Jazz artistes from around the world to come together in Mumbai

Alfie Copovi

What do a pianist-keyboard player from Spain, a bassist from Italy, a drummer from Japan and a vocalist from Germany have in common? Their love for Jazz, and their musical journeys that brought them to Mumbai. Listen to Alfie Copovi on the keyboard, Gianluca Liberatore on bass, Ko Omura on drums and vocalist Lydia Hendrikje Hornung perform as the Alfie Copovi Quartet for the first time tonight, as they string together their Jazz stories.

Lydia Hendrikje Hornung

"We will be performing original compositions by Alfie and arrangements of Standards. There will also be a few improvisations. Single Ladies by Beyoncé is on the cards too," shares Liberatore, who studied at the Amsterdam conservatory with Copovi. He now heads the bass department at the True School of Music (TSM) in Mumbai, while Copovi helms the keyboard department.

Gianluca Liberatore

Liberatore has performed in Italy, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland before he arrived in India two years ago. "I wanted to give myself a new challenge by moving to another country. It is nice to see the growing music scene in Mumbai," says Liberatore, adding, "While Mumbai and Goa had many wonderful Jazz musicians in the 1950s and '60s, somewhere down the years, the scene lost its vibrancy. But now festivals work hard to expose people to the genre along with clubs dedicating entire evenings to it."

Ko Omura

While the bass player and teacher is familiar with Hornung's style of music - she heads the Western Vocals department - he is excited about how their new collaboration with Omura will play out. The 35-year-old drummer from Tokyo has been visiting India regularly since 2013 to learn the tabla from Pandit Yogesh Samsi. "I watched videos of Ustad Allarakha Khan and Ustad Zakir Hussain, and was mesmerised. I wanted to learn to play the tabla in India," shares Omura, who met Copovi at a recent Jazz performance in the city.