With Bring it on home to me by Sam Cooke, Jazz immediately won over not only the audience but also the jury. Jazz has been living in Zandhoven for eight years, almost right in the center, and has been able to stay relatively under the radar there all that time. How is that possible?
“I’m always either working or playing music,” he says, with a much more Flemish accent than we expected. Jazz has Surinamese roots and grew up in Almere and Amsterdam. “But I can switch gears just fine,” he laughs. “I am now on my way back from work and that is why I still have Flemish on my mind.” Then he also speaks about ‘efkens’, ‘stillekes’ and ‘amai’ like you and me.
We will be able to follow him on VTM in the coming months. — © VTM
His performance in The Voice did not go unnoticed. “Our neighbor Simone, who I believe has just turned 76, came banging on the door in the evening. She gave me the biggest compliment possible: I gave her goosebumps. That’s what you do it for, isn’t it? There must be a soul in it. I also received a lot of responses at work today. I was ‘almost’ lifted into the air. Wonderful, shared pleasure is priceless.”
Jazz works at Greif, a barrel manufacturer from Lier. “But I already did a lot of jobs when I first lived here. I worked in Oelegem, Herentals, Laakdal and Grobbendonk. In Grobbendonk I stood in a warehouse where there was no radio. I remember when I left the warehouse there in the evening with a brush and I started singing Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, the colleagues all suddenly turned around and said: what are you doing here? It is at moments like this that I realized that I can touch people with my voice.”
© Joren De Weerdt
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because Jazz comes from a musical family. His mother Ebby made a name for herself as a singer in the dance world under the pseudonym Miss Autumn Leaves. She also sang gospel. “As a teenager I sometimes sang in the background choir, such as in Hasselt. Once I was allowed to sing along at a company event where Queen Beatrix was present. I am an only son. My mother has been performing quite a lot in Belgium since mid-2006. When my parents broke down, I followed her to Zandhoven.”
Jazz also got his love for music through his grandfather and uncles. The death of his grandfather, and also the fact that he is not getting any younger, prompted him to register for The Voice of Flanders. “I went without expectations, although I did hope to win the hearts of the audience. That was my sincere wish. I chose Natalia very intuitively as a coach. I have a lot of respect for all four artists.”
Jazz Aughton. — © Joren De Weerdt
When will he perform in Zandhoven? Judging by the reactions on social media, many proud villagers are eager to follow him through his further The Voice journey, even though they do not know him. “I happened to be sitting with Ludo Konings from the Mumoza music festival in Pulderbos on Sunday evening,” Jazz laughs. “I immediately felt a nice, natural connection with that man. I had never been to that café Graan aan de windmill where we had agreed. While I had been looking for a café with such an atmosphere for a long time. So, there is a chance that I will perform in Zandhoven one day.” Suppose he wins The Voice of Flanders, would that become a top act for Mumoza? “Take it easy,” says Jazz, who also wants to improve his guitar playing. He has never played in a band. “But proposals are always welcome.”
Jazz Aughton. “I’ve never played in a band before, but I’m definitely open to it.” — © Joren De Weerdt
© Joren De Weerdt
2024-02-05 18:34:20
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