India’s newest jazz band, Naad Brahma, with a mix of some of the most experienced and freshest talent, became the first Indian jazz band to perform at the ongoing (June 25-July 6) Festival International De Jazz De Montreal (also known as the Montreal Jazz Festival) in Canada.
The band with Louis Banks on the piano, Joe Alvares as the lead vocalist, Gino Banks on the drums, German player Tony Lakatos on the saxophone,Sheldon D Silva on bass, Sameera Koppikar on Indian vocals and Bala Bhaskaran on Carnatic violin, created songs with several Indian elements.
Spring and Get the Word out are two of the headlining original compilations which brought forth their individual style. “The songs are basically fast-paced, with enough space for creative flight to showcase our instrumentalists,” says Joe Alvares. Their performance started with Brahmashruti sung by Sameera after which followed a bhajan style song which then went into jazz standards, interspersed with Indian elements. It also had Carnatic music in bits and parts.
Others international artists who performed on the same stage include Herbie Hancock, Lionel Richie and Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer, George Benson, Smokey Robinson. The festival saw over 2,500 million tourists attend, around 3,000 musicians perform and a total of 300 concerts at 50 venues.
Band member Joe Alvares is feeling quite proud to have performed at the festival. He says, “The sheer scale of this jazz festival is overwhelming. It was the first time that an Indian band was invited to the festival. As Indians, it felt great to be invited to play American music in front of the Americans.” He adds, “Also, it is an informed audience and the festival sees the highest cerebral and popular music being played. It has been our childhood dream to perform at this festival and finally after years of struggle it has become a reality.”
Alvares believes that their presence at the festival should inspire many younger musicians. “I’m sure that the doors will now open up and aspiring young jazz artistes will be able to perform at the festival soon,” he says.
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