Jazz at NCPA

International Jazz and Blues singer, Diane Witherspoon, who recently performed at the NCPA, is mixing work with pleasure.

International Jazz and Blues singer, Diane Witherspoon, who recently performed at the NCPA, is mixing work with pleasure. “My concerts in Mumbai and Pune are what brought me here, but I am visiting some friends also,” she says.

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Although she knows very little about the jazz scene in India, Witherspoon is effusive in praising Indian jazz musicians. “My husband at that time had come to India for the Jazz Yatra in 1984,” she recalls. “Back then, there was some really good jazz going around. India was attracting a lot of jazz musicians from California.”

In Witherspoon’s opinion, jazz music has seen a lot of evolution, but of late, musicians have been moving backwards instead, returning to the roots.

“There was a time when Miles Davis was among those who were experimenting with electronic vibes, but everyone seems to be coming back to the basics now,” she says.

The singer, whose last release was

Love and Respect

in 2007, hopes to start work on her next album soon. “Perhaps I can come out with a Live at NCPA,” she laughs.