Amdavadis, known for their taste for music, had a real feast on Sunday as a host of internationally renowned jazz virtuosos rocked the music lovers in the city with a perfect blend of rock and hip hop. The Saskia Laroo Band performed at NID riverside as a part of the Netherlands Business Support Office’s initiative to promote jazz in India.
After astounding audience in Kolkotta, Mumbai and Bangalore, the band made the event one of the biggest concerts in Ahmedabad. The members of the band include Saskia Laroo on trumpet, Warren Byrd on keyboards, Egemen Maden on bass, Kagan Han on drums, and Iven Naipal on rap vocals.
Even a glance at the combination of the band is enough to excite a music lover. All the artistes have some peculiarity pertaining to the Rock African American music. This, clubbed with their exposure to stage performance globally, left the listeners in the city enthused and enlivened.
Saskia Laroo combines today’s music by unconstrained details into new styles, eagerly termed as ‘nu jazz’ or ‘swingin’ body-music’- a vivacious blend of hip-hop, jazz, salsa, and funk reggae that many other artistes dare not venture. “I was infected with the music virus from an early age and I enjoy nothing more than making miles on trumpet,” said Laroo.
Saskia Laroo, who leads the band, has been playing the trumpet ever since she was eight and has been performing professionally since the age of eighteen, when she had performed with avant-garde jazz orchestra De Boventoon, saxophonist band of Hans Dulfer and Rosa King Band of Candy Dulfer. She graduated from Music School at the age of 25 and started her own record label, Laroo Records, in 1994, which has four releases so far. Two are pure jazz and three are hip groove cross over albums. Her first album, ‘It’s Like Jazz’, was a huge hit and was released in more than fifteen countries. Saskia has been performing worldwide since then with her own formations or as a special guest.
The event was organised by the Netherlands Business Support Office. “As a composer, the band is not restricted to one particular style, and has managed to create a language of their own. Laroo’s writing is creative, yet not without feel and respect for the tradition,” said Gauri Wagenar, chief representative Netherlands Business Support Office.
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