ANNIVERSARIES:

Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) 1-Nov ! LaTavia Roberson (formerly of Destiny's Child) 1-Nov ! Rick Allen (Def Leppard) 1-Nov ! Anu Malik 2-Nov ! K.D. lang 2-Nov ! Nelly 2-Nov ! Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu 3-Nov ! Laxmikant 3-Nov ! Monali Thakur 3-Nov ! Pran Nath 3-Nov ! Mani Prasad 4-Nov ! Puff Daddy 4-Nov ! Yanni 4-Nov ! Art Garfunkel 5-Nov ! Bryan Adams 5-Nov ! Lalgudi R.Rajalakshmi 5-Nov ! Nirmal Udhas 5-Nov ! Lalith J. Rao 6-Nov ! R.N.Tharanathan (Rudrapatnam Bros) 6-Nov ! Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi 6-Nov ! Bhushany Kalyanaraman 7-Nov ! David Guetta 7-Nov ! Joni Mitchell 7-Nov ! Kamal Hassan 7-Nov ! Shounak Abhisheki 7-Nov ! Sunanda Patnaik 7-Nov ! Bonnie Raitt 8-Nov ! Dhirubhai Shah 8-Nov ! Diana King 8-Nov ! C. R. Vyas 9-Nov ! M.B.Vedavalli 9-Nov ! Sisqo 9-Nov ! Dayal Thakur 10-Nov ! Abdul Karim Khan 11-Nov ! E.Gayatri 11-Nov ! LeToya Luckett (formerly of Destiny's Child) 11-Nov ! Neil Young 12-Nov ! Shravan Rathod 13-Nov ! Xavier D’souza 13-Nov ! Alec John Such (Bon Jovi) 14-Nov ! Brian Yale (Matchbox 20) 14-Nov ! James Young (STYX) 14-Nov ! Jaspinder Nirula 14-Nov ! Joseph Simmons (aka Run of Run-D.M.C.) 14-Nov ! Madan Pal 14-Nov ! Travis Barker (Blink-182) 14-Nov ! Frida (ABBA) 15-Nov ! K.V.Narayanaswamy 15-Nov ! Muthiah Bhagavathar 15-Nov ! Diana Krall 16-Nov ! Isaac Hanson (Hanson) 17-Nov ! Herman Rarebell (The Scorpions) 18-Nov ! Kim Wilde 18-Nov ! Kirk Hammett (Metallica) 18-Nov ! Rudy Sarzo (Whitesnake) 18-Nov ! Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses) 19-Nov ! Babla 20-Nov ! Hirabai Barodekar 20-Nov ! Björk 21-Nov ! Baba Sehgal 23-Nov ! Bruce Hornsby 23-Nov ! Miley Cyrus 23-Nov ! Bhimsen 24-Nov ! Titte Krishna Ayyangar 24-Nov ! Amy Grant 25-Nov ! Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam 25-Nov ! John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) 26-Nov ! Rita Ora 26-Nov ! Tina Turner 26-Nov ! Bappi Lahiri 27-Nov ! Charlie Benante (Anthrax) 27-Nov ! Nandu Bende 27-Nov ! Apl.de.Ap (Black Eyed Peas) 28-Nov ! Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue) 28-Nov ! H.V.Srivatsan 28-Nov ! Matt Cameron (Soundgarden) 28-Nov ! Umayalpuram Mali 28-Nov ! Jonathan Knight (New Kids On The Block) 29-Nov ! Wallis Buchanan (Jamiroquai) 29-Nov ! Billy Idol 30-Nov

The Sterling Reserve Music Project collaborates with Monica Dogra

The Sterling Reserve Music Project, an enabler platform for independent artists, chases the next emerging sound on the platform with the soca music inspired song ‘Secret Sauce’ by Indian - American singer-songwriter, Monica Dogra. ‘Secret Sauce’ is Monica’s first musical collaboration with international beat maker and soca music producer Keshav Chandradath Singh. 

Composed and penned by Monica Dogra, “Secret Sauce” is a love song about the ecstasy that love sets into motion in one’s life. The song is about how once love enters your life, everything becomes magical and fantastic. Monica Dogra describes the vibe of the song as a sensual mash up of Caribbean island music, reggae (ton), soca and pop.

The music video features Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar co-starring alongside Monica Dogra. This is the second time the duo comes together on screen, since their last collaboration in the feature film ‘Dobhi Ghat.’ 

