From Sampooran (a set of five notes) to Saptak (a set of seven notes), we preview Mekaal Hasan Band’s latest album.
I’ll confess: the Mekaal Hasan Band (MHB) for me (and for quite a few people) has been an acquired taste; mostly brought upon by attending some of its live performances. The first album, Sampooran, featured artistes that are the best in their field, but has often been described as too ‘hard to digest’. It definitely wasn’t listener-friendly, and the worst critique that one can give it is that the sheer perfection sought in the technique employed in the musical and vocal arrangements had robbed it of its soul. Getting off to a slow start, the album picked up a couple of years later, once the style of music (an attempt at a type of eastern jazz, if you may) managed to penetrate the minds of local audiences. Sampooran is now one of the stronger music albums to come out from the local pop arena.