12-year-old Shannon Fernandes from Porvorim who already has a jazz album to her name,
recently made her stage debut on International Jazz Day

RAMANDEEP KAUR NT KURIOCITY

Shannon Fernandes grew up listening to retro tracks from Bon Jovi, Queen, Abba, etc. The first musical movie that she loved watching with her dad was ‘Rock of Ages’ starring Tom Cruise when she was 5. “My dad and I watched it like 10 times. I loved the tracks!” she says.

The youngster would also enjoy singing along to songs from Disney movies like ‘Moana’, ‘Frozen’, and ‘Aladdin’. But her spark for singing really took off when she was around seven years old while on a cruise trip in Europe. “We spent most of the evenings at the auditorium that had this karaoke contest for guests. I was thrilled just seeing people come on stage and sing their hearts out,” she recalls, adding that she later began liking singers like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Celine Dion, and Selena Gomez.

Her love for jazz took off a year ago. “I just love the offbeat chord and scale work. The lyrics too are nothing usual. The best part is the improvisation and spontaneity in jazz while doing a live performance,” she says, adding that work on her jazz album began in April and consists of a collection of covers. These are tracks of the 60s and 80s by Etta James, Nat King Cole, Basia and Frank Sinatra. “So far, I have done seven tracks and am working on a couple more. The album is available on Jazz Goa website,” she says, adding that she is grateful to Colin D’Cruz, the founder of Jazz Junction, who has been instrumental in her jazz journey.

“It started initially with me singing a few tracks along with Jazz Junction at the restaurant La Ceres Altrude by the Sea, a really great place that promotes live music of different genres. Musicians love to come and perform here. I never thought I would make an album. I just started with a couple of jazz tracks suggested by Colin. We continued recording a few tracks more and it slowly became an album,” she says.

While she was unable to perform at the International Jazz Day concert in 2022 owing to a bad throat infection, her experience this year was full of emotions. “I was a bit nervous. But it was also overwhelming in a happy sense. The audience was so responsive, and watching their faces glow while I was singing made me smile,” she says, adding that while prepping for it took a while, it was a fun experience altogether to learn and perform the song.

“The evening was a spectacular one with accomplished performers and young musicians, national and global, sharing the same stage,” she says.

A student of Class 8, she says, managing life as a student and handling the musical side of her life has been smooth so far. “I do one or two songs at a time. So practicing and learning them while doing homework and studying for exams has been balanced. Of course, during exams I take a break from music and focus on studying. Sometimes homework does pile up and come in the way of learning new songs but I manage,” she says.

Currently, she is looking to add more songs to her jazz album. Besides this, she is working on an original song. “I have already started on a small verse/chorus. It is not fully completed but I might release it once I finish it,” she says. “In the future, I am not sure what and who I want to be, but for now, I’ve decided on multi-tasking with either architecture or interior designing along with music. I want to explore opportunities to study in a global music school after I finish high school.”