A Jazz evening to remember

Last weekend was a wonderful one for jazz and I am pleasantly surprised at the tremendous response that is there for live music in Goa. I guess Goans always wanted to have informal settings for their music which probably comes down from the times when Goan houses had their own per­sonal band stands.

So, when PatricIa and Caetano Filipe Colaco decided to host the warm evening with African trombone player Dennis Rollins, it was nice to see the jazz family grow a few notches more. Families from the wonderful La Mar­vel Colony and friends from as far off as South Goa were there to ensure that quality jazz had an appreciative audi­ence.

Dennis, who is on holiday, could not possibly have known that he would have encountered musicians of high calibre in Goa and that is why I salute him simply because he wanted to share his musical talent with the people of Goa. And this is something that is happening with regularity now. It is a different thing that we are aware of our musical abilities. Altogether another when we expect musicians from all parts of the world to have confidence of that. But thankfully, it is happening.

The evening started off with a steady flow of Go an musicians who came along to be in a position to participate in an evening that was special. Carlos Monteiro, Carlos Gonsalves, Lester Rosario, Dennis Coelho, Anthony Fernandes were all there to support a surprised Dennis, all of whom dished out music that the audience lapped with eagerness. Not having his own band with him, Dennis fitted in so admirably with the jazz ensemble that was pro­vided to him, and the manner in which he got the crowd to participate actively in the music was something that I had not previously seen in a jazz concert. And this is great for jazz here since crowd participation is everything to a concert and with that, growth is assured.

The small evening also brought in Fr Savio who is an accomplished musician himself. Another music great, the most wonderful violin teacher Myra Shroff, the pianist singer of the highest calibre Mercedes Lobo besides our Goan mae­stro whom I have so much respect for, Schubert Cotta. Young Elaine D'Souza who lends colour to all our jazz shows was also there to sing her own brand of jazz which she does so well. And most importantly, .a host of under-12 year olds who were there along with their parents to get a chance to listen to music of the highest calibre. These shows en­courage youngsters and fire them to achieve, and if the turnout of children for this show was any indication, there is an eagerness right at the grassroots.

So, when we talk of music revival, we are actually talking of music unity that is certainly happening. After all, music is of the soul and support across genres is important.

 

 

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