The International Jazz Day will be celebrated on April 30. It will be celebrated in more than 190 countries with Abu Dhabi selected as the Global host city. In Goa, as in every year, jazz musicians will play and jazz aficionados will listen to their favourite genre of music. This will happen this year at the Jardim Garcia de Orta in Panjim from 6 pm. It will be a free show for everyone with 40 musicians performing.
This year will be the 14th edition featuring a wide range of artistes. From twelve year old Nigel Rebello to 78-year-old jazz veteran Allan Moraes, the concert will present jazz in all its glorious forms from the swinging 60’s right up to today’s electrifying funk and fusion. Jazz Goa led by Colin D’Cruz will feature some of Goa’s iconic singers like Hema Sardesai, Sonia Shirsat, Seby Fernandes and Zezinho Fernandes at the concert. UK’s Westend star Jan Graveson along with celebrated artistes like Vivienne Pocha and Merlin D’Souza are among many more outstation artistes lined-up to perform.
The number of performers is quite large and so it means musicians will be allowed to perform just one number. Seby, a veteran musician said he would be performing an original jazz number in Konkani which was very popular. He said, “I would have loved to play more but the number of performers is such that I will not be able to sing more.”
David Lal, a singer who is travelling to Goa for this show said he will be singing ‘Blue Skies’. David loves singing jazz though he sings various other genres. He said, “I love the freedom jazz allows me, I can improvise with notes and beats. I performed last year so I know the audience's tastes. My son, Pratiek, will also be performing so that will be a good evening.”
George Hull, who plays the saxophone will be playing with a Goan band. He will be playing tunes like ‘Fever’, ‘Breezin’, ‘Blues skies’ etc. He has a collective in Hyderabad with 8 musicians and loves playing jazz. He has been playing music for 20 years and says playing in Goa is always a pleasure because the audience is so appreciative.
Salim John Sadiq, a guitarist from Siliguiri, who has performed before in Goa will be playing yet again. He will, however, not be playing jazz but the blues. He will be playing a BB King number called ‘Sweet Little Angel’, a slow blues number which he feels will give an entirely different vibe to the evening. He said, “Colin gives us the freedom to play our stuff. There is a great deal of openness and honesty.” Salim comes here after winning the title of
‘The Best Blues Band’ at the Mahindra Blues Festival recently.
Another performer at the show will be Sonia Shirsat. She will not be singing jazz or the fado but a Ballan and a Morna. Ballan is from Carpo de Verde and she will be singing a song called ‘Coimbra’ and a song called ‘Morna’. This will be the second time she will be performing, having once performed at the Konkani Jazz Day.
The genre of music may be niche but it certainly has its passionate followers. And the numbers are consistently increasing as the years go by.