Rupa’s Disco Jazz didn’t
gain a ton of traction upon its initial release in 1982. Born as the brainchild
of the now Grammy Award-winning musician Aashish Khan, the record sold very few
copies in its native country and was quickly forgotten about as the weeks
passed. Rupa Biswas, the record’s titular and charismatic vocalist completely
put the memory of recording the album in the rearview as the years went on. It
was only after her son rediscovered the album in his mother’s attic that the
family would go on to find out Disco Jazz had become a grail item for
record collectors across the world. While its grooves are oriented in something
that could feel dated to the average listener, its instrumental and vocal
idiosyncrasies make the album an enjoyable and impactful listening experience.
It’s for this reason that Disco Jazz not only stands as a testament to
the talent of Rupa and the collaborators that made this record possible but
also to the strange relationship of the album format and time itself.
Disco aside, there seem to be both
spiritual and psychedelic influences at play across the album and musician
Aashish Khan is likely to thank for this. Khan’s performance on the sarod as
well as his credits as both the producer and arranger of the record suggest he
had strong creative influence over Disco Jazz’s four tracks, each of
which makes an impression on the listener. His expertise on the sarod, which
makes an appearance on every track, is the glue that holds the charm and beauty
of the album together. The opening cut “Moja Bhari Moja'' borrows the core of
its elements from standard late seventies and early eighties disco, but one
doesn’t have to listen too long to be sucked in by the stark contrast of its
transcendent breakdown, which slowly and brilliantly melds the sarod and Geoff
Bell’s tremolo-drenched synthesizer in beautiful harmony. “Aaj Shanibar,”
perhaps the album’s most well-known track, also dabbles in the realm of
psychedelia with its sleek bassline and near jam-band guitar solo. The
highlight of the track is the falsetto vocal from Rupa as she sings along note
for note with Aashish Khan’s rhythmic, instrumental triplet. Aashish’s brother
Pranesh Khan makes an appearance on this track as well as the album’s closer,
complementing the track's lush production with his table playing.
The album has its fair share of
floor killer elements as well. “East West Shuffle,” the album’s bounciest and
funkiest cut, is carried by the booming drum sound of percussionist Robin
Tufts, whose polyrhythmic tendencies keep the track's repetitive and hypnotic
bassline moving through its duration. The rock-inspired chorus of “Moja Bhari
Moja” somehow fits just as much on the dancefloor as it would on any Yes album
before 1972. “Ayee Morshume Be-Reham Duniya,” the album's sprawling, 15-minute
closing cut, wraps up the listening experience perfectly, bringing together the
best elements of side one into one epic mega track. Rupa's vocal melody over
the Western funk of the Khan brothers’ instrumentation makes for some of the
album’s most captivating moments. The hypnotic and pulsing refrain sucks you in
and when you’re finally lost in the world the album has created for its
listener, you feel as though the track could have gone on for another 15
minutes.
Disco Jazz could have been
more appropriately titled Disco Psych, but the album gloriously lives up
to the potential its moniker suggests. Rupa Biswas never made another album and
never fully got to realize her musical prowess as the years went on, but the
recent resurgence of her singular effort has revitalized her career and
made her of a cult figure in some circles. If the story of Rupa proves
anything, it’s that it’s never too late to make an impact and that genius is
sometimes never recognized until decades later.
- Blake Britton
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