Kailash Kher’s former guitarist Sankarshan Kini to present a special jazz performance with Kirtana Krishna

Sankarshan Kini teams up with Kirtana Krishna for a special jazz performance
Sankarshan Kini and Kirtana Krishna
Sankarshan Kini and Kirtana Krishna

Fans of Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa will be pleased to know that one of the band’s former guitarists, Sankarshan Kini, is now settled in Auroville and is charting a unique path of his own in his musical career. The composer and multi-instrumentalist admits that during his Kailasa days, he couldn’t find the kind of environment he desired in Mumbai, despite its rich musical scene. Hence he moved to Auroville four years ago and has never left since then. This weekend, he will be seen performing along with Kirtana Krishna, a vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, who also resides in Auroville, in a jazz music show called All Things That You Are. “We met a couple of years ago in Pondicherry, but it was only recently after she became my jazz guitar student, that we started playing together,” says Sankarshan, adding that they are yet to write any piece together yet. As for the show at Adishakti, he says, “We’re presenting a set of American swing and Brazilian standards. Expect clearly defined melodies interspersed with spontaneous instrumental and vocal improvisation.”

Bombay to Auroville
Reminiscing his good old days with Kailash, Sankarshan says he owes most of his music production skills to what he picked up during his time with the band. However, at Auroville, it’s a totally different experience, he admits, where he studies and performs jazz and Western classical on guitar and viola, respectively. “Auroville has opened up to me in a way that it has brought simplicity to my life that allows me to traverse the vastness of my consciousness, at my own pace, to my own satisfaction. It is an incredibly difficult place to live in, and I hope it stays that way. It is a haven of some incredible people with great expertise and experience in their own fields, many of who have become mentors to several young people with a thirst for learning and personal growth,” he shares.

Community connect
Kirtana is a former student of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) and has also worked at Adishakti, Although SAM helped Kirtana get introduced to the musical community and fine-tune her musical skills, it was at Adishakti that she learnt how to live as a part of an artistic community. “I also understood how to value nature in everything one does,” says the guitarist, who is keen to learn the influence of Brazilian music in jazz. “Keeping that in mind, we will present songs with Bossa Nova, Samba and Baião rhythms,” says Sankarshan, adding that while they are getting to know each other better, they are also shooting a promotional film with filmmaker and photographer, Alessandra Silver. “Creating a piece of music is an exercise in self-expression. It’s pretty much what we’re born to do,” they sign off.

At Adishakti. On October 6. 7 pm onwards. Entry free. 

You can contact the writer via mail at karan@newindianexpress.com or follow him on Twitter @karan_pillai

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com