The Jazz for Peace show held in the streets near Gonsalves Mansion was an event that struck the heart, as an event of emotion, love, peace, togetherness and unity. Harri Stojka, considered to be the world's best Gypsy jazz guitarist, started the event with popular numbers from the Gypsy almanac, and then graduated into music that was composed by him and his teammates. Saskia Laroo stunned the crowd with her brand of Jazz funk, jazz-rock and rap jazz that got the crowd on its feet. She was simply amazing, full of life and joie de vivre. She started off the concert with the number "It's just jazz", and then went on to mesmerize the packed audience with music that surprised all who were present. The streets of Campal were adorned with decorative lights, and the area wore a festive look. Before the commencement of the show, a two-minutes silence was observed in the memory of those killed in Mumnbai. Both Saskia and Harri spoke at the occasion and expressed pain at what had happened but also made it a point to mention that they were here to unite people through music
The “Liberate your Jazz” show that was held on the 19th of December 2006. The show was part of the Heritage Jazz series and was extremely well received. With proceeds of around Rs. 1 lakh having been collected for the National Association for the Blind, Goa Chapter, the show had much more than just heritage and music to look up to. Everyone had an emotive issue what with Babush Santana, a completely blind musician (drummer, violinist, trumpeter, vocalist, etc.) belting out songs much to the delight of the 400 strong crowd at the venue. Interplay, comprising Sonia Saigal, Harmeet Manseta, Karl Peters and Adrian D’Souza proved why they are the most sought after jazz band in Goa. They were simply superb, as they are always. But the pick of the night was the delectable playing by the Amit Heri Group comprising of Amit Heri himself, legendary drummer Ranjit Barot, sitarist Ravi Chary and bassist Karl Peters. Their performance was spell bounding and the crowd went berserk with the quality of music that they came up with.
Heritage Jazz played host to World famous Brazilian instrumental music maestros, Accuri in
aid of Brasil Futebol Academia (BFA).
BFA teaches football to the youth, and has as an objective of teaching the basic principles
of football to all athletes lying in the age group from 8 years to 16 years. It also
helps them in the process of integration as citizens and transforming them into professionals
in the field of sports. Besides looking after the formation of future athletes, the BFA
also provides the students learning at BFA, a more dignified and healthy life. Football
stars, Beto and Jose Ramez Baretto are fans of BFA and have dedicated their time, money
and effort to the organization.
The 1st International Heritage Jazz Festival featured four major Jazz bands playing on a
purpose built stage at the Heritage Jazz Village. These included Tere Estrada and band
from Mexico, The Alex Stuart Quintet from Canada, K3 featuring Ranjit Sengupta and a
special jazz band performing all compositions of Anthony Gonsalves.
The evening of November 28, 2010 saw the International Heritage Jazz Awards Ceremony
during which Anthony Gonsalves and other forgotten music heroes of Goa were honored.
Anthony Gonsalves was awarded the Karmaveer Puraskar for Lifetime Achievement by the
Confederation of NGOs of India (iCONGO). This was the first time that iCONGO took the
award out of its home base New Delhi, keeping in mind the advanced age and frail health
of Anthony Gonsalves.
Diwali a festival of lights, celebrates the triumph of good over evil, this Hindu festival
which is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm and happiness was combined with the celebration
of “fusion for peace”
“Shanti” a fusion band, kept the audience enthralled by the breath taking performance
as they created a magnificent blend of music that reached straight to the hearts of the
audience. “Shanti” which means peace and a state of bliss, marked the release of their
debut album. Its a fusion band formed by the highly gifted goan musician “sitarist” Yograj
who leads the band
The high point of their performance was the rendition of the theme song of the Hollywood
movie “Mission Impossible” which sounded absolutely sublime on Indian instruments. The
band concluded in a style with the patriotic song “Vande Mataram”.
The other band that also gave a marvellous performance was Layatharanga. Layatharanga
is one of the most prominent and enthusiastic music groups of India . The team specializes
in "World Music" - a music form blending different styles from across the globe. Basing
the foundation on Carnatic classical music, Layatharanga has gone on to amalgamate other
music forms to produce a soothing and harmonious blend of music.