On stage, under the spotlight, with an audience in front and a band behind me, that’s where I like living most of all. I discovered this when I was a little kid and would sing for my mom’s friends. Today nothing has changed. That’s still my most favourite place to be. I think i live […]
DOG TAILS BY RADHA THOMAS – BOOK REVIEW
Today is Milo Kotnala’s 3rd Birthday. So, I thought, it will be best to review the book ‘Dog Tails’ by Radha Thomas. Some three years back, before Milo Kotnala became part of the family, I would have not glanced or picked ‘Dog Tails’ by Radha Thomas. More so, it was only available in Kindle and cost 250!!! So why […]
It Might As Well be Spring
#ItMightAsWellBeSpring is a song written by #RichardRodgers and #OscarHammerstein for a film In 1945. No surprise that it won the #Oscar for #BestOriginalSong. It is a super song to sing and I add my name to the list of singers who’ve gone before me. The melody that jumps up and down like a puppet on […]
Tumble
I think I wrote #Tumble in 2012 when I was feeling creative. @Aman_Mahajan created some wonderful accompaniment for my melody and words and we’ve been performing this song over and over from #Bangalore to #Bucharest and in between. This is a version with @TomokoOhnoFarnham who lives in #NewJersey and who always adds her own twist […]
Snakes Alive!
The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust/Centre for Herpetology is run by some people, whose people (Neel Chattopadhyay, Arundhati Chattopadhyaya) I love very, very much. So when they asked me to write a song, well it kinda just slithered out of me. Aman Mahajan caught it in the nick of time and gave it some juice. The […]
Summertime
Aman Mahajan & Radha Thomas, Summertime Possibly one of the most covered songs in the English-singing world, #Summertime is a #jazz and #blues classic. In #2034 it will be 100 years old. I may not be around then, so I figured I’d do my version of it while I still can. Actually @amanmahajan_ and I […]
There Will Never Be Another You
#ThereWillNeveBeAnotherYou was written for a movie called Iceland back in 1942 by #HarryWarren and #MackGordon. It was sung as a slow ballad, a love song. Then along came #jazz cats. Who needed everything to be speeded up X4 so they could display their chops in a spectacular way. And one of those jazz cats was […]
Totally unique vocal jazz Radha Thomas Aman Mahajan – Bangalore Blues
Totally unique vocal jazz Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan – BANGALORE BLUES: There’s one word that comes to mind (immediately) as I listen to Radha’s totally unique vocal jazz – BREATHLESS… her pacing and presence will have you on the edge of your seat on each of the songs on this fine album… you’ll see […]
Peel Me A Grape
It is with a sense of dread that I’m posting this, one of my all-time favorite tunes, #PeelMeAGrape. I love it for the melody, I love it for the lyrics, I love it for the space it gives me and I love it because it swings. Really swings. I’ve been singing it for a few […]
Born To Be Blue
I first heard #BornToBeBlue sung by #HelenMerrill on an album which featured #CliffordBrown. I listened to that album hundreds of times and I know every single song on it. Until I heard Helen Merrill (in the mid 70s) I think I’d thought that jazz had to be sung at top volume with heavy duty dynamics […]
If I Should Lose You
#IfIShouldLoseYou made its debut in the 1936 film #RoseOfTheRancho. The movie did not receive an auspicious review, #CliveHirschhorn in his book, #TheHollywoodMusical, describes the movie version as an, “uneasy mix of operetta and low comedy.” But It’s really quite a beautiful song. Both melody and lyric. And so it’s not surprising that it’s been covered […]
