Hi Helga, Thanks for your polite response and for clarifying the culture /music scene in Goa. You are right that we wrongly compare and get defensive. We need to compare and look for any learning lessons / opportunities to improve.
In my post I was not talking about jazz in Goa and not even Jazz in Bombay. I am an authority on neither. My taste (and I know little about it) is just good-old dance music. I was not talking about the music /art greats in Bombay, Goa or NY. I was talking about how to get there (to the top). And what can the Goan community do to help our youth to get there and in the process enrich Goan culture for the masses. Does Goa (and Bombay) currently have any music (solo and band) and singing competitions (like 'Teens and Tunes') in the various villages and talukas - - Not at the state level for the 'Greats'? Regards, Gilbert. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Gilbert! I wasnt correcting you just clarifying! Yes patronage of the arts or the lack of it is a very old problem - even older than Van Gogh and artists who have been encouraged by kings and wealthy men and women should consider themselves lucky for there are many who have not. In India we have not laid great emphasis on the Arts in the schools either.But even with all this apathy we still produced Emiliano Cruz, Remo Fernandes and so many talented tiatristas! But comparing Goa and Bombay as many people tend to do doesnt really make sense - Goa was and still is a very small place that charms everyone while Bombay is a metropolis with money. So its understandable that musicians gravitated to it then and now - wasn't that what the Big Apple was all about? I heard that all the great jazz and blues singers said that you hadn't made it until you had plucked the Big Apple which was New York. I could be wrong about the origin of term but not about the importance of making it big in NY. I cant really comment on what pre- 1961 Goa was like - mine are just stories woven by my mother and her family for the entertainment of my sister and I. And I do not know what the 'pobre fidalgos' were doing either - probably living their lives of 'pobreza' and 'fidalguice'! Well if they were 'pobres' then that counts them out as patrons of music. As far as I know the 'ricos' were using their money to built elaborate mansions stuffed with chandeliers and Macao chinaware. Which reminds me that everyone has got to read Naresh's other article - its about Macao and its very funny! --Helga ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gilbert Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 11:44 PM Subject: RE: [Goanet]Another article by Naresh Fernandes > > Hi Helga, > I thank you for your correction. The point I was making, the artists > cannot live on their art and neither they nor their art can thrive if > there are no paying customers or clientele (when they are alive). Or > else they will be like Van Gough etc. It is for the community to > support them and appreciate their work during their life time as well as > in their formative years. > > You will have to admit while there were some "pobre fidalgos" in Goa, > the vast majority of "pre-1961" Goans could not afford the luxury of > art. Furthermore some "empregados" who lived in the "big city" of Panjim > and Margao had electricity and transportation to go to attend cultural > functions. In small village "pre-1961", there was just the church music > and weddings where the same old music and Konkani Cantaram and mandos > were played and sung. The only musician of repute in a village what the > choir master. Or was I living in a different part of Goa than you? > ######################################################################## ## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ######################################################################## ## ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
