Jazz Utsav Returns To Mumbai This Weekend

Jazz fusion guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar.

Jazz lovers in Mumbai were deprived of their annual installment of talented young Scandanivian exponents last year when the organisers of the Jazz Utsav decided to skip shows in Mumbai owing to lack of a sponsor. In 2012 however, fans of jazz will get two festivals within the same fortnight. Jazz Utsav returns to the city this weekend, when it will be staged at Blue Frog from Friday, October 26 to Sunday, October 28, while the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ jazz festival, will be held, under the new name Jus’ Jazz, from Saturday, November 3 to Monday, November 5. While the latter is dominated by American names, the former, as always, features a number of rising stars from Europe.

These include a Friday slot by Norwegian saxophonist Froy Aagre (Friday), whose latest album was praised by The Guardian for being “meticulously crafted”; a Saturday set by Swiss band Pommelhorse, whose sound is said to be a genre-melding experimental mix of jazz, rock and electronica; and a Sunday show by the critically-acclaimed Polish Marcin Wasilewski Trio helmed by pianist Marcin Wasilewski who, besides sharing his name with the captain of his country’s national football team, served along with band mates, bassist Slawomir Kurkicwicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz, as the rhythm section for renowned trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. The Indian contingent, which will perform on Sunday, is made up of a couple of Berklee College of Music alumni: the New Delhi-based Tarun Balani, who is a well-known percussionist in the capital’s live circuit, and Blue Frog founder and jazz fusion guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar. See here for the full line-up.

Blue Frog

LocationMathuradas Mills Compound
Tulsi Pipe Road
Lower Parel

Phone022 6158 6158

Relevant DatesFriday, October 26 to Sunday, October 28

HoursFrom 7pm onwards on all three days

Ticketing & Price InfoRs500 per head by day; Rs1,000 for a three-day pass

Websitewww.bluefrog.co.in