CHENNAI: Saturday night started off with a cool breeze and soulful music from the instrumental quartet Refuge, on the first day of the Jazz Music Festival 2015 held at Phoenix Market City.
The band is led by Aman Mahajan on the piano, Matt Littlewood on the saxophone, Mishka M’ba on bass guitar and Jeoraj George on drums. The instrumental ensemble from India played thematic music drawing on jazz, classical music and folk traditions from all over the world.
Aman, who composed and arranged all the wonderful music over the last 10 years, was brilliant, his fingers running over the keys to create beautiful notes.
The second, more cheerful composition received the most cheer from the audience. Mishko M’Ba, with his eccentric personality on stage, was amazing with his guitar, nodding and immersed in the music.
While the audience cheered and snacked by the nearby food stall, the band played a few original compositions, each similar in tone, yet completely different from each other in rhythm.
Matt Littlewood was admired for his skill on the saxophone, which proved to be quite enchanting. And Jeoraj George at the back of the quartet wasn’t missed out by anyone with his steady beats. With each musician leading the other, the first hour of the concert was a complete success. However, just when the second act Black Market was slated to take the stage, the rain decided to make an entrance as well. Despite the cover overhead, the fest had to end mid-show, and it was announced that Black Market’s performance would be postponed to Sunday evening. As the storm went on to make its own music, we started ‘headbanging’ in the middle of the mall’s exit, upon the realisation there were fewer autos than band instruments on stage.