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  The Heritage Jazz Yatra has been an emotional journey for all of
us with jazz close to their hearts and when we did not have an edition for more
than a year, there was a quiet discontent brewing among the die hards.
So, did we have a choice? Absolutely not! And that was the birth of the
“Liberate your Jazz” show that was held on the 19th of December 2006. The show
was part of the Heritage Jazz series and was extremely well received.
I was pleasantly surprised at the way people reacted to having the shows back at
Gonsalves Mansion which is generally considered the home of jazz in Goa. With
proceeds of around Rs. 1 lakh having been collected for the National Association
for the Blind, Goa Chapter, the show had much more than just heritage and music
to look up to. We had an emotive issue what with Babush Santana, a completely
blind musician (drummer, violinist, trumpeter, vocalist, etc.) belting out songs
much to the delight of the 400 strong crowd at the venue.
Interplay, comprising Sonia Saigal, Harmeet Manseta, Karl Peters and Adrian
D’Souza proved why they are the most sought after jazz band in Goa. They were
simply superb, as they are always.
But the pick of the night was the delectable playing by the Amit Heri Group
comprising of Amit Heri himself, legendary drummer Ranjit Barot, sitarist Ravi
Chary and bassist Karl Peters. Their performance was spell bounding and the
crowd went berserk with the quality of music that they came up with.
All in all, a time to say thanks to everyone who made 2006 a grand year for
jazz. Friends like Ashok Bajaj, Joe Gomes, Ccaetano Filipe Colaco and scores of
others who just did anything they could to take this music tradition forward.
After all, Goa is all about music and it is a happy moment that music and the
heritage of Goa are moving on great guns.
You can visit www.heritagejazz.com to check out on what we do.
Armando Gonsalves
Heritage Jazz Street,
Campal, Panjim,
Goa 403001
Interplay photo courtesy of Interplay. Read the related article: Inspired by a blind musician
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