Speaking about the release of ‘Secret Sauce,’ Monica Dogra said, “I am very happy that ‘Secret Sauce’ has finally come to life. Working with Keshav was a dream.  Soca has been a genre I’ve never played with as a composer, but I’ve played out as a DJ for so long and Keshav is one of the top soca producers in the world!  He’s worked with the best. The making of the song was like entering an uncharted territory which is just how I like it. “Secret Sauce is so different in multiple aspects from anything I’ve ever done and as a musician, I can proudly say that I made a song that I’d love to listen to on repeat for the first time in my life.” She further added, “While writing the lyrics, my mind was thinking about the immense courage it takes to express one’s affection for another person. Upon hearing the melody of the song for the first time, I just closed my eyes and the lyrics started to stream out of my conscious and onto the paper. It was a beautiful flow... I’m grateful to tap into that. For the music video I wanted to bring back my first costar, Prateik Babbar from the feature film Dhobi Ghat.  That film changed both our lives so much and we’ve maintained a great friendship through the years.  I believe time has made us better. Working with him was sweet! I kept saying it all felt like honey.  Just what ‘Secret Sauce’ is all about.”

Universal Music and EMI Music, India and South Asia Managing Director and CEO Devraj Sanyal said, “The Sterling Reserve Music Project continues to chase the next in it’s endeavour to support and enable Indian independent talent across all genres and languages. Every once in a while, we have the honour to collaborate with a mainstream and exceptionally talented artist and 2020 kickstarts with one such partnership in the form of the song ‘Secret Sauce’ by multifaceted, Monica Dogra. This is the first time we introduce the genre and sound of ‘soca’ music on the platform created right here in the Universal Music India studios, by Monica Dogra and produced by the incredible beatmaker Keshav from the Caribbean. We’re immensely thankful for Prateik Babbar’s appearance alongside Monica Dogra to lend an authentic narrative to the video that is unique to the Sterling Reserve Music Project.” 

Allied Blenders and Distillers’ Chief Operating Officer, Bikram Basu, said, “We begin 2020 with our 11th release, introducing the soca music sound on Sterling Reserve Music Project, through ‘Secret Sauce’ by the immensely talented Monica Dogra. It’s exciting to have Prateik and Monica share screen space once again, which hugely enhances the visual aesthetic of the video. Our platform has always explored unique sounds and with Secret Sauce we are continuing to push boundaries in independent Indian music.” 

ABOUT MONICA DOGRA

Monica Dogra, is an Indian - American singer-songwriter, who is known for her work in various artistic fields. In her discography, Monica has released 7 albums with her recent release - Naraye Mastana hitting number 10 on the pop charts in India. Monica attended NYU, graduating in musical theatre. Monica has also contributed vocals to the renowned song Dooriyan Bhi Hai Zaroori for the film Break Ke baad. Apart from being a talented singer, she is also an acclaimed actress starring in various movies which include Rock on!!, Dhobi Ghat. Her recent acting credit is in the web series ‘Cartels’ where she will be playing one of the leads. For her numerous achievements, Monica has been named as “the ambassador of the new India’’ by Republic of Brown and has also been featured in list of the 50 most influential Women by ELLE magazine in India.

ABOUT STERLING RESERVE MUSIC PROJECT:
Sterling Reserve Music Project is the region’s first enabler platform to discover, incubate and promote emerging musical talent from India. The project aims at elevating and supporting the independent music scene in the country by giving musicians a platform to showcase their talent.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gehSvfVkZB0&t=58s
Stream the song here: https://umgi.lnk.to/secretsauce 

Interviews

Venues

Best Jazz Venue in India

Those of you who have been around from the 1960's through the 1990's will remember the vibrant live music scene in almost every starred hotel in India. Those were the days when you walked into a nightclub like 'Rendezvous' at The Taj Mahal hotel and 'Supper Club' at the Oberoi Sheraton in Mumbai to see curtains going up on a band that was the prime focus of these outlets. Every seat in these restaurants allowed an unobstructed view of the band that performed every night on resident contracts. Today all this has disappeared thanks to some ridiculously high entertainment taxes on live music. Today, non off these hotels have complete bands playing save for a few that feature small duos or solo singers. The Lodhi in New Delhi, recently listed among the world's best hotels, decided to step in and rewind to the good old days. They got Goa's premier jazz quartet 'Jazz Junction' to move to Delhi on a resident contract and the decision has paid off in terms of footfalls generated by the band. Jazz Junction featuring singer Daniella Rodrigues, pianist Tony Dias,
bassist Colin D'Cruz and drummer Angelo Colasco began playing at The Lodhi in June 2018. Four months into the contract the band generated a sizeable following, with quite a few high profile guests choosing to celebrate their special occasion at the Elan bar where the band performs. Against all odds the rewind option proved to be a huge success and hopefully other properties around the country takes the cue to trigger a whole new revival  of live music.