Music composer Vishal Chandrashekhar’s plate is full with film projects, but his latest venture with wife Sinduri Vishal is already one of his favourites. Not only is it fun to ideate and play music, but even better having artists come over to perform!
While the first video of them jamming together came out sometime late May, the concept only took shape after the second video. “My wife and I wanted to chumma jam and put the video up on Facebook. We were surprised at the response, especially after the second video. Now, our seventh jam has gone up and we’re going to release our eight one on Friday,” he smiles. They jam every Thursday, “We start in the evening, and keep playing till four in the morning! The recording quality is decent on an iPhone, and it fits the theme,” he says.
So, what exactly is the theme? “We look at the jam sessions as an escape from work. We pick a new genre every week, select one new song and one old from that genre, and mash them up. So far, we have covered a traditional Senghalese song and a Konkani song. Sinduri and I have the whole week to practice it and then we practice it with the other artistes on Thursday,” he explains.
They may not have originally intended it, but inviting guest artistes was next in the natural progression of things. “Last week’s genre was Jazz, so we invited Kavita Thomas to sing. I had worked with her for Domer-u Lord-u in Jil Jung Juk and knew her to be a jazz exponent. Our next video will focus on classical and Sufi music, and include a dholak session,” he says.
The objective is two-sided – work with upcoming musicians giving them a platform, and revive old music. In addition, the process involves food — lots of it!
What is next? “We want our 53rd session to be grand, with all artistes coming together for it. Other than that, I am also planning on asking actor Siddharth to sing with us, but that depends on his schedule,” Vishal concludes.
