Mumbai: Buddy Guy will return to Mumbai for the fifth edition of Asia’s best blues congregation, the Mahindra Blues Festival in February 2015. Guy will lead a starry lineup of artistes that includes The Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson, Doyle Bramhall II who returns after last year’s successful outing, Danish sensation Thorbjorn Risager who will play with his band The Black Tornado, and Nikki Hill. Guy who has been a regular at the festival will also be seen jamming with his protégé Quinn Sullivan, the 15-year-old singer-guitarist who is being touted as the future of the blues.
While Guy’s return to the MBF stage has been largely speculated by fans online, the rest of the lineup has been confirmed by the organisers, Oranjuice Entertainment. Says Owen Roncon, partner, Oranjuice Entertainment, “It has always been our endeavour to bring the best of the blues to the Indian stage and the upcoming edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival will be no different. We’re excited to have a lineup so varied that includes Robinson, Hill, Quinn and Thorbjorn.”
The artistes themselves can barely curtail their excitement to bring the blues to the city next year. Guy, Quinn and Thorbjorn have gone ahead and announced their Mumbai visit on their websites. All three are set to be performing on February 15, the second day of the festival. Maxazine.com, the Dutch online music magazine has mentioned that a jam session between Guy and Thorbjorn is in fact a part of the Danish band’s plan for Mumbai. The inclusion of Thorbjorn and The Black Tornado marks the debut of a European band in the predominantly American festival. “Given that the blues originated in America, it is natural that the lineup would feature a great deal of American artistes. The festival has also given a good deal of space to the growing number of Indian blues artistes. It’ll be interesting to see a European interpretation of a largely American genre. Thorbjorn is vivacious and soulful and embodies the spirit of the blues, something that the festival too reflects,” says a source in the music industry.
Leading online trade publication for the music industry Pollstar.com that also lists and sells tickets to concerts the world over has confirmed the lineup for the first day of the festival. Rich Robinson, Doyle Bramhall II and Nikki Hill will play on the opening day and will also participate in the all-star jam that traditionally concludes the two-day festival. “Buddy Guy will obviously be a big draw at the festival, but the beauty of the curation of the festival lies in the fact that their greatest hits at the MBF have come from artistes who barely have a Wikipedia page. In fact the penultimate acts on both days have so far been the musical geniuses of the day despite the headliners being better showmen or often, bigger names. That said, I’m not looking forward to Buddy Guy yet again; very often there is more theatrics than blues in his case. The rest of the lineup will more than compensate for the musical quality,” says Ashish Bhatt, a businessman and a collector of vinyls, who has attended all the editions of the festival so far.
The Mahindra Blues Festival is Asia’s biggest festival of the blues. Some of the biggest names to have taken to the MBF stage include Johny Lang, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker Jr., Tedeschi Trucks, Jimmie Vaughan and Walter Trout. The fifth edition of the festival is scheduled to take place on February 14-15 at Mehboob Studios.
