Indo-Jazz: The Meeting of Cross-cultural Spirits

There had been umpteen instances where forces joined hands and that needn't necessarily be the allied forces of the WWII era; on the contrary, they are the people who created massive upheavals without moving a single rock or shedding even a single drop of blood. But the reaches of their respective ideas defied time, demographic and geographical boundaries (both literally and figuratively) to create a following that still provides the thrust to carry forward the wonderful cognition from the analog ages and into the digital. Even today, more than a few ears perk up in awe when they are played, even amidst the bubblegum pop blaring through the speakers. They are the jazz maestros who found Indian classical music their most suitable counterpart in terms of seriousness and creativity. However, understanding the reason behind jazz opting for Indian classical is essential, if we are to understand - to the greatest degree or extent; completely or entirely - the nature of the music this particular union gave form to.

In a word, the common ground is improvisation; Indian classical music, with its rich history dating back to a few thousand years, has long been exposed to the tradition of improvisation. Eminent Jazz musicians like John Coltrane, Yusuf Lateef, John McLaughlin, Shawn Lane, Jonas Hellborg and John Handy and Sir Yehudi Menuhin noticed this resemblance and after much calculation on the theories, blended Jazz styles with the Indian melodies. Since Jazz stands in West as the greatest exponents of improvisation, the union fitted the purpose the most.

Perhaps Keith Jarrett is the person who commented best on this trend; despite being one of the people most knowledgeable in Western Classical music, his thought patterns took a sharp U-turn after hearing Indian Classical music in a concert. And his realization reads: "...a reminder that what I was doing was not music".

Now, let's study a little theory here. Despite the fact that Jazz and Indian classical music have improvisations as their most common ground, but neither of them can break the barrier set by compositions (jazz calls it the standards). Improvisations are nothing if not based on the compositions (these act as springboards), which defines a structure to provide the base to an improvisation.

Those who are aware of harmonies and call and responses, shall be surprised to find that Indian classical music has been practicing on these two points since long; in this case, they are termed as Jugalbandi-s and sawaal-jawaab, which literally translates to questions and answers. However, a Jugalbandi is more of collective improvisations, where the musicians take turns for improvising in a spirit of friendly competitions and cooperation.

Coming down to the cores of Indo-Jazz, it's Shakti that still rules as the most influential band even after its disbanding in the 1970s, their occasional reunions proving the demand of their music till today. Shakti comprised musicians from both South and North India, talents, who were been trained in their respective gharana-s (disciplines) right from their childhood. The names include such eminent musicians like Ustad Zakir Hussein, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram, L. Shankar and R. Raghavan along with John McLaughlin; two small examples of their combined attraction can be obtained by studying the details of the two concerts at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the July of 1976 and 1977 and in 1975, the show at South Hampton College.

We can go on and on narrating the wonderful tales on the joint collaborations of the musicians (e.g. the music of John Handy with Ustad Allauddin Khan or Sir Yehudi Menuhin with Pt. Ravi Shankar or Shawn Lane with V. Selvaganesh), but it's always better to derive your own interpretation of these heavenly melodies rather than getting confined with mere, dry explanations. For both Indian classical and jazz hates confinement; if you become, that shall not be an offering to the spirit of Indo-Jazz.