Lamakaan’s sixth anniversary celebrations took a mellow turn on Wednesday evening, with a jazz, blues and ballads-themed performance by celebrated Hyderabadi musicians Dennis Powell and Shakila. They were joined on stage by drummer Kartik Kalyan and bassist Benjamin Christopher, while George Hull accompanied them on saxophone.
Playing classics like Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Barbra Streisand’s Memory and Ray Charles’ Georgia On My Mind, this marked the first time that this particular group has played together on stage. But it certainly wasn’t the first time they’ve played on stage. “Our endeavour is to promote Jazz in the city, so that’s why we try to do a lot of it. Even when we do funk, we do funk jazz... if we’re doing rock we do jazz rock,” says Dennis.
About the rise of modern music over “niche” genres such as jazz and blues in the city, Kartik says that there is an “imbalance” and that the number of (and need for) such acts needed to increase. “There are lots of places and venues, but not many want a proper performance, where you’re not part of the background.”
He did, however, end on a positive, note, saying that there are always people who come up to them at the end of their shows and are very appreciative of their music — “And that is what keeps us going.”
