while also giving it her own identity. But just when she had overcome the hurdles of gender bias, technique and the long shadows of he... Read more
Serendipitous Encounters
By sheer chance, I discovered the guitarist, Uli Jon Roth. To me, he was a potent musical force who could play the best guitar solos ever! But no one had heard of Roth and the Internet wasn't yet a thing. So it all lent an incredible air of mystery t... Read more
Effortless Genius
A guitar player I knew described Wes Montgomery as “effortless genius”. He had a signature thumb picked guitar sound, mellow and rounded at the same time as being crisp and well-defined. His albums had an ease in the way the music was laid down, like... Read more
Approachable Snobbery
It was clear as soon as it started playing, why Aja was the kind of album that would appeal to the music connoisseur and the audiophile alike. Steely Dan or Becker and Fagen, with a wide cast of session musicians, have melded witty lyrics, jazzy stru... Read more
Igniting the Flame
It was the autumn of 2000. I popped the tape into my tape player. Barely 20 seconds into track 1, Meeting of the Spirits, I was staring agape, in disbelief, trying to figure out what exactly I was hearing. Heavy, High-pitched electric guitar, Powerho... Read more