Chennai band Jatayu bring math, music and more to Bengaluru

Chennai-band Jatayu is playing in the city this weekend as part of ZLB23’s Magnetic Music Season 02

ZLB23 is hosting the second edition of Magnetic Music 02 featuring Indian fusion bands regularly till June 21. As part of their line-up, Chennai-band Jatayu known for their unique blend of Carnatic and contemporary music, will be performing on June 15.

Four-man band Jatayu comprises leader and guitarist Sahib Singh, Shylu Ravindran who plays the guitars, ganjira and mridangam, bassist Kashyap Jaishankar and vocalist Manu Krishna who is also their drummer. Talking about their upcoming show in Bengaluru, Sahib elaborates on the band’s signature sound.

“As a predominantly instrumental band, we use rhythms from Carnatic literature and incorporate them into Western instruments; that is at the core of who we are. We also enjoy experimenting and improvising with the audience wherever we go, getting them involved in the performance,” says Sahib.

One would suppose an instrumental band may not have much sway in the matter, considering they do not have lyrics that audiences could sing along to, but Sahib says Jatayu has that formula down pat.

Talking about their tour to Japan last year, he says the band had a 4000-strong audience singing with them. “Basically, we use konnakol (the spoken component of metre) and ask them to repeat it with us. The call-and-response we do with the crowd is how we jam with them. They either hum with us or recite some konnakol.”

“That is something we take pride in — because we are instumental we sort of break boundaries. Music is our language of communication; it is a common language worldwide — to understand and be understood.”

Jatayu’s website says their music “blends the rich tradition of Carnatic music with the dynamic energy of funk, rock, jazz, and a hint of Indian math rock.”