It was jazz, yet so melodious

The heading may seem to be a contradiction, but that’s what it really was. It was supposed to be a visiting jazz trio from Austria, yet the music they presented was so very melodious. It was really music. It did not have any of those discordant, noisy and frantic crescendos which mark modern-day jazz.

They performed on Friday evening at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa). This was the Kusimanten Trio from Austria comprising three young, talented women. They were vocalist Tamara Lukasheva, cellist deeLinde and violinist Marie-Theres Hartel.

Lukasheva’s voice, when viewed in terms of classical music, could be termed a mezzo-soprano. What made her performance even more captivating was her yodelling. Her opening number was Jodler, a number that sounded so much like the alluring folk music of Bavaria or Austria. It contained yodelling interludes. This was a melody from Austria.

Lukesheva seemed to be so well in control of her cadences while yodelling. Her numbers were also marked by a melodica interlude, melodica being an instrument that, in layman’s terms, could be described as a cross between a piano accordion and a flute. It is a small handheld musical instrument with a keyboard and the musician blows into it just as blowing into a flute. It was she who played the instrument. It really magnified the vivacity of the performance. All along, she had the most deft accompaniment of the cello and the violin.

Their next number was a Ukranian one, Marisija. It was lively and vivacious --- and melodious, to say the least. Another song they performed was, “Love song to a tomatoe”. This was a pun on the tomatoes in the vegetable garden of violinist Marie-Theres Hartel.

However, being Napa, fusion music was a must. Here Ustad Raees Khan on the Sitar and Waqas Gulab on the Tabla performed a subcontinental classical piece, lilting soft, and melodious.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the performance was the rendition of the Sindhi Dama Dam Mast Qalandar, a litany of Sindhi Sufi mystic Lal Shabaz Qalandar. Lukasheva had really mastered the diction so well. She sang the whole litany without any flaw or fumbling. She was most adeptly accompanied by cellist deeLinde, violinist Marie-Theresa Hartel, Ustad Raees Khan on the Sitar, and Waqas Gulab on the Tabla.

What was highly winsome was Lukesheva’s perky vivacity reflected in her speech. The programme was sponsored by the Austrian embassy. Addressing the audience, Brigitta Blaha, the Austrian ambassador, said, “Austria is the country of music and music is the universal language that transcends all geographical and cultural barriers.”