Suman Sridhar brings nostalgia alive with a jazz-infused tribute to film classics in Mumbai this weekend

Suman Sridhar. PIC COURTESY/KKALA ACADEMY

Anthony Gonsalves. Chic Chocolate. RD Burman. Outside of their cool first names, the trio also represents an inherent love for jazz that reshaped the idea of music on the big screen in India. This is precisely the exploration that vocalist and jazz practitioner Suman Sridhar will look to explore in her performance at Andheri this weekend.

"Jazz was never niche when it began. In fact, it was the popular standard of music in its era," the singer-songwriter explains. Having trained in Bharatanatyam and classical music, Sridhar also studied music and visual art at Rutgers University. For fans of film music, her voice might be familiar as the vocals behind the iconic Hawa Hawaai in Shaitaan (2011) and Muskaanein Jhooti Hai in Talaash (2012), to name a few.

"It [the performance] is a jazz interpretation of Hindi and English songs," she points out. This, she adds, goes back to a tradition of jazz players re-interpreting popular standards to create new forms and styles. "I will be using jazz inflections, vocal intonations to reshape songs, including some popular Hindi ones," Sridhar reveals. The session will also have the singer interact with the audience on the nature of her own creative process and music.

Dig deeper into this love for jazz, and the vocalist suggests it is more than just musical. "As you know, jazz was one of the most influential forms of music when it emerged in the early 1930s and 1940s. The influence slowly spread across, and left a mark across the world. Composers like Chic Chocolate, RD Burman embraced the form to give it a very Indian twist," she notes. Take ‘Aaja Aaja' from Teesri Manzil (1966). For Suman, it is almost natural to try and reinterpret this Asha Bhosle classic with a mash up of Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto's Só Danço Samba. It is after all, "a jazz tradition," as she calls it.

With the genre emerging as a popular form for independent artistes, is the resurgence real, we ask. "You could say that, but I think it developed as a niche genre. Granted, it is being performed, studied and explored even more by musicians of a new generation, but it has gotten more niche," says the songwriter.

ON November 29; 6 pm
AT Kkala - Kailash Kher Academy for Learning Art, 171/172, JP Road, opposite Dariya Mahal, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West.
CALL 9833488444
LOG ON TO district.in
ENTRY Rs 599