B engaluru performance venue and restaurant-bar BFlat has, over the years, been home to several genres, even if they leaned on jazz and blues artists predominantly. Their choice of programming is in many ways a reflection of co-founder Arati Rao’s diverse and ever-evolving taste in music. Arati says it’s something she’s cultivated straight from her school and college days, even picking up from anything her 16-year-old daughter Kaya recommends.
On December 10, Arati and a heavy-hitter line-up of the city’s top musicians (and friends of Bflat) will perform at the club, as part of a show called Smorgasbord. Arati notes about the setlist that will include covers by everyone from Amy Winehouse to Steely Dan, “It’s an eclectic melange of musical treats for your palate.”
With an overarching theme of reminiscing, we asked Arati to talk about her associations and memories attached to some of the songs included in the 30-track setlist. Rao is joined by her daughter Kaya Rao Shetty on four songs, guitarist and old friend Sanjay Chandrakanth, guitarist Ranjit Samuel, synth/piano man Joshua Costa, bassist Shalini Mohan, drummer Jeoraj George, and backing vocalists Aliya Ashok and Suma Narayanan.
Fleetwood Mac – ‘Oh Daddy’
This was picked because it’s one of those completely beauteous songs. I think it’s a song that everyone will have a different memory of. I must have been 13 or 14 years old when my father, who worked in Germany, bought the Rumors album on cassette for me. He never knew what music to buy, so he would ask his friends’ kids what to buy. We were fascinated by the haunting quality of Stevie Nicks’ voice. I had only been into Barbara Streisand until then.
Billy Joel - ‘My Life’
Billy Joel always had this conversational way of writing lyrics. You felt like he was talking to you. Again, my father brought back a cassette of his album Stranger and I remember I sang another one of his songs, ‘Honesty’, on stage when I was 14 and people still remind me about it!
Steely Dan – ‘Pretzel Logic’
This song was my introduction to the fusion space. They did the most complex harmonies, but there’s beauty in that discordance. I think Jeoraj, our drummer, is going to have a great time on this song. It’s groovy, but you have to be restrained.
Eurhythmics – ‘Here Comes the Rain Again’
I think Annie Lennox is the greatest pop diva ever. This song has even been covered by Joss Stone. I think the 1980s was an era of melody. So what we’re doing is taking this song’s arrangement by a progressive rock band called Hypnogaja and doing it.
Dusty Springfield – ‘Son of a Preacher Man’
This kind of a pop soul song, but not like Aretha Franklin’s soul. Dusty endures to this day. I heard this song in my mid-20s, after moving to Bangalore and when I was already singing jazz. This song was actually one of the first songs on our setlist for a cover band called Kaya that Sanjay and I were part of, about 16 years ago. Our aim was to do whatever came to mind, really.
Bonnie Rait – ‘Come to Me’
She’s such a great country blues artist and really influenced my singing. I remember buying her album Luck of the Draw in Zurich. I was at a music store and they had this listening post, so I put on the CD and stayed in the store and heard everything. We have the largest number of songs in our setlist by Bonnie Rait – there’s three! They’re great songs to play.
James Brown – ‘It's a Man's Man's Man's World’
This song has even been covered by Etta James and much later, Joss Stone. It goes a long way in helping our band celebrate our mixed musical heritage, in a way. I used to listen to James Brown singing this and go crazy. I think Joss Stone had done her version for a Chanel commercial and I’d come across it on YouTube and then realised Etta James also did it.
Adele – ‘Rumour Has It’
Some of the Adele songs, my daughter and I are going to duet on. It’s not really my kind of singing, but it’s wonderful that my daughter introduced me to Adele. Later, my brother-in-law introduced me to some of her lesser-known songs and I thought this was a cool tune to open a gig with, plus good for a band.
Arati Rao and Friends perform at BFlat Bar, Indiranagar on December 10. Tickets: Rs 400, available on bookmyshow.com
