Alexandria4997 at 16:36, 18 March 2026

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{{short description|Indian backing band}}
'''Bennet and the Band''' is a [[backing band]] founded in 1998 by [[Bennet Veetraag|Bennet Roland]], Guitarist/Music Director, from Kerala. Band specializes in genre based re-orchestration of popular melodies, Indian film tunes and traditional folk melodies for which the band uses [[session musicians]] lined up according to the type of music they need to play for the singer with whom they are jamming. Its performances with the singers often involve [[improvisation]].<ref name= BalladoftheBands>{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/ballad-of-the-bands/article4195977.ece| title=Ballad of the Bands|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2013-12-13}}</ref>

The band is not confined to a specific genre and it is easily understood from the various artists whom they have conducted jam sessions with, starting from [[Anuradha Sriram]] and [[Srinivas (singer)|Srinivas]], to the young singers on block like [[Karthik (singer)|Karthik]], [[Vijay Yesudas]], [[Vijay Prakash]], [[Naresh Iyer]], [[Swetha Mohan]], [[Krish (singer)|Krish]] and [[Haricharan]].

== Early days ==
Bennet's performance with Karthik in Wesley Grounds, Chennai was a remarkable one down the lane.<ref name= ChennaiiteseagerlywaitingforKarthik>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-21/news-and-interviews/28296803_1_hasili-fisili-karthik-singer| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105050331/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-21/news-and-interviews/28296803_1_hasili-fisili-karthik-singer| url-status=dead| archive-date=2013-11-05| work=[[The Times of India]]| title=Chennaiites eagerly waiting for Karthik|date=2010-08-21}}</ref> The band along with the frontline singers Karthik, Gopal Rao, [[Kalyani Nair]], [[Swetha Mohan]], Mohammed Aslam performed in Pancham- "The magic of RD Burman, A tribute to [[RD Burman]]", playing hits from the 1970s.<ref name= Pancham-TheMagicofR.D.Burman>{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article905291.ece?ref=video| title=Pancham - The Magic of R.D. Burman|work=The Hindu|date=2010-11-22}}</ref> In the Rosebowl channel aired in 2006, they jammed with singers from South India like Karthik, [[Jyotsna Radhakrishnan|Jyotsana]], [[Gayatri Asokan|Gayatri]],<ref name= GayatriinTheCompleteJamsessions-Bennetandtheband>{{cite news| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSrGJ6BC4mQ| title=Gayatri in The Complete Jam sessions - Bennet and the band}}</ref> Franco,<ref name= TheCompleteJamsessions-BennetandthebandfeaturingFranko >{{cite news| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppuVRPtvqcA| title=The Complete Jam sessions - Bennet and the band featuring Franko }}</ref> etc. and currently their show is being aired under the title “Music mojo” in [[Kappa TV]], launched by [[Mathrubhumi]], with singers [[Manjari (Indian singer)|Manjari]] and Haricharan.

Bennet Roland began composing music for films, beginning with the movie ‘[[Out of Syllabus|Out of syllabus]]’ in the year 2006, for which he had composed four songs along with musician [[Bennet Veetraag|Veetrag]]. From there, the duo went on to compose songs for ‘Sooryakireedam’, [[Dr. Patient|Dr.patient]], [[Khaddama|Gaddhama]] and [[August Club]].<ref name=Tuningtheirfriendship>{{cite news| url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130418/entertainment-tvmusic/article/tuning-their-friendship/| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615215254/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130418/entertainment-tvmusic/article/tuning-their-friendship/| url-status=dead| archive-date=2013-06-15| title=Tuning their friendship| publisher=[[Deccan chronicle|Deccan Chronicle]]| date=2013-06-12}}</ref> As a guitarist, he has performed with the frontline singers [[KS Chithra]], [[Udit Narayan]], [[Shaan (singer)|Shaan]], [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]], [[Sujatha Mohan|Sujatha]], [[Malgudi Shubha]], [[Usha Uthup]], etc.

== Live performances ==
* [[Ragam (festival)|Ragam]] 08, the annual cultural fest of the National Institute of Technology Calicut, on 28 March 2008
* Festember 08, the annual cultural fest of National Institute of Technology, Trichy.
* [[Indian Premier League]] Twenty 20 cricket events held in [[Chennai]].
* 9th foundation week celebration of [[UST Global]] in [[Thiruvananthapuram]] on 22 August 2008.
* Instincts'08, the annual cultural fest of Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (SSN), Chennai.
* 11th foundation week celebrations of UST Global, Trivandrum
* Cultural festival of JB Institute of Engineering and Technology (Autonomous) Hyderabad, in March 2008.
* Pulse 2010, culture fest of Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology (GRIET), Hyderabad on 20 March 2010.
* Annual cultural festival of College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), Chennai
* Mitafest'09, the cultural fest of Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), [[Chennai]].
* Cultural fest of [[BITS Pilani]] Hyderabad Campus on 27 March 2010.
* International Carnival graVITas 2010 in [[Vellore Institute of Technology|VIT University]] Vellore on 17 September 2010.
* Annual Function (JASHN'10) of Multi National Company [[Capgemini]] Hyderabad in December 2010.
* RHYTHM, the annual cultural festival of Lal Bahadur Shastri College of Engineering, Kasaragod in February, 2010.
* Conjura 10', the annual Technical fest of TKM College of Engineering, Kollam in February 2010.
* The Times Hyderabad festival, held in 2011<ref name= KarthikperformsatTimesHyderabadFestival >{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-06/hyderabad/28379479_1_ghajini-karthik-songs| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615215240/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-06/hyderabad/28379479_1_ghajini-karthik-songs| url-status=dead| archive-date=2013-06-15| work=[[The Times of India]]| title=Karthik performs at Times Hyderabad Festival|date=2011-02-06 }}</ref>
* [[Bharti Airtel|Airtel]] super singer - Tamil reality TV show, June 2011
* JASHN'12, annual cultural fest of Multi National Company Capgemini Bangalore, on 4 February 2012.
* Dyuthi'13, proshow in Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur, on 11 September 2013.
* AAGNEYA'14, the annual techno-cultural extravaganza of Govt. Engineering College BartonHill, Trivandrum on 1 March 2014
* GAMAYA'14, pro-show in NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, on 21 September 2014
* ATHMA'15, pro-show at the annual techno-cultural extravaganza in AWH engineering college, calicut, Kerala on 19 February 2015.
* YAGNA DHRUVA'15, Pro-show at the annual techno-cultural fest of [[L B S Institute of Technology for Women]], Trivandrum, Kerala on 8 March 2015

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/medley-for-the-masses-haricharan-performs-at-a-concert-in-chennai/article7877092.ece Medley for the masses]
* http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/music/Shweta-Mohan-to-perform-with-Bennet-and-the-band/articleshow/46213866.cms
* http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3831/Crowds+flock+to+Seychelles+capital+to+see+stars+perform+in+Indian+musical+spectacular

[[Category:Indian musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1998]]
[[Category:1998 establishments in Kerala]]
[[Category:Music bands from Kerala]]

Bennet and the Band - Revision history

Alexandria4997 at 16:36, 18 March 2026