The spirit of jazz

Who says music can’t be for a good cause?

Recently, a concert called ‘Musicians for Carlton — A Charity Event’ was conducted at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. A host of the finest musicians in the City came
together to present a hard-to-forget show — the proceeds for which were forwarded to ailing jazz legend, Carlton Kitto, who is currently struggling for funds for a complicated back surgery.

A line-up of some fantastic pieces were put together and despite the serious nature of the event, the audience managed to have a great time.

People of all ages trooped into the auditorium minutes before the show — thanks to the diversity of the line-up for the evening, the music appealed to practically every niche listener.

The evening got off to the perfect start with ‘Wishbone Factory’, a choir ensemble which kept its pieces light and yet, at times, soulful.

Keeping with the spirit of the evening, most of the pieces were jazz — they began with a light-hearted rendition of ‘In the Mood’, accompanied with plenty of finger-snapping and clapping, which kept the audience in high spirits.

This was followed by the more soulful ‘Starry Starry Night’ — an ode to Vincent Van Gogh with heartbreaking lyrics and a melancholy air, which they executed to perfection.
Next, they performed ‘Left My Heart in San Francisco’, a romantic number with a
beautiful piano accompaniment and finished off their stint on the stage with the chirpy ‘Mack the Knife’.

After this, the duo of Jude Lazaro and Robin Colaco took the stage. As musicians, they enjoy taking complicated pieces of music and breaking them down to the basics — with Jude on vocals and Robin playing the guitar. They began with ‘Quando Quando Quando’, a soulful number with poignant lyrics.

Despite the somewhat skeletal feel of the piece, they managed to give the music a certain richness, which the audience obviously enjoyed.

This was followed by a well-known number — ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’ — which the audience clapped along to. They also performed George Michael’s ‘Till the End of Time’.
Tarushka, who had come to watch the show, admitted to having quite a nice time —
despite not being much of a jazz enthusiast.

“It’s been really good so far. I’d say I’m a moderate jazz fan — but I still really enjoy this. With all the dancing and singing, it’s quite engaging.

A friend encouraged me to come for this and I’m glad I did,” she said.
The evening’s line-up included artistes like Stanley Pinto, Wilbur Colaco, Aman Mahajan, Madhuri Jagadeesh and Imraan Jamal as well.