Bengaluru was left enthralled with the devilishly talented Jacob Collier’s performance on November 28th – a part of his three-city India leg of the ‘Djesse Volume 4 tour’ at the Bharatiya Mall in Bengaluru.
It was 16° freezing, but the fans couldn’t feel it as Collier had everyone singing, humming, stomping and clapping along with the band- a prominent feature of his shows.
The singer-songwriter is known for polyrhythms, wacky vocal rearrangements and interpolations, and, most famously, his audience choirs. The Grammy Award winner has often been nicknamed ‘Mozart of Gen-z’ because of his technical skill and his unique experimental take on existing songs.
The singer-songwriter and jazz scenes in Bengaluru are untapped, and there’s a lot left to explore. With hungry audiences buying out tickets for local up-and-coming artists. Djesse Volume 4 could set the cornerstone for this newly growing niche. Additionally, the musicians-to-casual-listener ratio tends to weigh higher for musicians at his concerts. Leading to a certain level of musical potential being harnessed between the musicians on stage, as well as sometimes involving the audience.
The show started with high energy with the song ‘100,000 Voices’ a thrilling act that involved audience participation, followed by ‘WELLLL’ and ‘Wherever I Go’ with Collier hopping from instrument-to-instrument. The audience also got a chance to hear ‘Heaven’ from his latest 5-string-guitar centric album ‘The Light for Days’ – a gentle soul-touching song where he ascends into the skies with high notes.
The musicians included vocalist Parijita Bastola, Erin Bentlage on the keys and vocals, both of whom shone in ‘Wherever I Go’ with a lot of room for improv and scatting. The act also featured ‘Mi Corazon’, highlighting bassist Robin Mullarkey and drummer Christian Euman.
The impromptu jam between featured artist Varijashree Venugopal – a Carnatic scat-singing artist, and Collier was a delight. Filled with unbelievable skill and technical prowess. along with a bit of cheekiness and humour here and there, making the experience go beyond just musicality.
The crowd also got a solo-act rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ with the harmonizer– another key feature of his concerts.
The concert finished with another high-octane song, ‘Box of Stars’ and a beautiful encore of ‘Somebody to Love’. Another highlight was the audience choir, with Collier distributing harmony sections, including a fun beatbox play on the word ‘Ben-Ga-Lu-Ru!’
What’s unique about this concert is how much room there is for the musicians to improvise and how effortlessly Collier seems to switch instruments during his set, all the while managing to balance time on stage, leave open-endings for songs and coordinate with audience. The overall experience was an unforgettable evening of euphoric jazz, tingling symphonies, and all-in-all a good hangout session with skilled musicians.
By – Aishwarya Bhatkal
An entity of flesh and bones in pursuit of becoming a higher being. A connoisseur of the mystic arts and everything musical. His origins are unknown, and so are his true motives.
