The Official Community Of Nitin Sawhney

Hi All,

Nitin will be appearing at the Jazz Cafe for three nights this December 5, 6, and 7th. Nitin wanted to use this opportunity to do something completely different and as such these shows will be fresher than new snow in winter.

Watch the news section for further updates.

SB

Sumit (Nitin's Manager):

Hi All,

Nitin will be appearing at the Jazz Cafe for three nights this December 5, 6, and 7th. Nitin wanted to use this opportunity to do something completely different and as such these shows will be fresher than new snow in winter.

Watch the news section for further updates.

SB

Hi, I'm just bought my tickets for the 6th of December.
It'll be my birthday!! I'll come from Italy. A long way, I wonder if I could meet Nitin. Please it will be the greatest gift of all!!! I
For me he's the real genius of this new millennium in World Music!!
Please give me some hope.... PLEASE!!!

As I will be off early on Tuesday morning, I thought I would start this thread before I go.

Please share your thoughts and feelings about the Jazz Cafe gigs this coming week.

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

Hello djarmy and, just give me a moment to fumble through my tiny English-Italian dictionary and......

Beato Nascita-Giorno!

Rosemary and I went to last night's gig and have left something for you. While the rest of the audience were preoccupied, we took the opportunity to sneak upstairs before the Sawhney crew hit the stage. We managed to stretch a piece of elastic from one end of the balcony to the other (should be alright as only been used once before... you can thank r for donating it!) and, using Rosemary's patented telescopic shepherd's crook, which she carries around with her everywhere in order to grab hold of stray students (don't ask - I didn't!), we were able to pull the elastic back from over the stage, towards the centre of the balcony. I almost broke a couple of fingers screwing a self-tapping cuphook into solid concrete but persevered because, afterall, it was for a worthy cause.... Once it was in place, Rosemary pulled back the elastic onto the hook.

So, djarmy, unless some uncharitable soul has moved it, there's a ready-made catapult waiting to launch you towards the stage and, hopefully, in the general direction of our hero (you did say that you wanted to meet him on your birthday). If the man himself is up at this ungodly hour reading this, better wear some form of protective headgear incase you are unexpectedly knocked off the piano stool by a low-flying fan......

You know I had terribly trouble getting that shepherd's crook across the bridge - although at least they don't have customs! I don't really have much call for it in Cardiff as there aren't any sheep there - just in the rest of Wales. As for trying to capture students' attention, I prefer a subtler approach.

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

Oooooh, treading a very dangerous path if you're going to make sheep-related comments(!) and, are you sure that they don't have any customs on the bridge? Not even an occasional sacrifice for the water spirits, or that kind of thing???

Anyway, thank you for remembering to smuggle your crook over the border - very ingenius of you to hide it there, although I'm certain it isn't actually classified as a weapon as such and that it would've been fine to have kept it in your bag during your travels instead....probably as well that we were standing all night at the gig, eh? Anyway, I don't know how we would've managed to get the elastic into position without it...do you think that it worked? Will we ever find out? Pawli (heehee!) were you there last night? Did you see our makeshift catapult at all..... or possibly a courageous but doomed Italian splattered on the wall above the piano? Well, whatever, Rosemary, at least you didn't have to smuggle the sheperd's crook back into Wales again. Mind you, I'm not sure what Sumit will think when it turns up in his intray.... but then he'd probably be equally baffled had you sent him your set of throwing knives, the use of which I would not have thought of as being a "subtler approach", and, I think that your students would probably be inclined to agree with me on that point....

I'm amazed I don't have to take my passport with me when I cross to England. (When I lived in Switzerland I had it with me all the time, except when I went to the swimming baths. You might never know when you might want to pop across the border to Germany or France to buy cheaper food). I'm still disgusted that I have to pay to return to the country I live in, even if I am not a native of Wales.

As for sheep, well they have them in other countries too.....

