A band with an unusual name like P.L.I.N.T is bound to get everyone curious. What makes them even more unusual is their music and story. Coming to entertain and share their secret with Bengaluru’s music lovers this weekend at Windmills Craftworks is this amazing international jazz trio.
Fronting the band is pianist Pablo Lapidusas. The collective itself, formed in 2014 by the coming together of the Argentinian pianist with Cuban bassist Leo Espinosa and Portuguese/Brazilian drummer Marcelo Araújo, is the first project away from Pablo’s solo format.
He elaborates: “The name P.L.I.N.T comes from my name – Pablo Lapidusas International Trio. The band is international in the true sense that we all share a wide range of origins. I was born in Argentina but I moved to Brazil as a child. Leo is a Cuban who moved to Spain, and Marcelo was born in Brazil but moved to Portugal at the age of two.”
Looking back, Pablo one-lines how the seed was planted for him to become a musician. “Love for music is how it all started,” he says. The Buenos Aires native began his piano studies in Brazil as a child and went on to pursue an education in music.
Dabbling in the rich Brazilian instrumental scene, his name soon became synonymous with the predominant jazz culture around him. Today, when he is not performing with his projects or recording in the studio, he involves himself in teaching and conducting masterclasses in Portugal, Brazil, India, Argentina and Israel.
The journey of the band itself has been international, he points out. “They are two musicians and friends who believed in my music and in my ideas. They understand what it is to do a project in a committed way. The three of us hail from different places, met in Lisbon and shared our lives travelling the world. In the three years, the band has been together, we’ve performed in over 100 concerts in different continents and recorded two albums; the second of which will be released in November.”
Not new to the country, Pablo was in India last year as a guest teacher at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM).
“But coming this time with the trio for a tour is something different. I am very happy and eager to present my music in India. Undoubtedly it is a special place. I have many former SAM students in Bengaluru, so our concert in the city will be a very special leg of the tour.”
On what he thinks of Indian music, the virtuoso credits his experience in SAM for learning a lot about the country and the musicianship here. “My stay here made me hear Indian music in a very different way. I attended three months of konnakol (vocal percussion) class and Carnatic music. I apply that knowledge in my compositions even today. In fact, two of the songs in the set list was composed here in India, using what I learned in SAM.”
Although an evening of eclectic jazz is in store for music lovers, Pablo says that they promise to give the audience an experience without parallel. “We will bare our soul on stage. Let’s burn down the club together,” he quips and adds: “The audience will see that the music they are listening to is the result of two things: lots of practice and listening carefully to one another in the band. So our music is always different at every concert.”
In the future, Pablo says the trio will continue to travel the world. “We will continue recording albums and the most important part for me is to return to the places where we play. That to me is success.”
For aspiring musicians who will listen to them in Bengaluru, he has a few things to say as a teacher: “Love, love and love. That should be the heart of your music. Have respect for the career if you want to be a musician and lastly be honest with music.”
Give a listen to P.L.I.N.T at Windmills Craftworks, Whitefield, on August 11 and 12 from 9.30 pm onwards. Call 8880233322. Tickets available at www.windmillscraftworks.com