By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Weaving together instruments, vocals, storytelling, and original poetry, the Soul Jam cooperative fits no easy description. But singer/guitarist Yash Patel, performing with Soul Jam on its project, “Madhubala: The Shadows Behind the Spotlight,” at the Royal Room on July 25, remembers growing up with many arts and practices intertwined.
“I grew up in India in a Gujarati family where home was shaped by relationships, shared responsibilities, faith, food, festivals, and music,” Patel said. “Some of my earliest musical memories are connected to bhajans (devotional songs), and the way music naturally entered family and community life. It was not treated as something separate from everyday living. Music could be part of prayer, celebration, reflection, or simply being together.
“My family taught me the importance of discipline, humility, education, and supporting the people around you. Those values became important in both my professional and creative life. What I remember most about home is the feeling that meaningful things were often created collectively. No celebration, decision, or challenge belonged to only one person. That sense of shared experience continues to influence Soul Jam today.”
As for childhood media influences, he recalls cinema intertwined with music.
“I was drawn not only to melodies, but also to the emotions and poetry inside them. Hindi film music introduced me to an extraordinary world of singers, composers, lyricists, actors, and storytellers who could express complex human experiences through a few carefully chosen words and notes. Legendary ghazal (poetic song) singers, such as Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali, and Mehdi Hassan, had a major influence on how I learned to listen. Their music showed me that a pause can be as powerful as a musical phrase, and that emotional depth does not require excess.
He also drew inspiration from Indian lyricists and poets, such as I have also been inspired by lyricists and poets, such as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, and Sahir Ludhianvi. They demonstrated to him how Indian songs can function not only as entertainment, but literature, social reflection, philosophy, memory, and lived experience.
“Indian cinema also showed me how music, visual language, dialogue, silence, and character could come together to create an emotional world. Over time, I became interested not only in performing songs, but also in understanding the human stories behind them.”
Soul Jam’s current project honors Mahubala, an Indian actress who died in 1969 at age 36, but remains one of the most widely-loved on-screen presences in Indian cinema.
Madhubala, said Patel, felt like a natural and important subject because almost everyone recognizes her public image, yet her truer, deeper story remained unfathomed.
“We wanted to ask what existed behind the spotlight. What did she carry privately? What did fame demand from her? How do we remember the woman without reducing her to beauty, tragedy, or legend? Developing the production required extensive research into her life, films, relationships, health, public image, and historical context. The final production emerged through research, rehearsals, design documents, long conversations, and many cups of chai.”
Asked about future projects, Patel stressed that the cooperative invests deeply in the creative details surrounding each presentation. Depending on the story, the performers, never the same from show to show, may use visual, tactile, atmospheric, or other sensory elements to help the audience feel more connected and present. The purpose is not to create spectacle, but to engage different senses and elevate the emotional experience.
“In the future, we hope Soul Jam becomes a welcoming platform for artists from different backgrounds, disciplines, and generations to share stories in their own voices. The musicians, storytellers, instruments, and creative format may change from one presentation to another, but the foundation will remain the same: an intimate setting, a meaningful story, soulful music, poetry, and a genuine connection between the artist and the audience.”
Soul Jam presents “Madhubala: The Shadows Behind the Spotlight” on July 25 at the Royal Room, 5000 Rainier Avenue South in Seattle. For prices, showtime, and other information, visit, https://theroyalroomseattle.com/event/soul-jam.
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