Funky quartet Bella Elektra keep it classy and brassy
Quartet Bella Elektra are bringing brass, class and funk to the Hong Kong music scene, writes Madeline Gressel
Not long ago, Hong Kong band Bella Elektra were performing at Beating Heart in Western district when part of the sound cut out.
They were deep into a performance of Regnum, a funky, jubilant anthem. Their saxophonist Oscar Azahar was midway though a solo, but he kept going. Vocalist Jeff Anello joined in. So did trumpeter Michal Garcia. "I didn't even notice anything had happened," Azahar says. "I thought 'This is cool. Really cool creative choice'."
Despite the gaffe - a cable was disconnected by their jumping DJ - the band played on. The crowd went wild; it was just trumpet, saxophone and vocals. The music reached a crescendo and the beat kicked back in. The lights swung and flared, just like it had all been planned.
"That's the inside story," says Anello. "We didn't stop or apologise. We just rolled with it."
The funky quartet is well-served by this touch-and-go attitude, which remains a cornerstone of their musical process. Bella Elektra began as a jam band nearly two years ago, the brainchild of Giedrius Sruogis, also known as DJ Gie, who needed brass players for a corporate event. Sruogis, formerly a New York DJ, was on the lookout for kindred musicians in Hong Kong. "I started calling people I knew in search of horns," he says, "and it led me to Oscar and Michal."
The trio soon got a regular night at the Central Wine Club, where they began turning heads. Anello joined about five months later.