MIX AND MARCH

A young and hip brass band is making original horn music joyous for all

- SNEHA BHURA

There is a song titled 'Prime Sinisters' in the repertoire of Bombay Brass, a Mumbai-based punk-jazz band comprising some of the finest horn players, including saxophonist Rhys Sebastian, who is almost like the group's "band-master".

When you start playing the song from a personal device, you think your system's volume has gone down. But three seconds down, when Sebastian interjects, "keep it rolling", it rises again. Now they are blaring full horns, all 11 members in sync, their adrenalin transmitting to the listener in a snap. When Bombay Brass performed 'Prime Sinisters' at the recently concluded Jodhpur Rajasthan International Folk Festival (JRIFF), they did not quite dwell on the story behind the name. But the audience responded like it was trailing behind a boisterous baraat (wedding procession). Or navigating a rambunctious chase in a busy street with a perfectly synchronised orchestra of car horns.

For this performance-centric band, exuberance is everything. Their smooth, high-energy instrumental pieces can conjure visions in technicolor. "The point of the act is the full energy of the brass," says Jehangir Jehangir aka JJ, the band's drummer, a day after their performance on a breezy night at Mehrangarh Fort.