Enjoying listening to the old world’s jazz

Wearing elegant clothes in Blue-Gree, Alto Saxophoneist Fame Moran, Netherlands, recently made an attractive rendering of ‘Wabash’ of Jazz Great Cannonball Edderle in Mumbai leg of the World Jazz Festival. He followed this with his upcoming original release ‘Nelli’ in a doubles with Trumpeter Charlie Philips. Jeevant Venezuela’s pianischoist Francisco Rodriguez, Spanish bass player Eva Serao Alaracon and Dutch drummer Rafael Slors, two women filled the auditorium of St. Andrew in Mumbai with Melody Wafts.

In the next three hours, the audience was taken from different parts of the world for sounds, as 17 artists performed in different sequences and combinations. Curate and Dutch tanner presented by Saxophoneist and bandleader Alexander Beats, the evening mixed with modern sounds to the old school jazz, adding to the mixture with a liberal dose of Indian fusion. The flow of sounds, assigning musicians and sequencing of tunes play an important role in such a multi-artistical concert, and the beats handled these details with the announcement.

It was the fifth edition of the World Jazz Festival in India, and covered Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Dehradun besides Mumbai.

Launched in 2020, its imagination and manufactured by the Banian Tree, in collaboration with the Emersfort Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. On this tour, the Netherlands, Brazil, Venezuela, Italy, Spain, Suriname, were represented from South Africa, Australia and Thailand.

In Mumbai, an attraction was Brazil-Bred, Amsterdam-Saxophoneist Lucas Santana, who dazzled his original ‘hassle manufacturer’. South African Trumpter Darren English interpreted Winston Mankuku Nogzi’s distinction to the anti -apartheid activist Desmond Tutu. This was followed by a crossover interaction, where composers of Banyan tree Sheeshya played with Jazz artists. Vocalist Swar Sharma, Sariye player Sandeep Mishra, floral Hrishikesh Mazumdar and tabla player Rohit Dev later returned to the last track of the evening, an Indo-Jaws version of Duke Eilington’s’ It Doing Meen A Thing (if not found). Both tunes had good personal parts, pianoist Rodriguez enjoyed itself, although one felt that a little more group preparation was necessary.

After the interval, the audience was taken to the 1930s and 1940s, as Suriname singer Grazhila Huntsel Rivaro rendered Ellington’s ‘Drop Me of Harlem’. The selection of his standards included Billy Holiday-Rolide-Popular ‘What a Little Moonlight Can Do’ and ‘Crazy Woh Calls Me’, Alington’s ‘Mood Indigo’ and ‘In a Madhur Tone’ and Dina Washington’s ‘Mad of the Boy’. With the round midnight orchestra, she interacted attractive with the crowd, walking under the streets and taking people along.

From classics, the set Thai Saxophoneist Pang moved to Saxpacgirl, who played the two original ‘Stepin Up’ and ‘Dream Town’. His performance was filled with energy and smart implementation, and one wished that he played a few more tunes. Similarly, it would have been great to hear Sachsophoneist Adam Simmons and Rolf Peter Delphos as lead artists, although they played in group settings.

A point worth noting was the presence of six saxophoneists and two trumpets. These days, one usually sees the more major use of the keyboard and guitar, but this time was welcomed for the frequent use of raw horn and grand piano and double bass. Much was just, it was Jazz because the old fans have known it.

Brazil-Bred, Amsterdam-Settled Saxophoneist Lucas Santana was the main attraction in the Mumbai leg. Photo Credit: CEES Wouda

Saxophoneist Lucas Santana says, ‘My roots will always be Brazilian’

Raised in Brazil and settled in Amsterdam, Saxophoneist Lucas Santana first came to India as part of the World Jazz Festival two years ago. “It was great to meet Indians, showing them a bit of Brazilian culture, and learning a little about Indian lifestyle and music,” Santana says, planning to cooperate with an Indian musician.

Born at Sau Paulo, Brazil, Santana grew up in rural areas, where his father took a music teaching project. He initially learned the clarinet, but when he took him to Saxophone at the age of 11, he was going from classical music to Jazz. “I was watching the film, and I saw that this man was playing a saxophone. I wanted to be like him. Apart from the classical orchestra, my early influence was Beni Goodman and Glen Miller, but gradually I got ready for John Coltron and Charlie Parker,” he remembers.

After receiving the scholarship from Sao Paulo’s music school and later the Latin Grammy Foundation in the Netherlands, Santana moved to Amsterdam. “This is a city where all people and cultures come together. This helps me learn more about other types of music, although my roots will always be from Brazil,” they say.

Santana has released three albums – Reflection, ambition And Bosqujos do brasilHe explains the latest release, “Bosqujos means sketch. I have worked with a string quarter called adam, and it gives my music a new dimension. Hopefully, I will be able to come with many more concepts like this,” he said.