J’man – The Musician who followed his heart!

Following my heart…
Hi! I’m Jared…a school teacher by day and a solo performing artiste by evening. A qualified Human Resources professional, I quit the corporate arena some years ago to follow my heart. Going back in time…I was twelve when I took up the guitar; my father had bought me a guitar from one of his many voyages. Dad is very fond of music; hence, I grew up listening to a whole lotta oldies and God bless Mumbai for FM and “Saturday Date”…as for the younger generation who are wondering what I’m speaking of, Saturday Date was the #1 program on FM radio back in the day; we didn’t have many radio channels then.
Right about the same time, we had just two channels on television. One night whilst watching live acts recorded in Germany on DD2, I happen to see a saxophone player keep aside his instrument and do an entire solo using just his voice and mouth; buzzing away as if he had a built-in saxophone inside of him. I tried imitating him and realized that I could do the same.  Today, my talent to mouth-trumpet works as a great head-turner. The art develops with constant practice, initially, it was tough to mouth-trumpet in more than two songs, and these days I do it more rampantly and with ease. With the kind of one-man acts I do, mouth-trumpeting is my usp.

Performing solo just happened out of chance; it all began at this wonderful place called Le Chocolat which was based in the Queen of the Suburbs – Bandra.
For two years starting 2003, I made appearances at this place, playing twice a week. Till date, I owe Le Chocolat most of the contacts I made, never looked back ever since. Post 2005 I continued playing at places like The Bistro Grill, The Park, The Club, The Grand Hometel, The Blue Frog and most lately at The Sofitel. These apart, the number of private gigs done, I truly cannot amass. Cheers to Mumbai and her amazing heart, I quit my Human Resources’walla day-job after much thought but when I did, an opportunity to feature on Mtv’s first ever edition of “Rock on” fell into my lap, I grabbed it with open arms. Thanks to the city, there has been no dearth of work for a guy like me. My alma mater came a-calling one day around three years ago and imagine my joy. I was offered the role of Music Teacher and all I could say was, “Yes, yes, yes.” I am also an endorsee of GBA guitars, Mumbai.
It’s a blessing to able to share so much with people of all ages, beginning with children at school to my audience at performances. Everyday is a new day, and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds…it will all be good, God willing.

– J’man! (JARED DIAS)

Thank you Jared for following your heart, a lot of ears and hearts have been blessed by your beautiful music and may they continue to do so!!