Tala Power

The "Farewell' Tala" show wa,s a non starter due to the heavy rains in Mumbai which threw everything out of gear at the physical realm. However, what gained the most was the power behind the emo­tions as well as the love that exists within the mu­sic fraternity.

For a start, it was ab­solutely stunning that a man of Tala's caliber de­cided to play free of cost in his farewell appearance just three days before his departure to Washington D.C which will be his new home after many years in India. And what drove him as well as his original band Groove Suppa to do that is simple that he felt the love and care from the people of Goa.

So, if there were tickets for the show, it was to cov­er the costs of the hosts Clube Nacional who so gracefully accepted to pro­vide their infrastructure for the would be star studded event.

I was equally surprised at the level of emails and phone calls that I received soon after the announce­ment, with many telling me that Trancemedia's involvement in jazz should be more intensive. I guess this was a reaction to the fact that our last show was in January this year! You must know that as much as you have enjoyed what we have done, we have been thrilled at being given the opportunity of doing so much in the mu­sic world just out of the love of music lovers all over Goa.

And this opportunity has been given to us by so many wonderful people of Goa, with people like Alu Gomes Pereira chipping in with so much encourage­ment and help, Hotel Nova Goa helping us out with accommodation despite being fully booked up, Sa­hara Airways discounting tickets to make things happen, good ole friends Joe Mathias and Dinar Tar­car always around to prop up any­thing that is good for Goa, Digicron help­ing with gener­ators they are so famous for, the generous, press for giv­ing the show top billing, Sameer Jag­tap of Fosters who has be­come part of the colourful jazz landscape and countless oth­ers in our won­derful jazz family whose thirst for good jazz makes all this happen.

I was especially touched by the gesture of Sunil Shrivastava, Managing Di­rector of Inter Gold who unilaterally offered to give two superb diamond stud­ded crosses to Tala and his wife as a farewell gift from the people of Goa de­spite the fact that the show did not take place.

And if you wonder why this whole article is just about thanking people, it is obvious that unless we have the attitude of grati­tude, nothing really en­dures.

While I as well as my wonderful friends in jazz that include Valerio, 'Cae­tano, Leslie, Gerson, Bossuet, George, Hari, Carlos, Floyd and others enjoy each and every mo­ment of jazz it is the sup­port from all of you that re­ally makes the jazz carni­val go forward. Let us bring out the bubbly for that.

 

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