'The Jam of the Jams' : 9th September, Bandra

OK. This jam was good. very much like the old times, but different in the sense that although now we have grown in number and energy, we were in good sync, our energies were united and positive and we were receptive and welcoming to people jamming and singing with us from the audience. Almost all of the gang was there, Vinay Joined us late (I request here that his name be put on the late attendance register!) in his usual "enter the dragon" style, with cheers from all over! Mradul and Desmond (our great Master of ceremonies with his unique style!) were back in the Jam after a long break! and it was great to see our old regulars from the Audience, Mr. and Mrs. Batra back as well!

There was plenty of participation, with two times two guys taking over the guitar playing and singing, specially Gajendra and Arvind, who are both audio engineers and rendered some beautiful numbers in great style and energy. There was a girl with reeeaaly good vocals who really made the day (and which made me beg her to join the jam on a regular basis!) (no offence to our existing amazing girl vocalists!! we are in a class of our own, you see!!).

So that is the concept and the spirit of the jam, ladies and gentlemen, we just set the spark, and the fire catches on...there are enough people from the audience who love to let go of their inhibitions and embrace this simple platform..and this results in fun, expression of creativity and yearnings, bonding and making of new friends and, well, good music and laughter and cheers are a bonus! So the caravan goes on and the band grows..we are bound by music, issues that concern all of us and we tolerate each others' limitations and help each other in growth, both musically and otherwise..

And there are benefits for all..the pro artistes get a platform to play and share their skill and enthrall people, the learning/part time guys get a reason to play and learn for and from, the audience gets a simple platform to express themselves..and its growing! so you're welcome to come and join the "Jam band wagon" and have a great time!

And as Chintan expressed something beautifully: "its our perfect allibi that we are imperfect and we do things in a haphazard way" so come join the jam!

Thanks Nishant, our resident budding drummer photo pro for covering the jam!!

Started off like the old days! there was noone around (the ever missing band hehe!) (actually I came a little early) and this kid offered to blow bubbles while I played. "We are the entertainers" haha!




Mradul and Ali Joined later on..

By the time we were making some noise, we had these great guys wanting to play and sing, and pretty nicely they did. And that gives us a break from all our shouting!

When we invited for participation, we had this really nice lady come over and excercise her vocal chords. And sing well she did!

Yogi and I were moving about the artistes court while the rest of the band sat and played. It seemed a nice configuration!

ooooaaa! This is is called vocal syncronization!

A nicely brought out audience!

rows and rows of em! (potential participants for us!!)

Desmond flexing his fingers! hey no! our handsome MC is not perparing for fight! just addressing the audience..so thats his style!

That is the sign language between our drummers..! Code !

All Wo-Man Jam Band?? !!

his little kid had the courage to come up and sing away to glory! specially admirable since the guitarists surrounding her are not glorious at all!

Yogi Had the "Bam Lahiri" Song from Kailasha going which I think he sings with great flair!

Coloursome threesome!

We tried introducing ourselves to the audience and it was great fun and peals of laughters! must be something about our faces!!

Vinay made late entry, in his usual nautanki style!

and started yelling away to glory!

What is Sanjay Catching this time?

Gajendra and Arvind played some beautiful songs for us..

we look in awe as Gajendra plays on!

Hail Hitler! Mein Kampf! Achtung baby! Blietzkreig! your dose of German for the day!! hehe!

Another melting pot of fun and dancing emerged!

Clap clap!

The Drummer changes! Pulling sneakin up on Chintan!

Three new people from Red FM were interested to join the "ever growing band"

Chintan manages to recapture his lost territory!

Gotta go home!

Sitting Front. L to R: Kailash, Monika, Sanjay, Two new found members

Second row: Ali and his pal, Chintan, Suraj, Yogi, Yogi's bro, Gauri, Aakansha

Top row: Franko, Desmond, Vinay, Dont know who, Pulin, Tarun, Bharti

This pic was shot right opposite Bandra station. There is peace, ladies and Gentlemen, in the land of God!

The Nonstop Nonsense Jam of 4th Sept @ Bandra

This was a long jam, believe me..and very colourful at that! Whatever MFM wishes to do, that is to unite people belonging to diverse backgrounds on one simple platform, to create an environment of positivity for people to enjoy and relax, and to provide an outlet for people's creative yearnings..all of that happened. The MFM gang (except Tarun and Chintan) took more or less a backseat after kindling 'the fire of fun and laughter' when people erupted into dances and merry go rounds after the initial playing! Danish, the new guy in the playing gang was there with his friends, and was churning virtuoso leads and riffs! Tarun and Chintan their usual unstoppable selves keeping the dances going till the end! Monika was up and about with her customary energy levels..Vinay with his antics, pearls of wisdom for the people (the meaning in the music my dears!) and his witty compering (thats some skillset and you see we have a fast emerging contender for the COO of MFM..haha!!), Yogi with his smoothness... and Kailash with his gusto on the guitar! Sanjay was jumping about and pumping fun all around (and showing his back once to many to the audience, hehe!) Poonam was there back in the jam as well!
Missed Pulin, Amar, Kaviraj, Gauri, Vijeeth, Meenal (forgive me if I forgot someone..this pea brain is not much good..)

