JAZZ AND INDIAN MUSIC: CREATIVE DIALOGUE
‘With sleeping, you can say “No, I’ve had enough!”, with eating, you can say “No, I’ve had enough!”, but with music, you must never say No!…you have to have it in your mind 24 hours a day.’ Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani, Mridangam virtuoso, Chennai, 21st December 2014.
This statement by my teacher in Chennai encapsulates the unlimited dedication to creative work that permeated every second of my experience of music and culture during my Churchill Fellowship trip to India in November and December 2014.
I was fortunate to receive a Churchill Fellowship to research performance, composition and teaching methods in intercultural music between Indian musicians and jazz musicians through study, collaborative work, meetings, and attendance at concerts and conferences.
In Mumbai I enjoyed a wonderfully open and creative exchange with Hindustani vocalist Shubha Mudgal and tabla player Aneesh Pradhan. We shared ideas about phrasing, and melodic and rhythmic structure, exploring confluences and differences between our respective music traditions. We co-composed nine pieces that we hope will be the basis for future concerts featuring Indian and Australian musicians.
Our sessions were held at The True School of Music (TSM), one of a new strand of music colleges that have emerged in India in the last few years. TSM was launched in partnership with The Manhattan School of Music, NYC to incorporate ‘the best practices from international music pedagogy,’ while relating to the Indian context.
In Delhi I visited another new music college, the Global Music Institute (GMI), founded by two young Indian jazz musicians, Tarun and Aditya Balani. GMI aims ‘to bridge the gap between Indian classical/folk and contemporary music’ and seek to integrate traditional Indian pedagogy (guru-shishya parampara) with modern classroom teaching.
I interviewed teachers at TSM and GMI about their philosophy and teaching practices and gained valuable insights for my own teaching, as well as laying the groundwork for future exchanges between music students in Australia and India.
My trip finished in Chennai during the December Music Season, reputedly the largest music festival in the world. I feasted on great music by the very best South Indian classical musicians and was also fortunate to perform with my teacher, Guru Mani in a concert for Jaya TV. This gave me valuable insights into repertoire, composition, technical and expressive aspects of contemporary Carnatic music, rehearsal and performance practices, as well as the role of music in society and culture.
I attended many lectures, including one about early jazz in India by Naresh Fernandes, a guided listening session about legendary singer Siddheshwari Devi by Shubha Mudgal, and a series of 8am sessions at the Madras Academy of Music Conference, where it was always a relief to arrive in one piece after the chaotic autorickshaw ride to the Academy!
Filmmaker Shanni Dalton accompanied me on parts of my trip. She hopes to make a documentary about my engagement in Indian jazz intercultural music that will feature many interviews conducted in India.
I am extremely grateful to the Churchill Trust for this extraordinary opportunity. I gained a wealth of knowledge about music; understanding about cultural, social and historical context; as well as Indian perspectives on intercultural musical exchange.
In January I recorded a CD, Kapture, with Bobby Singh (tabla), Brett Hirst (bass), Toby Hall (drums) and special guest Sarangan Sriranganthan (vocals) on 5 tracks. This was the first of what I hope will be many opportunities to put into practice what I learned. The music was developed largely from a dance score commissioned by dancer/choreographer Liz Lea. The work was inspired by Ahmed Kathrada’s 26 years in prison alongside Nelson Mandela. Kathrada was an Indian man of great courage, integrity and grace. He gave the Euology at Mandela’s funeral. I expanded the original dance score into an hour long musical work. We had an Australia Council grant for the recording and recorded it at Rancom St Studios.
We will play excerpts from this work at our concert for SIMA on 28th March. This concert is a double bill with the Tony Gorman/Bobby Singh duo. Tony and I are going to give a pre-concert talk with Peter Jordan. I will talk about some of the highlights of my Fellowship trip to India.
‘Kapture’ will be launched on 10th May at Camelot. I’m very excited that it will be released on Rufus Records. Clarion Fracture Zone’s CD ‘Zones on Parade’ was RF001 in the Rufus catalogue and ‘Kapture’ will be RF100.
Thanks very much Rufus!
Sandy Evans
Sandy Evans is an award-winning Australian jazz composer, saxophonist, and teacher active from 1982 and has been awarded an Order of Australia for services to music.
In the 1980s Evans played in the group Women and Children First. Later she was a member of the Sydney band Ten Part Invention.
Evans composed the music for the 1999 radio drama Testimony: The Legend of Charlie Parker, which showcased the poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa, and was broadcast on ABC’s Soundstage FM.
