Drummer Gino Banks revives father Louiz Banks’ rare compositions

Like his illustrious begetter Louiz Banks, drummer Gino Banks besides thrives connected reinvention. For a while, helium has been reasoning of revisiting his father’s lesser-known compositions with younger musicians. This has taken signifier arsenic Gino Banks’ Legacy project, which was precocious presented successful Studio Theatre astatine Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre successful Mumbai.

The thought was to contiguous an Indo-fusion acceptable and Gino was accompanied by S. Akash connected the bansuri, sarodist Pratik Srivastava, keyboardist Deivat Tapodhan, bassist Aditya Ahir and Ganesh Murali Iyer connected Carnatic percussion and konnakol and vocalist Jyothishri Raghuram.

At the Mumbai concert, the acceptable database included the Louiz Banks compositions — ‘Raga of The heart’, ‘Benaras’, ‘Leap of faith’ and ’11 pieces of silver’. “Some of these person not been played unrecorded often.” As a tribute to Ustad Zakir Hussain, they besides presented the fusion-group Shakti’s ‘Bending the rules’.

Says Gino: “With a antithetic line-up compared to what the compositions were primitively written for, the basal melody was retained, and the musicians added their ain flavour successful the improvised solos.

The 43-year-old drummer reveals that helium plans to grounds the Legacy album. My begetter volition besides play connected a mates of tracks, and though the grounds volition person the aforesaid musicians arsenic the caller show, we volition person immoderate guests to adhd variety,” says Gino, who archetypal accompanied his begetter arsenic a nine-year-old, playing percussion connected immoderate tracks with the fusion set — Sangam — during their Australia and China tours. Nine years aboriginal (in 2001), helium played a full-set arsenic a drummer for the archetypal clip with the group, Nexus, astatine Jazz By The Bay.

Right from his aboriginal days, helium played alongside bassist Sheldon D’Silva. “We did our apprenticeship unneurotic with my father. As a drum and bass combo, we practised unneurotic and had akin influences.”

From his Nexus line-up, Gino has been collaborating with guitarist Chandresh Kudwa. “That’s the stone broadside of my philharmonic personality. Chandresh reconnected with maine immoderate years agone erstwhile helium wanted to bash the medium Free Spirit with bassist Mohini Dey. We besides did immoderate shows together. This year, I performed connected circuit with Chandresh and his daughter, Eva, and it’s been great.”

Gino has besides been curating the Mumbai Drum Day each year, too organising a monthly-show astatine Prithvi Theatre successful Juhu. He says, “Drum Day uses a premix of established artistes and younger drummers who galore radical haven’t heard and provides a level to promising young drummers. I effort to invitation radical from crossed India. Though our absorption is the occidental drum set, we sometimes alteration things astir for variety. This year, we had a premix of drum acceptable and taal.”

Jazz@Prithvi was the thought of Kunal Kapoor, says Gino, who adds that Prithvi has been hosting the Udayswar Indian classical euphony series, and this seemed similar a bully spot for jazz too. He adds, “They person a no-mic policy, truthful it tin beryllium challenging for vocalists. But it helps them usage their dependable differently, and galore musicians look guardant to play determination due to the fact that it gives them a antithetic experience.”

Over the past year, Gino has besides played connected keyboardist-pianist Rahul Wadhwani’s medium Time Travel, guitarist Rhythm Shaw’s grounds Nothing To Lose and done shows with saxophonist Mark Hartsuch. He besides went connected a three-city circuit with the Overdrive project, featuring vocalist Sunny D’Souza, guitarist Kush Upadhyay and bassist Shashank Das. “Overdrive is simply a blues hard-rock outfit. The caller azygous ‘Tragedy’ is out,” helium states.

While his absorption is connected jazz and fusion, Gino besides has worked successful Bollywood, having recorded drums for songs by Shreyas Puranik, Sachin-Jigar and Vishal-Shekhar, too ‘Ishq Mastana’ from A.R. Rahman’s caller soundtrack Main Vaapas Aaunga.

One portion of proposal helium would similar to springiness young Indian drummers is to familiarise themselves with Indian percussion styles. “The drum kit fundamentally comes from the U.S. and has been utilized successful jazz, stone and blues. But it ever helps to larn Indian drumming techniques, arsenic 1 tin past interact amended with different percussionists and besides adhd an Indian interaction to one’s style,” shares Gino.

But the biggest takeaway, says Gino, is performing with his father. He adds, “He’s open-minded, encouraging others to bash well, adjacent if it means taking connected a lesser relation himself. For him, if everyone does good collectively, the euphony automatically succeeds.” That’s a bequest Gino is blessed to transportation forward.