All jazzed up

Carlos Bica, the band leader of Azul, talks about the group’s journey in music

December 11, 2013 05:37 pm | Updated 05:37 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

In sync: The members of Azul

In sync: The members of Azul

T hat music knows no boundaries held true in a concert organised by Goethe Zentrum Trivandrum recently. The concert by Azul, a band comprising a Portuguese, a German and an American, had a fine blend of jazz and rock. The band that is 22 years old was started by musician Carlos Bica, who is known for his lyrical and singing tone on the double bass. Carlos has played with many jazz musicians including Bill Elgart, Herb Robertson, Kenny Martin and Ray Anderson. The musician talks to MetroPlus about his passion for music that led to the formation of Azul.

A musical journey

I do not come from a musical family but have always been interested in music. In fact, I had my first garage band when I was 15 wherein I played the drums and the guitar. I joined Academia de Amadores de Música in Lisbon, Portugal, a music academy and later received a scholarship to study at Musikhochschule Würzburg in Germany. When I first joined Academia de Amadores de Música, I just wanted to learn music; it did not matter which instrument it was. Hearing a teacher practising the double bass, I was hooked and chose the double bass as my main instrument.

Entering the music industry

In 1995 I decided to record my first album as I had enough original compositions and I had found the musicians to record it with. Polygram (Universal) recorded the album. I have since worked and released several albums and have even collaborated with other artistes.

Azul, the band

I met Frank Möbus in the late 1980s at a concert he was performing at in Würzburg, Germany. Frank and Jim Black studied together at Berklee School, Boston. The chemistry, we shared as musicians led to our formation.

The music behind Azul

Our first CD came out in 1996. We have so far recorded five albums together.

It is difficult to categorise our music into a genre. I guess you could say that we play mostly instrumental music.

Team work

Although we come from different backgrounds, culture and have different interests, it is our passion for music that brings us together. I lead Azul as the compositions we play are mine. We play a song only if everybody else in the group agrees that it fits into our band’s line of work. We practise mostly during our sound checks as we all live in different cities; Jim lives in New York. If we are preparing a new album we meet one week before the recording session.

Progression as a group

Our culture, background and personal interests are completely different but we all agree that music, like life needs different colours that are able to coexist. There has been a natural continuous development in Azul’s music but a connection to the present is the most important thing, you have to be honest in what you do; where you are now is not the same where you were 20 years ago. We are currently working on a new album; it will be recorded in 2014.

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