Jazz Utsav 2008

It was the year 1978 when the first Jazz Yatra saw the light of day. For the first time in Indian history, an international Jazz festival was to be staged in Rang Bhavan, Mumbai with world class artistes performing over a period of a week. What more, it was proposed to be held every 2 years so that Indians could get the opportunity to experience the greatest Jazz musicians of all times right in their own backyard! “Too good to be true” was the instant reaction of this young Rock singer who had just embarked on a career of music in a land where such a move would have been frowned upon. Within a few days I was exposed to the likes of Sonny Rollins, Joe Williams & Clark Terry, the legends of American Jazz. Sadao Watanabe, the Japanese Saxophone maestro, was present too and the last day saw the first show of the All Star Jazz Yatra ’78 Big Band which included some Indian musicians along with the American & European greats. This festival also gave us music aficionados the opportunity to hear a world class sound system as the German giants, Dynacord, were sponsoring the event. They had brought with them their best system along with their star engineers. This ensured that the sound was the best that we had ever heard.

It’s great to know that the festival continues 30 years later, although in the guise of another name and in another venue. Jazz Utsav 2008 will be staged on 28^th to 30^th November 20, 2008 at the Bandra Amphitheatre, Mumbai and we shall have the opportunity to hear 10 bands from all over the world. You can be certain that that you will find me there!

Stage Fright

I recently came across an article written by the American Public Speaking guru Sandra Zimmer where she describes a technique to get rid of stage fright. “It's all in how you look at the audience -- literally how you look at them. If you tense up to protect yourself from attack, you unconsciously invite them to attack you. You are looking at them as dangerous, and they will sense that. But if you look at them through the eyes of love and acceptance, they will sense that and give supportive attention back to you. You literally create a supportive audience by being there to support them.”

She recommends the use of soft eyes. That is, look softly at your audience members. The similarity to the technique I teach of the use of the soft spoken voice is uncanny! The importance of your body language and voice tone to be in sync with each other is crucial for effective communication and it will help you achieve an all round winning advantage in your professional life.