Charminar Jazz Collective

The mesmerising lucidity of Jazz remains elusive to most people who either have not been exposed to or believe it to be exclusively for the super-snooty. But Jazz can also make you break a leg uncontrollably. That's what the Charminar Jazz Collective - the only Jazz band from town - blares out from its synchronised Ecstasy.

The quartet which, according to the band, has taken a natural progression from the classic rock band Dark Star Revival, plans just on spreading this dying art form. After a series of serious reshuffling and reorganising, the group lies like this: Trent, 32 (as we write this in 2005), plays the trumpet. He's also a scientist at the ICRISAT. Arjun Chandra is on the guitar, Benjamin is on bass, and Karthik handles the drums.

Being the only band in town to play Jazz, CJC already has a steady fan base, which is also growing constantly. They play at Fusion 9 and the Underdeck weekly, with special appearances at Dublin. Since Jazz is such an experimental genre, so are these really fine musicians - experimental. They draw out their own standards and arrangements, and come out with a piece spawning from a musical spark rather than from a genre formula. That, of course, is the formula of Jazz.

The group plays songs from a host of Jazz legends like John Scuffled, Miles Davis and Colonies Monk. Not able to contain their musical bones, they even venture into playing their own structured renditions of The Beatles' and Van Morrison's songs, which, ahem, sound a bit jazzy.

CJC might not be the end-all of Jazz, but in the city they certainly are everything. If you like Jazz or want to try it out, you cannot but miss this great act.