JOIN USLaJazzO’, the youth orchestra from Baden-Württemberg in Germany, won the hearts of many with their enthralling performances at Christ University and ITC Gardenia recently. The 26-member young jazz group also spent some time with Western music connoisseurs at the Bangalore School of Music as part of their tour.
LaJazzO’s collection is stylistically versatile and comprises contemporary and traditional pieces.
The orchestra is characterised by precise movements, outstanding soloists and an avant-garde vocal group. The musical group is one of the most acclaimed and appreciated modern orchestras in Germany, with more than 300 musicians performing at various concerts around the world.
These musicians, all under the age of 25, have been a springboard for many people back home to develop their own musical profile.
With Prof Rainer Tempel training and leading the orchestra, the audience could enjoy the best techniques. Each musician took up solos between the performances. During the 90-minute performance, one hour was dedicate to the jazz musicians, which was then followed by a singer who also shared the stage with the others. Some of the popular music included ballets, Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t You Worry’ and Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’.
“It was wonderful to perform for the Bengaluru crowd,” said Rainer. “We’re glad everyone enjoyed the show and we hope to spread the love throughout the tour.”
He also spoke about how the number of women in the jazz community are very less and he hopes that with this tour, he would be able to bring about more awareness to this genre.
He adds, “We have a couple of women in the team right now, and back in Germany, there are specific teams just for women, but the number is still very less. We hope that we can bring about a little bit of change with the tour and more women will want to join the community as well.”
During their meet with Bangalore School of Music, they exchanged thoughts and ideas about the music enjoyed by both the groups. Rainer explains, “One of the other things we’re looking forward in this tour are the workshops at different cities. The Bangalore School of Music was a great experience as we not only play some jazz with the students but we also learnt a bit of Indian music. We hope to incorporate that with some of our musical numbers.”
Along with their South-India tour, they will also be performing in Chennai, Coimbatore and Trivandrum in the coming days.