A cosy little corner on the second floor of Musee Musical in Begumpet is reverberating with tuneful notes. A jazz group called TOKA ensemble, comprising pianist Tomer Eldor, vocalist Kayla Cohen and drummer Guillaume Picard are rehearsing here for their show at Tabula Rasa in Jubilee Hills on Monday. The jazz concert by the trio was presented by Hyderabad Western Music Foundation (HWMF), to commemorate Jazz Appreciation Month. Prior to the show, they spoke about their collaboration and Hyderabad experiences.
The group has been been living in Hyderabad for the past four months. Tomer explains that he met his other friends while studying the university program ‘Minerva Schools at KGI’. “As part of the program, we travel to different cities every semester; this semester we happen to be in Hyderabad,” he shares. The youngsters are from different academic backgrounds — Tomer is from computer science and Kayla from humanities. “We jammed together in South Korea in the previous semester. We enjoyed that experience so much that we decided to come together again,” enthuses Kayla and shares info about their undergraduate degree. “We have our usual studies but what is unique is that it also includes 20% location-based learning where we have an assignment that requires us to engage in a city.”
Guillaume hails from a musical family. “I am not a musician by trade but am passionate about it,” he shares. While he played in bands which performed for summer programmes, he enjoys the presentation here. “It is amazing to form a band together and the kind of music we play is interesting and different too. It is a lot more engaging and I love the energy that we have.”
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Kayla’s musical training has been a bit unconventional. “I loved singing and the music school took a risk of giving me the scholarship; as I was not a traditional singer, I undertook singing lessons. I mostly wrote my own songs and played in a band in London which was really fun. That band was also a trio and instead of piano, we had guitar.” She points out Tomer and Guillaume have the technical awareness of sound and the unique music they produce when they all come together. “It is artistry as we discuss what the song is about, the atmosphere we want to create musically and find exciting ways of conveying that to the audience.”
They came to the city in January this year and ever since have been travelling and soaking in the experiences. Tomer adds Joe Koster (of HWMF) loved the music and asked if they could do a concert. “It is close to four months here and the end of our semester. It is time to celebrate with music,” they cheer.
Kayla calls Hyderabad special as she got a job with a start-up. “The city and its people have been welcoming and have given opportunities. One can never imagine such an opportunity in London.”
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