When you see the Pakistan musicians Sachal Jazz Ensemble take the stage, you may be forgiven to think that this is yet another classical group, setting up their instruments in the arena. Complete with tabla, sitar and violins; clad in kurta pajamas in the Peshawari cut, they certainly look the part.
One section of the crowd will rub their hands in anticipation. This is real music, they insist. The other section will groan. Visions of all the golden hours All India Radio flash before them and they shudder as the tabla starts its opening beats. Suddenly the groans are stifled. Incredibly, this motley crew of mostly middle-aged men is playing jazz with classical instruments.
Izzat Majeed, the producer of Sachal Jazz Ensemble, and the founder of the Sachal Studios in Lahore, said, "Jazz has a music structure, which is very close to our classical music. Thus, our musicians can play jazz tunes with ease and with our own interpretation, as far as the instruments and arrangements are concerned."
The only overtly western instrument, so to speak, that Majeed's group uses is the guitar. However, there is nothing new about the guitar and the sitar coming together: the two instruments have been used in tandem in other bands as well, but the resultant sound is usually fusion. However, the music produced by Sachal Jazz Ensemble is exactly that - jazz.
Majeed, however, disagreed with my hypothesis, insisting that fusion as a music genre does not exist.
"I do not believe in the so-called 'fusion'. Music is universal. For example, the harmonium was unknown till the West conquered South Asia and it became a basic instrument of learning. The sound of Sachal Jazz is based on our instruments along with the embellishment of the instruments of the world at large. It is a matter of arranging jazz," he said.
But how difficult was to persuade somebody who had performed classical music for most of their career to play distinctly western tunes, I wondered.
Answering my question, Majeed said, "The great masters of South Asia have no barriers when they play jazz structures. When I arranged Brubeck's classic 'Take Five', the musicians of Lahore and Sachal Studios were excited to play such an iconic jazz which changed the time-rhythms by Brubeck. The Sachal Jazz Ensemble gave the world a jazz-classical interpretation, which, we are grateful, became a global big hit on You-Tube and radio."
The Sachal Jazz Ensemble will perform at New Delhi as part of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender festival in November. Classical musicians who used to provide the music for the Lahore-based Pakistani film industry, the musicians have collaborated with many western greats, including Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, among others.
