“Jazz will never go out of style”
By Renu Warnasuriya
“Jazz is where it’s at,” says jazz vocalist, Jerome Speldewinde. Down from Australia, Jerome will be performing at the Barefoot Garden Cafe, on November 7. Though he does plan on playing a few numbers people probably aren’t familiar with, the show will also include some jazz favourites as he intends to get everyone moving. Essentially a vocalist, he accompanies himself on the guitar. Ray Gomesz and Peter Prins will also be accompanying him at this show.

Being involved in music for over 25 years, Jerome believes he “progressed to jazz”. To him jazz is as far as you can go vocally because of the endless substance in the repertoire. He feels it makes you individualistic and strong in your taste.

“All my family parties ended in a singsong,” smiles Jerome who considers his family the source of his talent and interest. He in turn passes his love for jazz on to his daughter Romani who at the age of five listens to jazz. An old Thomian, Jerome’s other love is sports.

A die hard jazz fan, today’s pop and rock music is not quite his thing. The Red Hot Chillie Peppers and Alicia Keys are some of the modern artistes he likes. His all time favourite however is Louis Armstrong.

Though the ‘jazz fans’ in Sri Lanka are limited in numbers, there are people who appreciate Jerome’s brand of cool jazz. He pointed out the fact that Sri Lanka has no real jazz venue, “for real jazz you need an acoustic grand piano, anything else is compromising.”

Though he has no immediate plans for the future Jerome is sure to continue with his music, after all, “jazz will never go out of style!”

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