Had some new members show interest in joining and supporting MFM's activities, and they are Naveen (the guy who's helping with the Caravan, who calls himself the 'self appointed manager'!), Aakanksha and Preeti.

And then the jam was choc-a-bloc with variety! We had a guy emulating dogs of movie stars (some creativity!!) and a big Salman Khan fan who was doing everything to please his 'God' and then bouts of Shaayari followed, after non stop dancing and rap-o-manic song singing!
And the meaning and issues went a bit out of the window in this jam, but well, I'd say that happy people are peaceful people..so its OK I guess..!
Here we go with the pics (shot by our out of focus shutterbug Nishant!), lot em today!!:

Papa clap, Mama clap, Beta clap...Clap Clap Clap..a clapping audience is a happy audience and happy people dont pelt you with stones! but note the anti-social (Phbbtt..) 'Gentleman' at extereme left!

Is it the Dominoe band? or the four square Band? Look no less than the Beatles! (forget about the sound!!)

What energy! and exhilaration! This guy got the place into a fun merry go round!

Art, Ladies and gentlemen, has no boudaries...so this guy presented us with the 'attraction of the jam', wherein he enacted the main cahracteristics of famous people in Dog language! you had to be there to see what I mean (very crative..haha!)

Handsome..! this guy is the next Bollywood heartthrob! and a big fan of Salman Khan, presented his versions of dances and what not! ( but oh my lord..he is wearing a T-Shirt!! no then thats not authentic! not done!)

Some amzingly sweet and energetic street kids (well here, I put a label, but I guess our society calls them that..) got high on the jam. Thats the the 'all man jam band'! all...

Phbbt..While Chintan Laughs away to Glory!

Dancecstatic!!

When the Children cry, never know we tried..

When the children sing..then the new world begins.

Some lines from a great white lion single..

Chintan is catchig a ball which Sanjay has bowled and Monika is pointing to?

haha!

' If you knew peggy sue..peggy peggy sue' with his brother aged two! two cute kids (obviously!!)

Roping in supporters (thats Preeti) for MFM! it takes some marketing skills...

Music for Meaning or Music for Karate?? Its nice to see everyone having a nice time in their own ways!

Naveen, our 'self appointed band manager' takes to the drums!

wah wah kyaa baat hai...! A shero-shayari session gets new friends made!

Rock Goddesses? that old guitar can cry and sing in the right hands!

Sanjays' new girl friend!!

The show's over!

Front Row (L to R): Chintan, Monika, Kailash, Naveen, Tarun, Suraj, Vinay, Yogi

Second row: (Sorry dont Know name..Vinay..), Khyati, Poonam, Ashwinie (Dont know name), Sanjay

The Rain's Gone and the Jam's on! Bandra, 19th August

Great Weather, No rain, most of the gang there, great audience, great energy! Them are the keywords. It was fun to be back after missing two Sundays of the jam. We are the Jam-addicts! I have realized that the Jams are so amazingly de-stressing that for the next 2 days days at least, I feel great! the jam is great outlet for the all the stuff we go through, through the week, and a great outlet for saying your heart out..

The jam went great, with lots of participation from the people, specially a guy called Deva, who is one hell of a singer and it was great playing for him..and Another guy from Uttar Pradesh who sang a song he composed to reach out to God when his brother's son was hanging on his lifeline..Among other songs we sang Bandeh from Indian Ocean, with a nice intro..singing that songs makes me feel hell of a lot better..And I think we introduced the concept pretty well this time..that we want all of the people to forget what cars we ride, or how big a house we live in, or how many achievements we carry in our pockets..and for once just forget all the loads of gyaan and judgements we carry in our heads about others..and be one on this platform of music..

Pulin was playing with his usual finesse, Kailash with his energy, Gauri singing and cheering all the way, great jugalbandis between the three percussionists-Tarun, Kaviraj and Chintan..Danish, Khyati, Vijeeth, Bharti all there with their customary energies..And we had the honour of having 3 pro shutterbugs- Nishant, Arjun and Alok covering the jams for us.. 'And I say to myself what a wonderful world'!! Here's the picture log:

Towards a more picturesque jam: Bandra with its beauty caught by our pro shutterbug Alok.

Great Audience who does not complain and bears us and moreover participates in murdering songs with us!





'The Wind cries mary': Here we go!

Deva (Guy in center) was singing so well he made the day!

Tarun and Sanjay 'Freeze lightning'!!

Wah kya baat hai! the night matures the mehfil and fun ensues!

The 'Guitar Row': Kailash, Pulin, Vinay, Tarun. Pulin who plays amazing, likes to keep a low profile..so he gives the shutterbugs an often miss..!

Kailash, Pulin, Vinay 'Bringing it on'!

Respite! Wind up at last!

Top Row: L to R: Nishant, Chintan Vijeeth

Next to top Row: Alok, Arjun, Kailash, Danish, Kaviraj

Next: Suraj, Gauri, Pulin, Sanjay

Sitting: Khyati, Bharti (At last!)