Latin-American Jazz enthralls enthusiasts

There's a sense of magic and opulence in witnessing the soulful melodies of a jazz artist in a live setting. Passionate singing, beguiling melodies and extravagant musicianship are the hallmarks of a good jazz artist, and Mexico-born singer Magos Herrera exhibited all these traits when she took to the stage here in the national Capital on Sunday night.

Affectionately dubbed as the Cassandra Wilson of Latin America by the Jazz Times, the Grammy nominee singer had graced the newly open live space of QLA - a modern European-style eatery -  with her charismatic demeanour and delivered an enrapturing performance that lasted over two hours.

Herrera mesmerised the audience with her wide vocal range, hitting high, mid and low notes with a magical equipoise. 

Known for her distinct scat singing style, she used her voice as an instrument and intertwined her melodious vocal strains with the guitars, bass and drum patterns. 

Talking about her love for Indian music, she also remarked that she would one day “love to collaborate” with Indian classical musicians. “I love India. It is a very beautiful and ancient culture,” added Herrera when asked about her decision to become a faculty member of the academy. The jazz quartet is in India as part of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music's summer faculty. 

Teaming up with percussionist Alex Kautz, guitarist Fabio <g data-gr-id="36">Gouvea</g> and bassist Felipe <g data-gr-id="37">Brisola</g>, Herrera enthralled Delhi's jazz aficionados with her brand of Latin American jazz.  Their performance was divided in two sets - the first focused on acoustic-driven melodies and featured tracks such as Reencuentro, Eu vim da <g data-gr-id="47">bahia</g> (Gilberto Gil) and Tempestade. 

Utilising off-time rhythmic progressions and subtle time signature changes, which are the hallmark elements of jazz music, the trio delivered a sublime instrumental performance that left the audience asking for more. 

The second set saw Herrera back in action as she delivered an entrancing performance with the band and performed tracks such as O <g data-gr-id="41">silencio</g> de <g data-gr-id="42">iara</g> (<g data-gr-id="43">Guinga</g>), Tres palabras and Retrato em <g data-gr-id="44">branco</g> e <g data-gr-id="45">preto</g> to bring an epic closure to the night. 

With over two decades of experience in the music industry, Herrera has released eight full-length albums till date and has performed across the world in countries like China, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, The Netherlands, Malaysia and Singapore.