Yet wrapped in goosebumps, I'm making this feeble attempt of sharing with
you an experience as fulfilling as watching the incredible jazz/rock outfit,
the Jonas Hellborg Band (www.jonashellborg.de), live in concert.

The Swedish trio-comprising Mynta on drums, Mathias `Guitar One Dick' Eklund
(we'll talk about Mandolin Srinivasan later), and Jonas Hellborg on the
acoustic bass guitar-left a packed Homi Bhaba Auditorium begging for more
last Saturday night at the Jazz Utsav 2005. Walking towards the entrance
with the entry pass in my hand, I couldn't tell if I really was at a jazz
concert. For, the sound waves that leaked past the heavily padded wooden
doors hinted at the promise of a `rockin' time ahead. Once in the line of
sight of the band, the voice inside my head screamed, "NO WAY! JOHN PETRUCCI
CUT HIS HAIR A LONG TIME BACK, DIDN'T HE?"

Such was the power of Eklund's guitar work. And his sense of humor? Oh boy,
let's not even get started. (Where do you think I drew inspiration from for
his `G-O-Dlike' middle name?) And that's just him. The band's spectrum of
offerings included Mynta's tricky time signatures and Hellborg's
face-melting bass solos. I just sat there in that second row seat, reduced
to just another face in the crowd, recording whatever bit of the show I
could with my cellphone camera - mesmerized beyond imagination and wondering
if I'll ever be on stage with a band of such caliber.

Meanwhile at (Not Just) Jazz By The Bay, Gary Lawyer had half of Mumbai city
eating out of His hands. There was no way I could turn His personal
invitation down, I love Him too much to do that. So having watched and
appreciated the Charlie Mariano Trio from Germany and our very own Louis
Banks-the other performers for the evening-we (a few passionate subscribers
of the Narendra Kusnur Club of Mumbai Rockers) arrived at NJJBTB to tell
Gary we care. Gary was brilliant! NJJBTB was visibly in love with the Man!

Then the music stopped. The drummer and bass player were replaced. My blood
rushed headwards and NJJBTB burst into ecstatic screams as `Guitar One Dick'
was handed over his weapon of choice. WOO HOO! MY BAND WAS HERE TOO!

The Swedish guitar virtuoso kicked it off with a two-hand tapping solo, one
that sounded a wee bit more familiar with every 8 bars. Skillfully, he
maneuvered the solo into the opening lines of the Hendrix classic `Purple
Haze'. Gary lost no time in pulling me up by the sleeve. This was my moment!
With a gigantic surge of adrenalin, I climbed on stage to pay my homage to
the omnipresent spirit of the Late Maestro!

"Purple haze all around
Don't know if I'm comin' up or down
Am I happy or in misery?
What ever it is, that girl put a spell on me"

Jesus, the girls went nuts! And the sight of Narendra Kusnur, Navin Salian
and the rest of the billionaires shaking their `jewels' is> one I'm not
gonna forget for a while. Eklund's arpeggio-heavy solos lived up to the
reputation of Sweden, the land of the `ice and snow' that's home to the
unbeatable Yngwie J. Malmsteen, while Mynta and Hellborg did what they do
best - KICK BUTT!

Jaws dropped, men screamed, and women swooned! And I sang to my heart's
content, whipping my hair and grabbing what my mama gave me! Absolutely
unbelievable! (Thank you God for listening to me even when I thought I was
talking to myself!)

Narendra Kusnur! Hmmm, now if you're wondering who this person is that I
keep mentioning in every second post, well he's the Ian Gillan look-alike
(ha!) that gave away Warner music CDs at the VAYU gig at Zenzi. His 42 year
old heart of gold rests itself every night on a bed that's...well never
mind! Click http://www.raga2rock.com/reviewE.asp?id=93&artis to get a sense
of what this man is all about.

And hey, rem'ber Saber Tooth? If you're under 25, may be you should ask your
daddy about them if he was a hard rocking guy in the eighties. But if you're
in your thirties or forties, I'm sure you know this homegrown hard rock
sensation that I'm talking about. Rumor has it that these mean guys are
planning to make their first come back since their split in 1991. Rumor also
has it that a certain very charismatic 30 year old rock vocalist with a very
weird name is gonna front the new incarnation of the band. ;-)

Before I go, I'd like to specify for the benefit of my non-Hindi speaking
friends that `Ek' (in Eklund) is Hindi for `One' and `Lund'
is...err...well...why don't you go figure yourself?

Later,

2Blue
www.vayu.co.in