Sunday evening saw the Tolly Club shamiana witness a jugalbandi between percussionist Abhishek Basu, jazz guitarist Fred Hamilton, vocalist Shounak Chattyopadhyay and danseuse Anurekha Ghosh. Titled Way To Hollywood, the hour-long Indo-American jazz performance was inspired by Abhishek’s September 2008 concert at the Santa Clara Convention Centre in California. It was also the first time that this disciple of Bickram Ghosh and Pt Shankar Ghosh played with Hamilton in India. “I have played with Fred before at the University of North Texas. But since this was the first time in India, it was special,” he said.

The performance saw Abhishek blend Carnatic, Latin and African grooves with beatboxing on pieces from his debut album, Searching For Nirvana. Anurekha Ghosh’s performance was scintillating as well. Adapting three of Abhishek’s pieces — Deewani, Search For Existence and Salvation in Harmony, the dance exponent married kathak to kalaripayattu and Sufi moves.