Botown: The Soul Band Of Bollywood is a London-based

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

soul band formed by musician, songwriter and producer Ajay Srivastav. It takes its name from the short form of 'Bollywood Town', itself a tribute to the classic

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

music record label

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

which is short for Motor Town.

Music

The music of Botown blends the genres of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

with classic

and

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

from the 1960s and 1970s. It is a musical reimagining of the

genre and references artists such as

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

together with Bollywood Music Directors such as

RD Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work ...

, Laxmikant Pyarelal and

Kalyanji Anandji Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...

. As well as

music, the band also draws inspiration from

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

. Along with these musical influences Botown also add their original music and compositions. The band creates a musical link between what Srivastav calls the ''"working class music of India and America."''

The band

Botown is made up of many well known London based musicians all of whom are trained in various styles. The band was created and developed by Ajay Srivastav in late 2008 with the ethos of keeping music live and real. To this end the band is passionate about playing live and concerts include freeform and improvised sections with extended and sometimes spontaneous solo sections. Botown concerts are also well known for audience participation where fans sing and dance along with the band. Their first official public performance was in early 2009, though there were some 'warm up' shows in late 2008. The initial launch-shows were at the

Watermans Arts Centre Watermans Art Centre is a combined arts centre. It is located in Brentford, England alongside the banks of the River Thames overlooking Kew Gardens in West London, England. It includes a 239-seat theatre, a 125-seat cinema two galleries and tw ...

a venue well established in the UK Asian Arts scene. The concerts were a huge success and soon the band were regularly selling out venues such as

Rich Mix Rich Mix is a charity that offers cinema and cross-arts centre that is located in the East End of London, located in Shoreditch in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, England. Once a vast leather factory, 62,000-square-foot building was t ...

, The Drum and the Broadway Barking. In the Summer of 2009, the band headlined at the Southampton Music festival and in August 2009 the band made history by being the first band to showcase Bollywood music at London's legendary

Jazz Cafe The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. In 2020 the Jazz Cafe celebrates its 30th year, ...

. In 2010 the band headlined at the GLA Diwali in the Square Festival at

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

in Central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and played to a crowd of 30,000 fans. In the Autumn of 2010 Botown released their debut single: Roop Tera, which was a

inspired reworking of a Bollywood classic from the 1969 film Aradhana. The single hit the number one spot in the Official Asian Download Charts as played on the BBC Asian Network. The track combines Ray Charles inspired Gospel/Blues hooks with the SD Burman classic from the Bollywood film Aradhana. The critically acclaimed debut album the Soul of Bollywood was released in Winter 2010 and climbed the Amazon Funk Charts going top 10. It was the only Asian album to be given mainstream distribution through

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

shops in the UK that year and received a number of positive mainstream reviews including The Evening Standard and The Daily Express. In February 2011 Botown were nominated for a Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Award in the category of 'Best Alternative Act'. In December 2011, Botown were given the Best Band of 2011 Award by

Eastern Eye The ''Eastern Eye'' is a British weekly newspaper. It was created in 1989 and was first published by ''The Guardian'', before becoming a standalone newspaper. History Sarwar Ahmed Sarwar Ahmed ( bn, সরয়ার আহমেদ; bor ...

Newspaper. Songs from Botown's debut album 'The Soul of Bollywood' have featured a number of times on the UK's leading soap opera

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Dum Maro Dum was featured in the episode broadcast on 8 March 2011, Churaliya on 24 March 2011 and

Chaiyya Chaiyya "Chaiyya Chaiyya" (" alkin shade") is an Indian pop-folk song, featured in the soundtrack of the Bollywood film '' Dil Se..'', released in 1998. Based on Sufi music and Urdu poetry, the single was composed by A.R. Rahman, written by Gulzar, a ...

was featured in a scene broadcast on 9 May 2011.

Performances

Nov 2008: Walthemstow Town Hall 15 May 2009: Watermans 16 May 2009: Watermans 18 July 2009 Southampton Festival 21 Aug 2009 Jazz Cafe 2 Oct 2009: Barking Broadway 7 Nov 2009: Watermans 18 Dec 2009: Rich Mix 19 Dec 2009 Rich Mix 11 Mar 2010: Jazz Cafe 30 Oct 2010 Watermans 31 Oct 2010 Trafalgar Square 27 Nov 2010: Jazz Cafe 4 Dec 2010: The Drum 12 Feb 2011: Watermans 22 Feb 2011: Downstairs at Momo's 5 Mar 2011: Broadway Barking 2 May 2011: Chesterfield 4 Jun 2011: Barnet Arts Depot 3 July 2011: Harrow Arts Centre 10 July 2011: Leicester Belgrave Mela 10 July 2011: Cambridge in the City Festival (Main Stage) 23 July 2011: Rich Mix (as part of BBC London 94.9 FM live broadcast) 15 Oct 2011: Granville Theatre, Ramsgate 29 Oct 2011: The Grove Theatre, Dunstable 11 Nov 2011: The Beck Theatre, Hayes 21 Nov 2011: Fairfield Halls, Croydon 25 Nov 2011: Woodville Halls, Gravesend 31 Dec 2011: Cardiff New Year Celebrations (main stage) 17 Feb 2012: The Stables, Milton Keynes 18 Mar 2012: Theatre Royal, Windsor 30 Mar 2012: Asian Business Awards, London 13 May 2012: Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford 20 May 2012: Creeksea 3 Jun 2012: Rose Theatre, Kingston 29 Jun 2012: Altricham 7 July 2012: Richmond 4 Aug 2012: Riverside Festival, Nottingham 5 Aug 2012: Leicester 11 Aug 2012: Darlington 23rd Sept 2012: Four Seasons, London 5 Oct 2012: Beck Theatre, Hayes 7 Oct 2012: Fairfield Halls, Croydon 27 Oct 2012: Mottram

Discography

External links

www.botown.co.uk www.youtube.com/botowntv www.reverbnation.com/botown

References

* http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/227191/Album-review-Botown-The-Soul-Of-Bollywood-Scion-Records- * https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBF_en-GBGB253GB253&q=botown+jazz+cafe * http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/entertainment/music/s/1132711_botown_at_the_jazz_cafe

* http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/entertainment/music/s/1132711_botown_at_the_jazz_cafe * http://www.pressbox.co.uk/cgi-bin/links/page.cgi?g=detailed%2F355656.html;t=snap;d=ARRAY(0x86921d4) * http://www.botown.co.uk * https://web.archive.org/web/20110724053025/http://www.asiantimesonline.co.uk/news.html?groupId=9&newsId=5158 * http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/content/newham/recorder/whatson/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=whatsonmusic&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=whatsonnewham&itemid=WeED29%20Sep%202009%2018%3A06%3A43%3A873 * http://brentford.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/2009/05/club-asia-presents-botown-class.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20110122231147/http://www.felixonline.co.uk/?article=485 * http://botown.co.uk {{Authority control British pop music groups