Bollywood Brass Band & Jyotsna Srikanth - Carnatic Connection review: 'A rare and thrilling mix'

An imaginative new project based on South Indian film tracks

New album: Bollywood Brass Band's Carnatic Connection

Simon Broughton7 October 2016

The fifth album from London’s irrepressible Indian-style wedding band features the capital’s busiest Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth.

Carnatic Connection is an imaginative new project based on South Indian film tracks. That means several compositions by A R Rahman, including Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.

But this isn’t an album just for Indian film buffs. There are punchy dhol drum rhythms, fiery trumpet and sax solos, plus the silky rich tones of Jyotsna’s violin. A rare and thrilling mix.

There are also two new compositions to dramatic scenes from the 1948 film Chandralekha. These are super-spectacular when performed live to the original film sequences, as they will be at the Spitalfields Festival on December 9.

(Bollywood Brass Band)