To dub it jazz, fusion or world music, one might be at a loss, but to have a French trio by the name Masala Dosa might come across as eve more amusing, possibly even as puzzling. And as they explicate the nature of the band, soon it becomes clear why they call themselves so. Brothers Pierre-Jean Duffour and Brice Duffour, along with their percussionist friend Franck Lemoine make up the jazz trio, who for the first time performed in Chennai at Taj Coromandel, again, thanks to Alliance Francaise and Exodus.
Churning out tracks from their latest album Electro World Curry, as part of their 5-week tour in India, it conclusively stood out from the other jazz concerts Chennai has seen so far, with the sitar skills of Pierre-Jean, taking the audience to a new musical high. With his brother Brice pitching in with some solid bass and Franck looking composed behind the jazz set, the three had the evening well assured of quality music.
And theirs is the one that undeniably stands out. Jazz, yet desi. By the time Pierre-Jean came to India in 1997, to learn the sitar, the high-school pals had done some light-hearted jamming together. "We also went to Paris ad London to learn jazz,” says Pierre-Jean, pointing out that they hail from Evian, a small town on the French Alps.
“I came to India, to learn sitar under Tarak Nath Mishra. I have always been fascinated by Indian sounds. It is deep. When I was in high school, I used to listen to Ravi Shankar,” he remembers. In 2002, the band was officially formed. “We started sending our tracks to radio stations and we had to name our band and we settled on Masala Dosa.
Masala, because our music is like a mix of spices and dosa, because we were used to eating dosas for breakfast when we came to India. The dosa is also shaped like a vinyl record. So, there are many reasons,” explains Pierre-Jean, with a smile. True, a witty tale of christening, and they indeed gave Chennai a reason to smile about.
