The Mahindra Blues Festival is the must see festival for the growing number of blues fans in India. The exposure to world class musicians and their music at our doorstep signifies a rising of the standards and the expectation level of the audience. From Grammy award winning artistes to brilliant prodigies to local artistes, the festival has it all. Held over the weekend of 14^th and 15^th Feb at the iconic Mehboob Studios, Bandra, Mumbai, the event was organized by Oranjuice Events and Promotions who ensured that all went off smoothly. As in the past, the show was hosted by Brian Tellis.

Day 1

Being Valentine’s Day, the footfalls were rather slimmer compared to other years, as many had made other plans to celebrate the day of love. That aside, the festival opened at Stage 1 with a homegrown product performing for the fourth consecutive year. Warren Mendonsa’s Blackstratblues with his controlled and melodic phrasing was reminiscent of one of his favorite guitar heroes Gary Moore. This time the bluesman decided to pay tribute to the greats of blues by inviting singers Nikhil D’souza and Dominique Cerejo, who performed several covers of some of the top blues artists. Mendonsa was backed by Loy Mendonsa (his uncle) on keyboards, Adi Mistry on bass and Jai Row Kavi on drums.

After a 90 minute set, the audience was treated to an open air ambience, where Aayushi Karnik, winner of the Mahindra Blues Artist Hunt performed some amazing blues covers in a mix of covers of Sam Cooke, Jimi Hendrix as well as originals. Karnik won the contest from amongst 24 entries. The 20 year old Surat resident showed just how good she was, not only in her vocal prowess, but by playing the guitar with immense confidence. This showed just why she was the winner of the contest. Prior to her gig, she was given helpful hints by guitarists Ehsaan Noorani and Floyd Fernandes.  

The next gig was debutant Nikki Hill who with her soulful and rhythm and blues powerful vocals got the crowd stomping their feet and chanting out along with her. She sang songs like I got a man and also two crowd pleasing Little Richard numbers whom she considers her idol. She was backed by her husband Matt Hill on guitar, Ed Strohsahl on bass and Joe Meyer on drums. She draws on vintage female R&B influences such as LaVern Baker, Etta James and Ruth Brown, as well as some of her favorite male singers Otis Redding and Solomon Burke.

The final act for Day 1 was last year’s guest artist Doyle Bramhall II (who had played with the Tedeschi Trucks Band the previous year). The Texan style left handed guitarist playing a right handed guitar teamed with Rich Robinson, the ex-founding member of The Black Crowes. Together they gave a rendition of raspy Texas style vocals and searing leads. Amongst Doyle’s influences are the Vaughn brothers, Jimi Hendrix and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Day 2

The day’s proceedings began with gigs at Stage 1 with students of the True School of Music performing their version of the Blues. It comprised of the faculty as well as the students putting up a sterling performance. A gig was also held in the open at the Garden courtyard.

Near the Bar entrance and the food seating area, a local Bandra band, Joe and the Top Cats, performed instrumental covers of jazz and blues greats. Though not a soul hovered around the band while they were performing, those who watched the performance found it extremely rewarding and took one to the days of the 50s and 60s. The all brass act deserves a pat on the back for the excellent 20 minute set.

Stage 1 saw Danish group Thorbjorn Risager and the Black Tornados, a seven piece band that is reminiscent of the Big Band style of blues and jazz in terms of sound as well as look. Dressed in suit and tie or bow, the band was suited for the occasion. Band leader Thorbjørn Risager has composed most of their songs and cites as his influences B B King and Ray Charles. He has a characteristic raunchy voice and the band’s typical sound, with its horns, solo performances and rolling, are almost big-band-like grooves. He weaves threads of soul, gospel, rock, R&B and funk into his music to create a variety and keep the audience hooked. The band had a great connect with the crowd who were gripped by the tight musicianship, especially on the brass side and keyboards. It was a good combination of individual brilliance and perfectly coordinated teamwork, with equal measure of showmanship.

There are some superstars who are born with a golden spoon and Quinn Sullivan is definitely one of them. The 15 year old prodigy picked up the guitar at age 3 and has created a name in the Blues world with his fluid lines, clear note picking and Clapton like leads. He has toured with the best and the brightest in the music industry. Six times Grammy winner Buddy Guy has taken him under his wing. Guy heard Sullivan play when Sullivan was just 7 years old. Guy saw in Sullivan a future and since then took him under his shadow. Since then the do often tour together. At his gig, Sullivan played with the backup band of Buddy Guy. He played a particularly beautiful soulful version of the classic Little Wing which was one of the highlights of the concert and spoke about how Buddy Guy met him and made him what he is today. Sullivan also sang tracks from his album ‘Getting there’ and played a tribute song to Buddy Guy.

Buddy Guy is undoubtedly one of the world's greatest guitarists and bluesmen, playing at the festival for the third time seemed a welcome move, especially the festival that celebrated five glorious musical years, but a little excessive is always too much to digest and this was felt by a few fans. He played more or less the same set he usually does every time, the same riffs, sporting his trademark polka dotted shirt, flinging plectrums into the audience and his sipping of coffee. We could say that besides his few tracks he played that night, it was his jokes that were the only blessing around. There was a lot the man could’ve done and that too in a shortened session of just 90 minutes including the All Star Jam. He could’ve done much more, but he seemed to be out of his element for some reason. A diehard fan in front of the stage, found favor with Buddy Guy and was invited by him backstage immediately after the show. But what was promised did happen, for like most of the artists, Buddy Guy too did the vanishing act immediately after the show, leaving the disgruntled fan fuming at his bad luck.

The final All Star Jam had Buddy Guy calling on stage Quinn Sullivan, Doyle Bramhall, Nikki Hill, Matt Hill, Rich Robinson, Thorbjørn Risager to draw the curtains with a cascade of crackling riffs and sustained high pitch notes.

To keep yourself busy whilst the bands tuned up or if you wanted to take a break from the high decibel music, there was a well stocked food court, two bars one at Venue 2 the other in the Garden, an LP Record store with bargain prices and a CD/DVD store. The True School of Music – TSM had their faculty and students playing a mix of originals and covers in the Gardens from time to time.

Missing was India’s best loved blues band Soulmate. The duo had till last time played at every Mahindra Blues festival. The duo has been together for a decade and is also very popular with the audience. Also missing for the last two years was the Gibson guitars display where young guitarists used to try burning up the fret board with Satriani style licks. The Sunday morning brunch and music workshops too have been discontinued.

This is a festival which draws a lot of celebrities from diverse backgrounds. Seen enjoying the music was Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin, singer Suneeta Rao, Congress MLA Priya Dutt, French World Cup player Mikael Silvestre, director Kiran Rao, and ex-Wailers axe man Roy Venkat amongst many others.

By Savio Miranda