Jam Masala with Indo-French artists enthral Kolkata audience

The Alliance Francaise, Kolkata collaborated with 'Jam Masala', a unique global musical initiative comprising artistes from France and India, for an event in the city.
Kolkata was the last leg of Jam Masala's four-city tour.
"Kolkata is the last leg of the four city tour of Jam Masala and the experience here is always different from other places. We had started with Ahmedabad, and then played in Bengaluru and Puducherry. The response was very good and now we are in Kolkata and the response matched our expectations," Jam Masala member Zoe Brook told PTI after performing at the Tolly Club last week.

"The live show mainly focused on improvisation. We made wonderful music for this project," Mainak Bumpy Nag Chowdhury, one of the Indian musicians, said.
Paul Brook, Supriyo Dutta, Gaurab 'Gabu' Chaterjee are the other members of the group.
"There was Jazz, Rock and many different colours in our presentation. While Paul does not always speak English, we do not speak French. But, for all of us, music turned out to be the common language," Supriyo said.

"We will be performing in the US in future to introduce our presentation of Hindustani classical music to the American audience. There were seven compositions here and thanks to Alliance Francaise for supporting Jam Masala," Zoe said.

The compositions included Kya main karun (Jam session), Darvaza khulo, Kolkata blues, Myriads and Instrumentals.
Paul described the overall presentation as a fabric with classical music.
"I am a great fan of Indian classical musicians like Pt Ali Akbar Khan and sitarist Pt Nikhil Banerjee," he said.
"Alliance Francaise will be supporting such initiatives in future as well, which will only enrich cultural exchanges," a spokesperson said.