India gears up for International Jazz Day

International Jazz Day is an annual event celebrated on April 30, promoted by the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to celebrate “the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.” It was so announced in November 2011 with the first event inaugurated by UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock with partners Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (monkinstitute.org).  

This year too, an enormous number of jazz performances and programmes will be held across 190 countries — spanning all continents — including India who, in keeping with her strong and long links with music through centuries, has been quick to support this genre-specific occasion. The first time I attended an event to mark the celebration, it was at Mumbai’s Blue Frog, a venue that has unfortunately been rendered obsolete but with a promise that it would re-open at multiple venues, in the city, during the year. Nevertheless, till that happens, NCPA has taken on the mantle to support the International Jazz Day this year and, in Mumbai, it will feature the likes of Louiz Banks, Gary Lawyer, and Samantha Edwards, among others.

Although traditional jazz has had a select following in India, it was the Jazz Yatra festivals that supported collaborative efforts between Indian classical and Western jazz musicians (now sadly defunct with the passing away of Jazz India promoter Niranjan Jhaveri). In fact, Indo-jazz became a sub-genre of mainstream jazz with obvious Indian classical influences. In an attempt to trace its roots, one must return to the ’50s wherein saxophonists like John Coltrane, one of the most significant instrumentalists in music history (I received an opportunity of releasing his classic 1960 album, Giant Steps, on behalf of Warner Music licensee Magnasound in 1989), and Yusef Lateef, who used a number of non-Western instruments such as shehnai and the bamboo flute, who led the way in the sounds of the West meeting East. Following Lateef’s passing away on December 23, 2013 New York Times wrote that the musician “played world music before world music had a name.”

Samantha Edwards excels at jazz vocals

In 1971, the Mahavishnu Orchestra was yet another primary example of a jazz group that was captured by Indian influences as guitarist John McLaughlin, who followed the dissolution of the band with the formation of Shakti in 1974, who I saw perform live at Mumbai’s Cooperage grounds in March 1984. Similarly, during the early ’70s, violinist L. Subramaniam — brother of Shakti’s L. Shankar — pioneered a movement of Indo-Jazz fusion, which he dubbed “neo-fusion”, that gained popularity across the globe through his collaboration with the likes of musicians Stephane Grappelli, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, and Larry Coryell, among others. Let us not forget the importance of Louiz Banks — born Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi — too who, as he established his place and reputation as a jazz musician extraordinaire, popularising live jazz at Mumbai nightclubs. In 1979, along with Goan saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, Banks formed the ‘Indo-Jazz Ensemble’, composing music on jazz rhythms and Indian classical scales, incorporating instruments like ghatam and thavil. But the heart of popular live music in India, which can be traced to the ’30s, was undoubtedly Calcutta (now Kolkata). From Bengali music directors who later shifted loyalties to the more glamourous and obviously more lucrative Bollywood, to regional styles like Rabindra Sangeet, baul and bhatiyali, to the famous Dover Lane classical music festival, the city was synonymous with creativity. Consider the venues too; Blue Fox, Mocambo, Moulin Rouge, Trincas, The Golden Slipper, Magnolia, and Chowringhee Bar hosted gifted jazz musicians like Banks, saxophonists Gonsalves and ‘Jazzy Joe’ Pereira, pianist and xylophonist Anton Mendes, guitarist-keyboardist Charanjit Singh, and singers Pam Crain, Brenda Lillie, Don Saigal, and Marie Samson. Vocalist Usha Uthup [then Iyer] and Biddu ruled the popular music scene then.

Among the more recent breed of musicians making an effort to combine jazz and calypso/reggae sounds with Indian music and create their independent, distinctive sound is a band known as Mauj Maharaja – consisting of cousins Aalok Padhye and Tanmay Bhattacharjee – that had its genesis in 2015. They have just launched their first full-length album on March 20, Phir Se, which is supported by music veteran Atul Churamani’s Turnkey Music and Publishing.

Meanwhile, please do not forget to lend your support to April 30’s International Jazz Day as the genre continues to evolve and, simultaneously, provide endless hours of musical riches to not only Indian musicians but, more importantly, to listeners like you and me!

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it.