Nine bands from across the world will jam at the Delhi Jazz Festival.
Sometime in 1900 when Buddy Bolden took hold of a cornet and “blew on it the first stammering notes of jazz”, little could he have imagined that the music he played, which would later be known as jazz, would travel across the world. The accuracy of the quotation and the stories that have come up about Bolden, a black barber in New Orleans, may be doubted but not the power of jazz.
Growing out of black American experiences expressed musically — the blues, work songs, chants, spirituals as well as the influence of the brass bands of New Orleans and the ragtime piano players of Storyville, the red light district — the river boats on the Mississippi then took the music to Chicago and New York. Jazz would later move beyond the continent and spread all over the world.
The memory of Bolden and his ilk will be celebrated at the Delhi Jazz Festival, 2011 organised by Seher and ICCR. Suresh Goel, Director General, ICCR dedicates “this Festival to the people of the city to celebrate the centenary year of New Delhi.”
He adds, “Every major city has a world class jazz festival that is not just named after the city, but almost defines its cultural ethos... we intend to include Delhi in this list.” Sanjeev Bhargava, creative director, Seher hopes “to give the people of Delhi a rare treat of brilliant music — the best of international jazz ... [that will] truly herald the onset of spring.” Surely, this April might not be the cruellest month after all.
Nine bands from across the globe will jam over three evenings at the picturesque Nehru Park. Tradition and experimentation, the hallmarks of jazz, play the central role in every band’s music. So the audience can expect to be treated to a variety of styles and sounds. If the Berlin-based Ekkehard Wölk Trio draws inspiration from literature, films and nature, then the Scottish Trio AAB + Clandemonium are influenced by Celtic folk music and house, and the French BE WHY dig into funk, Earth Wind and Fire and James Brown! Cesare Picco, the opening act, has also composed for ballets, opera and the theatre. And two of India’s best known guitarists Amit Heri and Amyt Datta (Fractal) will thrill and captivate the audience.
Pianist Ekkehard Wölk has with him heavyweights Andrea Marcelli on drums and Johannes Fink on bass. Christine Jensen, described as a “compelling composer”, is another big name regular on the festival circuit. Dhruv Ghanekar, who has collaborated with the likes of Ustad Sultan Khan, Trilok Gurtu and Richard Bona and is also the founding partner of Blue Frog, will perform as D-Company.
(The three-day long Delhi Jazz Festival, 2011 begins on April 8, at Nehru Park, Vinay Marg)