Keeping with high jazz standards

It’s going to be a quiet New Year for duo Smiti Malik and Adhir Ghosh, who’ll be presenting a musical show at The Piano Man Jazz Club in the coming week.
Bringing this duo set to life has been very rewarding, yet challenging as it brings us face to face with a very rich and long tradition of material that has taken many forms over the ages.”Adhir Ghosh
Bringing this duo set to life has been very rewarding, yet challenging as it brings us face to face with a very rich and long tradition of material that has taken many forms over the ages.”Adhir Ghosh

It’s going to be a quiet New Year for duo Smiti Malik and Adhir Ghosh, who’ll be presenting a musical show at The Piano Man Jazz Club in the coming week. The year has been an eventful one with several gigs circling their performance calendar. Now it’s time to take it easy, they say.

In just a few days, the routine of long days and longer nights shortly dedicated to creating music is once again to commence. 


Playing a set of jazz standards, many of which they have re-arranged to suit their voice and guitar setup, are the two artistes. Performing is a very reactive process, and doing justice to the material is a crucial part of playing any set, they believe. “It requires a certain degree of awareness and preparedness, but is only completed by giving in to the moment unconditionally,” says Malik, adding, “Professionally, we have encountered spaces/audiences where our set may not work, but in those situations as well, it is difficult not to get immersed in the material.”


Malik, a vocalist of a Delhi-based band, Kitchensink, has trained in Hindustani and Western vocals. Ghosh on the other hand, is a session-guitarist, composer and music teacher who plays with Five8 and Kitchensink. 


It was their love for music that encouraged them to collaborate professionally. “Bringing ourselves live has brought us face to face with a very rich and long tradition of material that has taken many forms over the ages. Working our way through that, whilst maintaining its integrity and intimacy has been a significant part of the process,” says Ghosh. 


The professional aspect of making music is one that’s been financially rewarding, however, being authentically connected with their music has been emotionally rewarding. 


Their upcoming show will see a complex musical sets but hopefully one that’ll resonate with the audience, feels Ghosh. “It’s about being honest in our message and the rest will fall in place,” he says. 
December 28, at The Piano Man Jazz Club, B 6, Commercial Complex, Safdarjung Enclave Opposite Deer Park, at 9 pm. 

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