It is handy that the crook is a folding variety. Mind you those knives make a terrible mess of the lining of my handbag, not to mention the stitch ripper and the tapestry needles. They get lost in the bottom of my bag - somebody could make a fortune if they patented a light for handbags - a bit like a fridge, the light goes on when you open it.... as it lights up your face you could hear celestial music playing .... as long as it isn't like a phone ring tone. I'm thinking of something more ambient like Sheila Chandra or Sigur Ros.

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

You carry a stitch ripper in your handbag? They are so indispensable aren't they? Don't know what I'd use to trim my nosehairs if I didn't have mine. I tried using secateurs when I mislaid them once but they were just too cumbersome and I was forced to give up halfway through. I spent over two weeks with one nostril temporarily stretched up to three times the size of the other. Yep, Mr. Sawhney, you may be rather clever in the music department but your grooming advice is, eh, questionable.....

If I remember correctly Rosemary, you are something of a collector of bags, aren't you? Enough to exhaust your music collection possibly?
I like the idea of a brightly lit interior. I tried carrying a small pocket torch around for a while but, by the time I had fumbled around to find it, I'd found everything else inside my bag. I'd like a booming, operatic diva to belt out one enormous

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"
every time I opened my bag but, well, you've seen it. Like an accessory from beyond the grave..... even I have to admit that a blood-curdling scream would be more appropriate.

BTW are you sure about having to pay to enter Wales? Could it be that you are paying to exit England?

Buga Divino:

If I remember correctly Rosemary, you are something of a collector of bags, aren't you? Enough to exhaust your music collection possibly?

Well you need a bag for different occations - as we all say at work - it is important to accessorise! Unfortunately my music collection won't fit in them all - anyway you couldn't store CD's alphabetically in bags.

I like the idea of a brightly lit interior. I tried carrying a small pocket torch around for a while but, by the time I had fumbled around to find it, I'd found everything else inside my bag.

Well you need a bag for different occations - as we all say at work - it is important to accessorise! Unfortunately my music collection won't fit in them all - anyway you couldn't store CD's alphabetically.

I do know a guy in Swansea who goes round singing "You don't need a bag" but he is referring to domestic cleaning appliances.
Have you ever tried a torch on a keyring outside your bag? I'm wondering if that is a solution - perhaps I might get on in a keyring in a Christmas cracker.

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

The only way the keyring torch works as a practical solution is if you attach it to an inside zipper, otherwise, if you attach it to the outside of the bag, by the time you've turned it on and managed to manipulate torch, bag and yourself in order to successfully direct the puny beam of light where you need it, you will also have turned your bag completely inside out, spilt the contents on the ground and will be frantically scrambling about to grab a hold of everything before anyone else does.... but, wait a minute.... at least you'll be able to see what's in your bag, albeit, on the floor. So yeah, Rosemary, in a round-about way, the keyring torch is obviously the best possible solution - problem sorted!!!

But, before Mr. Bothra wonders if we'll ever find our way back on topic again, or Nitin despairs at the banality of this post, I'm going to attempt to please both by mentioning something music-related, awareness-raising and a shedload more relevant that talking handbags!

It's a Christmas Fair (not the one last weekend, but one this Sunday,17th).

Not the kind infested with snarling grannies who'll snap your ribs with one jolt of a boney elbow, if you get between them and the lavendar-infused toileties on the tombola stand, while their other halves give up on trying to remember where they last put their dentures and sit contentedly sucking tea out of a soggy digestive, NO!!!!

This one has DJs, it's for Oxfam and it can be found at 93 Feet East! You can even offload your old stuff - bring it with you or contact helen@filmnoirrecords.com - perhaps I might find a 'new' handbag for myself, Rosemary, since the zip on my beat-up and beloved old thing derailed earlier this week! Whoops.
So, anyway, Nitin - rumour has it that you have friends in that neck of the woods - are they up for a rummage do you think?

http://www.93feeteast.co.uk/diary/index.cfm?View=Day&EventDate=2006-12-17

Buga Divino:

But, before Mr. Bothra wonders if we'll ever find our way back on topic again, or Nitin despairs at the banality of this post, I'm going to attempt to please both by mentioning something music-related, awareness-raising and a shedload more relevant that talking handbags!

