Jazz musician blows fans away
A DURBAN jazz musician is taking matters into his own hands by creating his own artistic space – in his backyard.
Naresh Veeran, 53, recently hosted a private jazz picnic and garden Valentine’s Day live show at his home in Morningside.
He said it was difficult for artists to perform at public venues since Covid-19 and because he played at home every day, he then decided to invite 50 people to join him in his garden.
“I plan on performing more this year. However, it seems like I’m going to have to create opportunities for myself as there isn’t much infrastructure left to support the arts in places like Durban.”
Veeran said that live music had struggled to recover post-Covid, so he wanted to create something that would allow people to gradually return to music.
“Audience numbers have dwindled to the few who can afford to pay the admission charge, and traditional restaurant/music venues have had to resort to other more direct forms of financial recovery.
“This has left me, a musician, and others like me, without a gig and a way to support myself. Valentine’s Eve provided the perfect opportunity to connect my music, my home and all that I am with the people who paid to have a particular experience.”
During his picnic and garden Valentine’s Day show, Veeran said he performed a mixture of old-school ballads and classic love songs.
“Performing on both saxophone and flute, both lovers and lovers of music got to enjoy standards from the 1950s and 1960s such as My Funny Valentine and Besame Mucho, as well as classic love songs from the 1980s and 1990s by the likes of Sting, George Michael, Mariah Carey and David Foster, among others.”
Veeran, who has returned to performance after a two-decade-long detour into the corporate world, was born in Cato Manor.
He said music was something he grew up with, as some of his family members were musicians.
His dad Denny was a jazz musician
in the 1960s.
“Genetics caused the consequences of my getting into music, and inspiration continues to simply be organic. I play whether I’m having a good, bad, or ugly day. Genetics and inspiration, I control neither.”
With his keen interest in jazz music, Veeran said he decided to pursue a career in music.
“After completing my matric in 1986 at Asoka High in Chatsworth, I started university in 1987 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). I obtained my Master’s of Art, cum laude in 1995.”
He now holds a human sciences PhD from UKZN and currently focuses on the therapeutic bridge between music and meditation.
Veeran specialises in jazz meditation,
which is a combination of kung fu-based tai chi movement and lofi jazz.
“My work, lofi jazz meditation, has never been featured before as it never really existed conceptually until about a few months ago."
The father of two has worked with artists including pianist Melvin Peters and flautist Deepak Ram.
“I’m a soloist these days. My audiences get the best out of my performances when I work alone.”