The jazz maestro continues to explore new ways of bringing music to a wider audience through the Jazz Association (Singapore)
Over 40 years in the business and homegrown jazz musician Jeremy Monteiro says there is still much to learn. For one, there are tunes he wants to master—among them Got a Match? and Eternal Child by American jazz pianist Chick Corea—to add to the about 2,000 songs in his repertoire.
“The beauty of music and jazz is that you cannot stop learning. There’s no destination. You may have certain intermediary points but if someone tells me that I’ve arrived as a jazz musician, I would say, ‘Arrive where?’ There’s no arrival, just a constant journey, which makes it so exciting and interesting,” expounds Monteiro, who is also executive director and music director of the Jazz Association (Singapore), or Jass, which is dedicated to uplifting the Singapore jazz scene to greater heights.
The non-profit organisation also brings together some of the best Singaporean and Singapore-based musicians in its two orchestras, the main orchestra Jasso and its youth orchestra Jassyo!.
(Related: Behind The Byline: Life Lessons With Jeremy Monteiro)
And then, there are the other forms of learning that he calls “needs-based”, even more so in this social media age: to be a better video editor (Monteiro is known to share self-edited clips of his live performances with fans on his Facebook page) and, more recently, a live-stream broadcaster.
Perhaps, both stem from a pressing need—to let the music play on—especially with the current Covid-19 situation, which has been tough on the music industry. With entertainment venues closed, gigs and concerts, including Monteiro’s 60th birthday concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall in June, have either been postponed or cancelled. And like many musicians around the world, Monteiro has turned to online platforms such as Facebook Live and Youtube Live to live stream performances from his home studio.
