The month of February is the perfect time to be outdoors. This weekend, Delhi’s Sunder Nursery will transform into a vibrant music carnival with the second edition of KNMA In The Park. It brings Nainital-born music sensation, Mansa Jimmy, and Pondicherry’s multi-genre ensemble BeatRoute for a soulful evening.
Jimmy of Coke Studio Bharat season one fame has performed in over 1000 live shows since her seven-year-old career. She will bring on stage her expertise in retro Bollywood and Sufi songs. The audience can also expect some of her unreleased originals along with folk renditions. Jimmy will be joined by leading esraj player Arshad Khan known for performing for Bollywood songs like ‘Oh Rangrez’, ‘Phir Le Aya Dil’ and ‘Noor-e- Khuda.’ Telling us about her gig, Jimmy says, “KNMA in the park is a wonderful initiative. It has a very cool curation right from the location to the little details. Everything is made with such an honest effort. I am super excited for it and want the listeners to forget all their worries, close their eyes and drift off to a safe musical space for this evening. My performance will be a simplistic amalgamation of Western influence and Indian sounds.”
BeatRoute will be performing in the city for the first time. The ensemble is conceptualised by celebrated percussionist, and composer Ranjit Barot and theatre director Roysten Able of live album The Manganiyar Seduction fame. In the past, the ensemble has shown its metier in percussions, playing a diverse range of instruments from India — from the copper drum instrument mizhavu of Kerala to desert instruments like the dhol, nagara, kartaal, bhapang and morchang amongst others. This time too, it will take over the stage to perform percussions with traditional folk rhythms. “BeatRoute will bring together three distinct drumming traditions from Rajasthan, Kerala, and Western drumming. It will be merged with electronic elements. This confluence of diverse percussion styles creates a dynamic cross-cultural dialogue through rhythm,” says Gayathri Krishna, founder of Bhoomija Trust who is bringing the artists on board.
Aditi Jaitly, senior curator of performing arts at KNMA says that Sunder Nursery provides one of the most “beautiful” public spaces for a live gig. “Its historic charm and open landscapes make it the perfect setting for an evening where audiences can immerse themselves in powerful performances by some of India's most imaginative artists. This year’s lineup featuring Mansa Jimmy’s soulful melodies and BeatRoute’s electrifying rhythms embodies the very essence of what we strive for: a celebration of artistic diversity in a space that belongs to the city and its people.”
KNMA In The Park will be held at Sunder Nursery on February 23, 6pm onwards.