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Photo: Shaju John

Outstanding Saskia Laroo in action

From the time Saskia took the stage at New Delhi’s Satya Sai International Centre this past week, along with her band members, she was brimming with energy. With Warren Byrd on keyboards, Daniel Gueli on the bass guitar, Roald Becher on the drums and Nana Barimah with rap vocals, Saskia single-handedly (literally!), displayed so much ease, a touch of genius, such dexterity and style, playing the notes of every composition. The 48-year-old’s high spirits soon caught up with the band members, who contributed superbly to the success of the early evening concert, organised to mark the European Union Cultural Week 2007.

Like she had done for her Chennai concert this past February, Saskia composed a song for the Delhi audience too. On a perfect showgirl note, she shouted into the microphone, shaking her flowing hair, “Is there anyone who came to my concert at Jazz Utsav in Delhi two years ago?” To this, a few hands were raised. Then she asked, “Who all love jazz?” A lot more hands went up, silently charging up the audience. She asked finally, “Who doesn’t like jazz?” No hands went up. And that allowed her to take over the evening.

Besides some of her own compositions, Saskia also played a few Miles Davis pieces, including “The Theme”. The evening chill was forgotten as the audience sometimes sang along, sometimes clapped to the rhythms of Saskia’s “Sing, sing a song”, “Jazz party”, “Funky roads” and “Spin”. To add to the excitement, Saskia stepped down from the stage a couple of times, trumpeting through the aisles. She also played an interesting free jazz composition.

Saskia, who has been playing the trumpet since she was eight, took to professional trumpeting after she turned 18, setting aside her degree in mathematics from the University of Amsterdam. Her style is that of ‘nu jazz’ or swinging body-music which is a lively mix of hip-hop, jazz, salsa, funk reggae, and world music.

Saskia’s accompanist, Warren Byrd, apart from being outstanding on the keyboards, has a great voice too. He presented a solo jazz vocal, “I feel so sad and lonely” with his solid yet so melodic voice, much to the approval of the packed auditorium. On Saskia asking him where he learnt his music, he said, “I learnt from four different guys and don’t quite remember their names,” to which the audience roared in laughter.

Daniel Gueli too strummed his guitar strings with the precision of a master, while a petite Roald Becher did his magic with the drumsticks. But the one who stole hearts silently was Nana Barimah. You need to see him on stage to believe that human beings are capable of making such strange sounds with the mouth and be in beat. Nana also superbly played a long wind instrument seemingly from the oboe family.

After rocking the audience for over two hours, the group wound up the show with “Big blues”, on the audience’s request.

This ensemble, formed in 1994 with the name Laroo Colour, is now known worldwide as Saskia Laroo and Group. Criss-crossing the globe for concerts, the band, after playing in Pune, Chennai and Goa, is off to New Zealand.

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