Often an artist finds his inspiration from unexpected quarters and usually at the most unexpected times. For Portuguese musicians Nuno Caldeira and Catarina Duarte, it was while on a trip to South Asia early last year that the urge to express their feelings about the places and their experiences took over. Thus SENZA was born and their musical musings took shape in the form of their first album 'A Praia de Independencia'. The duo will be performing songs from this debut album at the ongoing Lusophone Music Festival at Goa State Central Library on February 22.
“ We have been performing together for quite a few years. But it was only on this trip where we travelled to China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand that we were inspired to create our original music,” discloses Caldeira. “ It was perhaps the feeling of being so far away from home as well as the sounds of music from different Lusophone countries that pushed us to write music.”
The duo decided on the name SENZA which is a percussion instrument known in English as the thumb piano. “This instrument is used a lot in the Portuguese speaking countries. We just adore the sound of it and have used in many songs in the album. Also, we liked the sound of the name 'senza',”says Caldeira. The duo state that their style of music is 'fusao lusofona' or Lusophone fusion as they have used a mixture of influences from Portuguese speaking countries like African rhythms, the Brazilian style of Bossa Nova etc. “The songs serve as a voice for the different places and tell of the lifestyles there, the common stereotypes associated with the place etc. For instance we have sung about the Halong Bay in Vietnam, of the bamboo train in Cambodia which was originally built by the French and narrated the story of a girl who works in pearl farms,” reveals Caldeira. “We have also spoken in a slightly satirical tone about the ambiance of the various guesthouses that we stayed at and the reverence attached to the American Dollar. We also sung about a beach in South Cambodia known as Independence Beach which we translated directly into Portuguese (Praia de Independencia) which finally became the name of the album as we found it apt to announce our initiation into the independent music scene.”
The duo had a few collaborators on this first project in the form of Quine Teles, percussion, Jeffery Davis, vibraphone, Alaxandre Scarpati, trombone, Pedro Almeida, piano, Eddy Goetz, piano, Pascoal Pires and Brian Tavares, horns and Filipe Ricardo on accordion. “ We met Alaxandre and Eddy while on our travels in Shanghai and Cambodia. Eddy is in fact the founder of the first jazz school in Portugal called the Hot Club,” says Duarte. As part of their India tour, the duo have travelled to Delhi and Rishkesh and will be going off the Mumbai after their Goa performance. And there's good news for Indians. The duo reveal that they already have a few ideas in mind based on their ongoing trip so far. “ In fact inspiration struck Catarina while we were in a rickshaw and right in the middle of busy traffic in New Delhi. So we quickly recorded the tune on the phone,” reveals Caldeira, adding that they often record ideas like this at unusual moments. “ It is better to record it at once, because in this way, you can capture the feeling of the moment,” he says.
But the duo intend on keeping their music travel based always? “ Yes, but in saying this one needs to understand that there are different forms of travelling. For example, most of us love reading a good book which is also a form of travelling. Hence there are many possibilities through which we can explore this genre,” says Caldeira. “At the same time, as long as our lifestyle permits we would love to travel and sing about the journeys.”
