With heavy hearts and overwhelming emotions , the members of The Saturday Night Blues Band and SPAN came together to remember Stuart Munro on his birthday. It’s been two months since the veteran musician passed away but his artistic brilliance will always remain with us.
His friends, family members and those who played with him for decades gathered at Someplace Else on October 17 for a birthday party organised by Arunima Dasgupta (vocalist of The Saturday Night Blues Band) and Deboprotim Tukai Baksi (drummer of SPAN).
Several musicians were there to remember beloved Stu. The gig was unlike any other, bringing together jazz, funk, blues and rock ’n’ roll and musicians covered songs Stu loved to perform.
The set included classics like Mojo Working, Stand By Me and City Girls. The Telegraph spoke to legendary guitarist Amyt Datta, Arunima, Chiradeep Lahiri (former drummer of The Saturday Night Blues Band) and Anita Basu Mallick (former female lead vocalist of SPAN) about their memories of Stu. Excerpts.
Artiste speak
Chiradeep Lahiri
We miss him a lot but it’s great to watch so many people come together to celebrate his memory. Stu was a fun-loving guy and he made people laugh. He was incredible; when we felt low, he’d encourage us to play music and cheered us on like no one else. Even if he was down, he’d still be chirpy. The evening is basically ‘Stu’s Songbook’.
Anita Basu Mallick
The person we’re celebrating is absent but I feel his spirit amongst us. It’s a tribute to Stuie... we’re here to celebrate Stuart Munro and his birthday. He always knew everything about me even before anyone else could gauge just by looking into my eyes. He’d call me “Ant-eater” (laughs). I’ve never heard him complain about life, even during the final days when he was in pain. Stu was the life of the party and I feel too overwhelmed. I’m not a bassist but I’ll be covering Hendrix today and playing the bass on stage... hoping he’s watching me and I’m fulfilling his wish of seeing me do it.
Amyt Datta
It’s great for everybody to come back and support music. One little thing people need to consider — someone doesn’t need to die for people to come back together and do what Stuie had done all his life — play music. I’ve not played with him much but I’m really happy that people have come together to play all over again. He always made people laugh and that’s a great quality.
Sasha Jessica Munro (Stuart’s daughter)
I’ll cover a song by Miley Cyrus that dad would play while I sang. I’m not a singer but I am doing it for him. He’s my hero and I miss him.
Arunima Dasgupta
Stuie would have been 58 today and we used to celebrate it every year at my place. I used to get the cake but this year it’s the first time that he’s not here and that’s why this event is really important to us. We could have done this a month ago but no, we decided that we were going to do it on his birthday because we don’t want to mourn him; we want to celebrate his life. Because that’s the kind of person he was — full of life, full of joy and laughter and mischief. For all of us, this event was difficult to pull off because we’re on the verge of breaking down but we’re being strong for Stuie. He was super versatile and he could play any genre of music. And celebrating Stu means celebrating all kinds of music. He was a rock ’n’ roll man. Stuie was the undertaker and I was the Queen Bee — he’d always protect me and I felt safe with him. No one can ever replace you in my life.
Pictures: Riddho Roy