BHARATI PAWASKAR
It’s a musical bonanza for Goans when something that never has happened in this state will be happening - a musical evening when seasoned DJ Joel Nunes and young talented saxophonist Jarryd Rodrigues will jam together on September 8 evening at Taverna in Panaji. Jarryd, 21, specialises in pure jazz and his repertoire consists mainly of jazz standards, which includes tracks from Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and so on. These standards include different styles ranging from Swing, Blues, Ballads, Bossa Novas to Funk, Bebop, Sambas and so on.
“It’s my tribute to this young saxophone artist from Goa, who comes from a family that has a long and rich musical background,” says Greg Furtado, partner, Taverna, speaking highly of Jarryd, “Coming from a family with a great musical background, Jarryd picked up the saxophone at the age of 13. Son of two musicians, Darryl and Sharon Rodrigues, his teacher and mentor is the legendary jazz saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, who is also his grandfather. His grandmother is the famous jazz singer Yvonne Gonsalves and his great-grandfather is the illustrious Anthony Vaz aka Chic Chocolate. Apart from playing saxophone, Jarryd also sings and plays the piano/keyboards. ”
“Jarryd will soon be proceeding to Mumbai in pursuit of higher goals in his career. So, I wanted this talented saxophonist to do something different and memorable as his offering to the music lovers in Goa. Thankfully, he agreed and here we are with a musical evening that will write a page in the history of Goan music scenario,” adds Greg.
Wanting to break this perception that saxophone goes well only when played with jazz, Greg has (ad)ventured into this fusion experiment where Joel will play music on a pioneer DJ system and Jarryd will be playing a saxophone. Audience would have a choice to suggest something which both of them would comply.
“It’s for the first time something wonderful like this is happening in Goa, though I should say, it’s only the beginning of a series of such magical moments with various performing musicians in the coming days at Taverna. I am dreaming to do more experiments and jamming of live performances in various musical instruments with the DJ. I am pretty sure that this will prove to be a grand success. The announcement on social media has received tremendous response and I am expecting a packed house at Taverna on Saturday evening,” shares an excited Greg.
On the other hand DJ Joel Nunes, 37, feels lucky to have completed 20 years in music this year. Having performed all over the world, and acquainted with the music trends he admits, “Yes, it’s happening for the first time in Goa that a DJ and a saxophonist will jam together. Such things have happened before with House music, but we will be experimenting with retro music. And the Taverna sets the best ambience for retro music.”
“It’s an interesting project and can really do well here in Goa. The concept of a saxophonist with a DJ isn’t really new and has proven to be successful in many places worldwide, so it definitely has the potential to do well here in Goa, too,” Jarryd believes.
