Shout Section Big Band

After a long time I got to hear the song "A Tisket - A Tasket" It was sung by Megan Rault with the Shout Section Big Band doing perfect justice to the music. The original song was by Ella Fitzgerald.

The director of the Band, Brett Dean was always present in the front giving directions as and when required.

At times he chipped in and that is when you can see him at the back giving that extra boost to the tempo.

I could not get the names of all the musicians, but I could see that each one contributed in a special way.

I was particularly impressed by Mike Benning on the double Bass. I mean continuously plucking on those thick strings must be pretty tough on those fingers.

Then there was Diego Rodriguez on the drums who did not miss a beat.

The rendition of Ba Ba Black sheep was done well by Kirby Fellis 

Jon Rarick had his own style and there was an extra gusto when he put on his hat.

You could see a few in the audience picking up a few steps but I was expecting more dancers considering the enticing jitterbug music that was being played.

One of the regulars I see at the Town square is Ken Czech who manages to capture some of the musicians in action.

Made a video on the song "The yellow basket" by Megan Rault.

The second video is a mix of all that they played in the evening. (in no particular order)
I am sure Jazz lovers would love it.

Oktoberfest in Pune India

I made it a point to attend the Oktoberfest this year. This is the sixth year that it is being held in Pune and I kept missing it for one reason or the other. It was a three day affair, held at the race course and conducted by the Indo-German Chambers of Commerce.

Having a ring side view of the horse race was an added privilege as that was a part of the Oktoberfest. (more on the horse race in the next post) 

In fact horse races in the presence of the Royal family (in 1810) marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent years gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest. A painting of the horse race held in 1813. 

picture source wikipedia

  Coming back to Pune, the German band Die Sulmtaler was in attendance and I must say that they did a good job of keeping the crowd entertained.

Matthias was liberal with his smatter of Hindi “Maja aa raha hai?” 

Many had turned up in the Dirndls. 

Almost all hit the dance floor (or swayed with the music) 

The kids too had a gala time

There were photo opportunities for many

Some liked to be clicked 

but I found that the candid ones were better and had a natural appeal 

The second day being a Saturday, the dance floor was jam packed, so many decided to make do with the table top 

A special mention should be made about the beer and the German food. 

and the sale of the food coupons was brisk

Had the opportunity to witness the "tapping" of the beer keg. (and drank some beer directly from the keg)

The only thing that I found out of place were the plastic glasses.

I mean when you think of beer you always associate it with beer bottles or beer mugs 

Have compiled some videos with more photographs. 

Noticed that these videos were also uploaded at the PuneOktoberfest FB site.