Mumbai – The one and only Mahindra Blues Festival is celebrating five glorious years of Blues magic in Mumbai this year! The Mahindra Group today announced the launch of the fifth edition of Asia’s foremost Blues Festival that is returning to charm lovers of Blues once again with a line up of some of the best names from the global blues industry at the iconic Mehboob Studios in Mumbai’s seaside suburb of Bandra.

Taking audiences on an exciting musical journey with their enthralling performances at the festival on 14 and 15 February 2015 will be musicians and bands like Five-time Grammy Award Winner Buddy Guy with Quinn Sullivan, Doyle Bramhall II with Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, Nikki Hill, Thorbjorn Risager and the Black Tornado, The Mahindra Blues Show by Warren Mendonsa and Friends, and the True School Blues Experience.

The star-studded line-up has become longer and bigger, and each year, the iconic spaces at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios reverberate with the Blues and provide an immersive experience to each fan.

Speaking about the festival, Jay Shah, Head – Cultural Outreach, Mahindra Group said, “We are delighted that the Mahindra Blues Festival that began as a small blues celebration in February 2011 has grown to become a movement. It has been a pleasure for the Mahindra Group to host highly acclaimed musicians from around the globe and India as they charm live-music-loving audiences in Mumbai. Celebrating half a decade of high-quality music and continuously encouraged by the response Mumbai has given us year after year, we are all set to bring to audiences yet another edition of unbeatable music this February.”

Legendary Blues veteran and multi-Grammy winner Buddy Guy, a much-loved face at the Festival, will be returning to the stage for the third year, this time with 15-year-old Blues prodigy Quinn Sullivan, who he is mentoring. Guy has been a key influence on popular rock and Blues artistes like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Young Sullivan, who started playing at age three, considers Guy his hero. In the last few years, Guy has invited Sullivan onstage for several high-profile gigs, including sitting in with BB King, playing Connecticut’s Gathering of the Vibes festival and joining Keith Richards and Clapton at Hubert Sumlin’s memorial concert at the Apollo Theatre.

Doyle Bramhall II is an American blues musician known for his work with Eric Clapton, Roger Waters and his own band Arc Angels. The musician stands as one of the most distinctive vocalists, guitarists, composers and producers in contemporary music. Eric Clapton, with whom Bramhall II has collaborated for more than a decade, cites the guitarist as one of the most gifted players he has ever encountered. In addition to Clapton, Bramhall II has been in demand as composer, guitarist and producer, collaborating with such artists as Sheryl Crow, Tedeschi Trucks, Elton John, Questlove, Gary Clark Jr., Erykah Badu, Gregg Allman, Robert Randolph, T-Bone Burnett, Meshell Ndegeocello, Dr. John and many others. In Mumbai, Bramhall II will perform with well known musician Rich Robinson, a founding member of the rock and roll band The Black Crowes.

Nikki Hill and her band are climbing to the top of the roots music scene step by step and Hill has been praised for her no-filter energy, and enjoyable flavors of American roots music. Her musical roots began while singing in gospel choirs at church as a child. A stint living in nearby college town Chapel Hill introduced her to many different styles of music and the awareness of music as a possible career. After pairing up with her guitar-playing husband Matt Hill, they have made an unstoppable team and have established themselves as roots rock and roll powerhouses!

Danish singer Thorbjorn Risager, whose biggest hero is BB King and is influenced by Ray Charles, heads the Black Tornados, a seven-piece band that is known for their special and exclusive sound, especially Risager’s characteristic raunchy voice with its horns, solo performances and rolling, weaving threads of soul, gospel, rock, R&B and funk into his music.

The Mahindra Blues Festival will get a special dash of Indian flavour with Mumbai’s very own Warren Mendonsa, arguably one of the finest guitarists in the country, who will enthral audiences with the unique ‘Mahindra Blues Show by Warren Mendonsa and Friends’. There will be performances by students and faculty of Mumbai’s True School of Music entitled ‘True School Blues Experience’.

Since its start in 2011, the Mahindra Blues Festival has almost single-handedly promoted the Blues as a music genre to Indian audiences. Since then, the Blues has grown tremendously in popularity, sparking up many Blues Bands and smaller concerts and festivals. A leader in its category, the festival prides itself in being not just a series of concerts but one of the city’s ‘prestige’ experiences, comparable to events that happen in Europe and America.

Tickets for the fifth edition go on sale in January 2015, Daily (Rs. 2000) Season (Rs. 3500), Student (Rs.800 per day) all standing, Premium Enclosure Rs. 11,000/- includes seating and beverage.

The concert is promoted and produced by Oranjuice Entertainment, a professional music and concert management company.

source : Lokesh Shastri