Transcendence 2.0: Louiz Banks Pays Tribute To Oscar Peterson

Louiz Banks is India’s pre-eminent Jazz Pianist, Composer, Film and Record Producer. He is also a Grammy nominee and fondly called the ‘Godfather of Indian Jazz’. ‘Transcendence’ is an annual event, that pays tribute to Legends of Indian & Western Jazz Music. This year’s Transcendence 2.0 saw two modern day Indian legends, Grammy nominee Louiz Banks-Piano and Dr. Mysore Manjunath-Violin pay tribute to their respective idols Jazz legend Oscar Peterson and Carnatic legend T. Chowdiah. The concert featuring the music of the ‘Vidwan of the Violin’, fusing with the artistry of the ‘Maharaja of the Piano’, proved to be a stupendous success

Louiz Banks and Dr. Mysore Manjunath-Violin were accompanied by Gianluca Liberatore-Bass Guitar, Vidwan Bangalore Amrit-Khanjira, Gino Banks-Drums and Pt. Yogesh Samsi-Tabla and together they took the audience to a heightened level of consciousness with their music, culminating in a joyous transcendent state.
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Louiz Banks picked Oscar Peterson, in his words ‘The answer to that question will cover a few volumes … but in short… because Oscar Peterson is unanimously acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of Jazz Piano..and he continues to inspire all students of Jazz Piano. My own switch to Jazz Piano took place when my father introduced me to Oscar Peterson… that was the turning point in my musical studies and pursuits. Hence I pay homage to the greatness of Oscar Peterson”

The first segment of the concert began with the lovely tribute by Louiz Banks to Oscar Peterson with some good old instrumental jazz popularized by him. The second segment of the concert began with tribute by Vidwan Shri. Dr. Mysore Manjunathji to T.Chowdiah with the traditional Tyagaraja Kriti ‘Nyanamu Sakaratha’ in Purvikalyani. The finale was specially composed by Louiz Banks called ‘Reunion’ loosely based on Raga Chandrakauns. The finale also had Gino Banks, Pt.Yogesh Samsi and Vidwan Bangalore Amrit, showing their respective class and talent separately and then sparring amiably with each other on their instruments. Pradeep Joseph from Raga to Rock said ‘the concert was like sitting at the crossroads, where the Music of Chennai and New Orleans met’.

The Performing Stars:

Louiz Banks-Concept, Composer, Key Boards. A Grammy nominee, who has been spearheading the Jazz Movement in India for the past three decades. He has been singularly instrumental in bringing a high standard of Jazz performance for jazz devotees in India.

Gianluca Liberatore-Bass Guitar, A bass player born in Palermo, Italy. After Graduating at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, he moved to Mumbai in 2015, where he works as Dean of Academics at the True School of Music. Gianluca has performed alongside Ann Hampton Callaway, Ted Rosenthal, Loretta Holloway, Tulio Mourao, Ronal Douglas, SOI and many others.

Gino Banks-Drums. He is the son of Louiz Banks, India’s legendary jazz pianist and composer. Gino is a versatile musician, this trait leads him to perform and record with artists and bands of all types of genres.

Vidwan Dr. Mysore Manjunath-Western & Carnatic Violin, is a globally-renowned violinist. A child prodigy who matured quickly to emerge as one of the Top Ranking Violinists in India today. Acclaimed as a wonder kid with astonishing musicianship, Manjunath has established himself as one of the outstanding Carnatic Instrumentalists.

Pt. Yogesh Samsi-Tabla was born in the family of the renowned vocalists Pandit Dinkar Kaikini and Shashikala Kaikini. From the age of ten he studied with the late Ustad Alla Rakha. An ‘A’ grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, he has given numerous solo performances as well as accompanied many distinguished artists.

Vidwan Bangalore Amrit- Khanjira. He is a globally-renowned musician, performer, and frame-drummer. His power-packed performances filled with versatility, speed and intricate pattern presentation merged with aesthetics, grace & beauty have fascinated large audiences and received critical acclaim.

At last year’s concert Carnatic legend G. Harishankar (Khanjira) was honored with a tribute by Vidwan Bangalore Amrit (Khanjira) and Jazz legend Buddy Rich was honored with a tribute, by Ranjit Barot (Drums).

The event was organized by Gigue Entertainment a division of SRH Consilium LLP lead by Rajashekhar Srinivasan and this initiative would not have been possible without the support of Aditya Birla Sunlife Capital Mutual Funds, Indian Oil Corporation, Life Insurance Corporation & Bombay Dyeing.

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