She sings Macy Gray and Sade, and talks about Frank Sinatra with me. Her voice is beautiful, and in between, she glides in, wearing a stunning red dress, and talks to me about her life. She is Monia Lamarche, whose singing career started in Montreal, and she has been on the move ever since.
She likes singing Sinatra, she told me with a smile later. “Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald are my favourites. I get Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ as requests the most. But yes, there are other songs I love too. For example, I love retro, but when I’m wearing this red dress, I refuse to sing ‘Lady in Red’ until and unless it is a request from the audience. I love singing for my audience.”
Apart from English, she can sing in a number of other languages too. She also takes in the audience, and tries to bring in an element of universal appeal, which could be understood from her song selection. Macy Gray might have been a rather bold choice, but it went down rather well with the audience.
And when you’re at The Junction in Taj Bengal, of course, you need to have a drink or two by your side, and the one concocted with lime, mint and cucumber just hit the right notes, and went down particularly well after a long day of walking in the sun.
Disclaimer: Poorna Banerjee was invited to The Junction for the event.
