It was a jazz night for city music lovers

Jazz

lovers of the city had a great time at ICCR, which hosted the

Trad Jazz

Concert recently. It was an event that evoked the city’s age-old love for jazz. “Kolkata has always been a place where jazz was appreciated dearly,” said Barun Chanda just before the musicians took to the stage. The musical night started with a beautiful rendition of Oleo by Sonny Rollins, performed by Pradyumna Singh Manot aka Paddy on the piano, Sava Boyadzhiev on the drums and Sonic Shori on the bass. With the powerful voice of Megan Powers, the quartet covered traditional jazz numbers like Nearness Of You, Desafinado,

Bye Bye Blackbird

and many others. Though the set was supposed to end with In The Dark by Nina Simone, audience requests prompted the band members to end the show with Moanin’ by

Bobby Timmons

.
Ahona Sen, the backbone of the concert, said, “I was actually told by many in the audience that they felt they were at a show at a jazz club abroad! Mission accomplished, I must say!”
Pradyumna Singh Manot aka Paddy:

‘It was beautiful playing in Kolkata after so many years and sharing my musical journey with the people here. I’ve learnt so much here, and now, I just want to give back to my hometown, where art is celebrated with veneration’
Megan Powers:

‘It is an honour to perform in Kolkata, a city with such a rich history of culture. Here, each note aspires to resonate as a living continuation of that tradition. When the audience is warm, receptive and generous, music comes to life in a wholly different way’
Sava Boyadzhiev:

‘It was a great experience! I liked the vibe and the energy in the concert hall. Also, the applause after the solos indicated an educated jazz audience. I think Kolkata is ready for more jazz in a concert format and it’s time for a jazz festival’
Sonic Shori:

‘The best thing about the audience in Kolkata is that they have great knowledge of jazz. The organising team made sure that we didn’t have to worry about anything but playing. There should be more jazz concerts here in a bigger format’