Led by Progressive jazz pianist, Alexandre Herer, the Nunataq jazz trio performed at Hideaway Café and Bar, Vagator, Goa.
The event was part of the Bonjour India Festival, an initiative by the Embassy of France and its cultural service Institut Français en Inde, the Alliance Française Network and the Consulates of France. The purpose was to provide easy access to French and Indian cultural arts. As part of the Bonjour India Festival, there are various initiatives undertaken through the medium of artistic, cultural, educational, and literary initiatives.
The jazz trio, who performed at Hideaway Café had Alexander Herer on the keyboard, Gael Petrina on the bass, and Pierre Mangeard on drums.
Speaking about the performance, partner and organizer of the Nunataq tour in India, Tanish Thakker said, “Goa was an ideal venue for Nunataq to perform. The contrast between the band’s cool and contemplative musical style and the city’s warm and upbeat tempo produced an atmosphere in which extremes like hot and cold, meditative stillness and vibrancy became intertwined and played with each other.”
“The cosmopolitan atmosphere of the place and the audience added to the performance. The place is home of thousands from every part of the world. The concert served to bring many together, especially after the pandemic,” he added.
For ten years, Alexander Herer has experimented with his favourite instrument – the Fender Rhodes. And now, has made his way to India with the 'Nunataq'.
What makes the 'Nunataq' stand out is their subtle tension between motricity and ambient-like contemplative stillness.
They brought in open, airy and cold -- partly inspired by the vast iced stretches of Greenland jazz -- to the Goan audience.