Max Muller celebrated its 50th year

Goethe Institut or Max Mueller Bhavan as it is popularly known, celebrated its 50 years in India recently. Santoor player Rahul Sharma wowed people with a melodious jugalbandi with a tabla player on the occasion. When we spoke to him later, he said, ���I am in Delhi for this event especially. I will be returning to Mumbai soon.���
Jazz by the way: Yakou Tribe, a jazz band from Berlin, also performed at the event.���I���ve been to India twice before. Thankfully, I have always come around this time of the year and didn���t have to suffer the Indian summer, which I have heard can be traumatic!��� said Jan Von Klewitz, the saxophone player. It was drummer Rainer Whinch���s first time in India though, and he found the experience ���a bit overwhelming. The people are very friendly and it seems like a different universe.���
Not as big as rock, however: The band is quite popular in Germany, having cut albums and been in the business for ten years, ���But, we are not like rock music, you know!��� say the members, before adding, ���Jazz music, back in Germany as well, is considered niche. It doesn���t have a mass appeal. That���s how it���s in India as well, we believe!��� And how long will it be before they make it ���really big���? Johannes Gunkel, the bassist laughed and replied, ���Another ten years, I guess!��� Ask them how they define their music and Jan replies, ���It is song oriented.��� Songs? But where are the lyrics? Kai Brueckner, the guitarist clarifies, ���Our music is melodic. It doesn���t jar the ears. It makes people want to move.��� This was very true, going by the repeated whispers in the audience about how some of them wanted to break into the 60s style dance!
Spotted: Karan Singh, Rahul Sharma, Aruna Lall, Aruna Vasudev, Rahul Ram, Klaus-Dieter Lehmann,
Spandan Banerjee
Contributed by Piali Dasgupta and Aparajita Mukherjee