Why Konkani music really swings

SUNDAY SPECIAL -- Why Konkani music really swings
(Joseph Zuzarte)


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> KONKANI MUSIC: OF JAZZ, LATIN-JAZZ AND BIG BAND INFLUENCES
>
> Or, why Konkani music really swings
>
> By Joseph Zuzarte
>
> If you thought Portuguese culture lives on only in street names, churches
> and the Portuguese-speaking patriots, you have a surprise in store which
> will blast your ears from the most unexpected corners. Portuguese culture
in
> Goa flourishes in one of the most unlikely of media: Konkani music. It is
> probably one of those unconscious things, not really subliminal, but not
> quite overt either. The how is easy to pinpoint.
>
> We might think of it as Konkani music, but when a foreign tourist hears it
> whilst living deep in the groves of a Goan village, the Konkani music
coming
> from a neighbour's radio-stereo, what he hears are unmistakable Portuguese
> melodies and instrumentation. It's the same type of music he would hear in
> the villages of Portugal or Spain, the Azores or in Central America. The
> tongue being alien, nobody knows any better.
>
> I must firstly make a confession. As a music critic for many years in
> Mumbai, I never cared to listen much to Konkani music. I never went for
any
> tiatr and my interaction with other Goans was at the bare minimum.
>
> To be sure, I have enjoyed the occasional Goan Konkani song in Mumbai and
> the obligatory mando album. Back in Goa, one of my neighbours is the local
> sound system guy. Consequently most days, in the morning, afternoon and
> night, the man subjects (or entertains) his fellow villagers with the
latest
> in Konkani music and tiatr recordings. Over the last two years I have
> practically heard the entire repertory of Konkani music.
>
> It has been a revelation. I won't be the first person to say that the
music
> of Chris Perry and Lorna is sheer genius and incomparable. Lorna's best
song
> is probably 'Piso Mog', in which her voice cascades and soars, expressing
> all the myriad emotions that the words of the song evoke, while Chris
> Perry's trumpet transports you into, well, heaven. It's extraordinary jazz
> music, most of their songs, with the dramatic pathos and flourishes and
> crescendos so typical of Latin and Portuguese music. It's little wonder
that
> today people are beginning to talk about 'Konkani jazz'.
>
> Chris Perry and Lorna also had a tempestuous love affair. Knowing a bit of
> their story as I do, their songs -- Lorna mostly singing about love --
seem
> to be an extraordinary work of art. It's like Lorna sang from the very
> depths of her soul of her love for him and he was equally inspired to
> produce the masterpieces he did.
>
> But like all great love stories, their love was not meant to be, because
> Chris finally moved back with his wife and family, leaving Lorna
> heartbroken. Only Lorna could sing 'Dusreak Ghat Kori Naka'. Lorna was
> shattered and did not sing for well over 20 years, becoming an alcoholic.
>
> That she made a triumphant return to Konkani singing is another story. I
had
> met her at her home in Mumbai around this time, and asked her if she had
> been to Portugal when she sang 'Lisboa'. She smiled sheepishly, saying
'No'.
>
> It has to be said that art imitates life and life imitates art in Konkani
> music in Goa. In the case of Chris and Lorna, it was like their music
> presaged the course their love was to follow.
>
> But there is much more to Konkani music than the genius of Chris Perry and
> Lorna. The ouvre of Alfred Rose is equally amazing, and if there is one
> Konkani singer who breathes the Goan life in his music, it's Alfred Rose.
>
> With an amazing number of songs, along with his wife Rita, Alfred has sung
> about all things Goan and some things Goan which have been almost
forgotten.
> Like 'Kalchi Kodi', that ode to yesterday's curry (the refrigerated
version
> is not quite the same thing!) which has probably inspired the Costa's to
> come out with a canned 'Kalchi Kodi'.
>
> Most of his songs would fall in the genre of folk songs, as do most Goan
> Konkani songs, though he was equally adept at lifting and using Western
pop
> hits, Hindi film hits and even rock'n'roll, all done with what can only be
> described as his typical Goan flourish (though he mostly stayed in Mahim,
> Mumbai).
>
> The love story of Alfred and Rita Rose is also well known, but this one
was
> quite a happy one and their joy can be heard in their music. Along with
> their two songs, their songs dealt with all the regular Goan family
> dilemmas. Again a case of life imitating art and vice-versa.
>
> Listening to the Konkani music of all these years, one can also easily
> observe the evolution of modern music, as musical instruments went from
> being acoustic to electric to electronic to computer-based, as also
> recording techniques and the recording format itself, from scratchy 78
rpms
> to the 45 rpms to tape to compat disc.
>
> The local AIR station has a fantastic collection of Konkani songs, going
by
> the songs aired on the various Konkani programmes. Particularly
interesting
> are the old recordings, which will not be available anywhere else. The
> international or Western influence, specially that of the Portuguese, is
all
> there to be heard.
>
> Most of the pre-Liberation songs are all heavily influenced by the great
> jazz, Latin-jazz and big band era. Konkani music really swings. Some songs
> are truly Wagnerian, while some are modelled on operettas with soaring
arias
> and the like. There are some amazing songs with the old classic piano and
> double bass combo, jazz blues in the style of Ella Fitzgerald.
>
> Today's Konkani songs deal with contemporary themes and almost all
> feature'sequencing' and computerised instrumentation. There are many songs
> about the 'ghati' problem, while the touristy songs about 'golden Goa'
also
> seem to surface every now and then. A recurring theme is the one about
wives
> being left behind by shippie husbands or gulfies, and the wife's thus
> committing adultery. There are new singers like Roseferns, Junior Rod and
> many others.
>
> The one constant in Konkani music over the years is the 'folk' element,
the
> story-telling in the songs: stories about the Goan life, about real Goan
> events and places (rather than abstract, imaginary songs; a striking
> exception are the James Bond-style songs from 'Buyarantlo Munis'). That is
> probably because the music has a very strong, symbiotic relation with the
> Konkani-speaking folk. In fact, I'm still trying to figure out whether
it's
> really art imitating life or life imitating art!
>
> ##
>
> The writer is a Goan journalist, who spent a long stint at the media
capital
> of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and is now back in his home state. Joseph
> Zuzarte can be contacted at