It's a Christmas Fair (not the one last weekend, but one this Sunday,17th).

None of my handbags talk! Could you imagine walking down the street, talking to your handbag, people might think you were mad.

We ran our monthly Fair Trade stall today and sold about ?240 worth of stuff. We have tried selling the "Rough Guide to...." CD's but they haven't gone as well as the food and drink.

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

Far be it from me to double post ..... but thought the forum needed kick starting for the new year, after the inertia of the Christmas break.

Here is a review http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/12/13/bmnitin13.xml which is pretty favourable - not that I am exactly unbiased either. I was surprised about the comment re Nitin being on left hand side of the stage - I've never seen him anywhere else but on the left.

It might have been a chilled set though not necessarily unplugged - Noches en Vela was pretty full on - quite a contrast from the Ojos de Brujos solo uncompanied rendition by Marina that I had seen the previous week.

The word that sums up the gig for me is "intimate" - not far from the stage and also in close proximity to the audience, including the ponytail of the girl in front of me.

I also though it was interesting that Nitin did a lot more of his earlier stuff - if my memory serves me correctly, only 3 tracks from Philtre.

Anyway if anyone would like to make any further comments - please go ahead. Otherwise I could be talking to myself - which is as anyone knows the first sign of madness

Rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

Belated Happy New Year!
Belated Eid Mubarak!
And an extremely premature Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Rosemary, you rascal, I wondered how long you'd hold out for!

Yes indeed, what a night it was - smoke-free venue - smouldering set 8) You're absolutely right about the bloke on the piano although, from where he's sitting, he's always on the right.... Wasn't it sweet how most of the band sat watching, at the top of the stairs.... reminded me of when I was a little girl, hovering on the landing in my pyjamas whenever my folks threw a party.... ever hopeful that some kind grown-up would spot me in the gloom and throw up some tasty morsel. Of course, I always had to be ready to duck fast if it came hurtling towards me, cocktail stick foremost. Ahh, my first meandering off topic, of the year... Never mind dodging ponytails, Rosemary - you think you had it rough? I spent the entire gig standing next to some cheeky mare from Cardiff banging on about drinking coffee!!! You can't imagine what that was like!

Anyway, I shouldn't worry unduly about talking to yourself (it's even happened to me and I've not even realised... for example, I may think I'm nattering to someone on the phone, and they've wondered off, made a coffee, cooked dinner, hoovered the house, built a gazebo, scaled a mountain, found a cure for the common cold, overthrown the government, built a rocket, colonised Mars, come back, picked up the phone and said, "yeah." and wondered off again! ). I think you'll find that the first sign of madness is putting on a zootsuit and a porkpie hat and running on the spot..... Nitin, did you ever hit the dancefloor like that???

Still do???

Oh.

Buga Divino:

Yes indeed, what a night it was - smoke-free venue - smouldering set 8) You're absolutely right about the bloke on the piano although, from where he's sitting, he's always on the right.... Wasn't it sweet how most of the band sat watching, at the top of the stairs.... .

Hmmm.... although if you think about it, he is usually sideways on, so he can see what is happening on the rest of the stage. As for the band on the stairs, I was thinking more of the Von Trapp family in the Sound of Music. Anyway, getting out of breath running up and down stairs isn't a good thing to do if you are about to sing .....

The coffee was great anyway - even if I didn't have any at your house - I was given some for Christmas.

Somehow I don't see Nitin dancing in the jerky fashion in a pork pie hat - maybe martial arts type moves ....... on the other hand I've been known to dance this way - and be stone cold sober at the same time. Amazing what you do at works "dos"!

rosemary

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"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness" Confucius

I'd prefer NOT to think of the Von Trapp family in the Sound of Music, if you don't mind. I've already heard plenty of S.O.M. references in the past week.... I've been wrestling with marionette puppets (yes, there's a first time for everything) which was difficult enough but, once the strings got muddy, it was nigh impossible...