2ND INTERNATIONAL HYDERABAD JAZZ FESTIVAL 2017

     This year the Hyderabad Jazz Festival was on two days at two different venues.

     The first day 2nd of December 2017, it was on the lawns of the Secunderabad Club. And the second day, 3rd December, it was at the amphitheatre of Phoenix Arena.

DAY ONE

     The 3 bands that played at the Secunderabad Club on the 2^nd, were a study in contrasts. They played music that was so different from each other that even the least knowledgeable about Jazz could hear the difference and know what dissimilar forms jazz could take. From a classical hued set by CRUISE CONTROL ON TRIO (CCO3) that amalgamated elements of jazz-like swinging rhythms and improvisation with classical guitar compositions to make music of an unusual, though transcendent, texture and tonality, to THE BEER PUPPETS, who twisted R&B and Neo Soul - itself an interesting mix of contemporary soul music and Rhythm and blues - with interesting arrangements and improvisation to make it ‘Jazz’ that appealed to hard rock fans in the audience. And sandwiched in between these two contrasting bands was the MATTEO FRABONI "EUROPE MEETS INDIA" QUINTET whose contemporary compositions, arrangements and concept of an unusual quintet sound mixed well with mainstream jazz to create a unique set of driving Jazz that stimulated the mind, body and spirit.

     CRUISE CONTROL ON TRIO (CCO3) – comprising Martin Van Hees - Classical Guitarist & Composer, played a classical acoustic-electric guitar for this performance. Aktas Erdogan - Classical/Jazz Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist & Composer, played a double neck electric guitar with one neck fretless; he also played Turkish flute and an Armenian Duduk. Nello Biasini – Percussion, played a regular drum set.

     All three conservatory trained musicians played a set of not just their own compositions, but music from the classical world and from jazz and pop. It was wonderful to hear such quiet, aesthetic and thoughtful music that balanced confidently between classical music and Jazz.  So the audience were charmed to hear besides the bands own compositions, ‘Fragile’ by Sting, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ from the Disney Movie ‘Sleeping Beauty’ that had been turned into a Jazz standard by Miles Davis and played as a solo in classical guitar style with a Jazz swing and improvisation by Martin van Hees. It was also so gratifying to hear a tango in a jazz concert, but that’s what we heard in the band’s ‘Tribute to Astor Piazzolla’ the Argentinian musician and composer, or to hear Cuban rhythms in a composition by Leo Brouwer of Cuba. To hear the surprisingly horn-like, plaintive sound from the tiny Duduk played by Aktas Erdogan in his own beautiful and sadness tinged composition and also in their composition called ‘Waltz for Duduk’, was an extraordinary experience. There were many pleasing moments while the trio played; and throughout, the drummer Nello Biasini was impeccable, everything he did was just right. So creative and such a perfect fit, it was delightful to hear a drummer who was so wholly coordinated and played so appropriately for this singular crossover between Jazz and Classical music, Cruise Control On Trio (Cco3).

     MATTEO FRABONI "EUROPE MEETS INDIA" QUINTET, as described, is a coming together of the artistes from Europe & India. And the music they played was a "voyage" through jazz, classical, Latin and Indian influences, led by the Italian drummer and composer Matteo Fraboni. The rest of the quintet comprised Sharat Srivastava – Violin who has been performing Hindustani classical music for over 25 years and was in the Indian rock band, Parikrama. Rainer Pusch is an internationally renowned saxophonist, flautist, arranger and composer. Aditya Jayakar on Piano is also a composer from Mumbai and performs with jazz musicians in Mumbai. Abhinav Khokhar is a one of the few upright bass players in India who has been collaborating and composing with many Indian and international musicians over the years.

     The closest one comes to describing the music that this quintet played is to say that it was a startling revelation of Jazz as an intercultural collaboration that was open to all influences. Not just that, it was inventive, and it was swinging.

     Most of the compositions were by Matteo Fraboni except two, and one of them, ‘Jai Ho’ was arranged so that it was transformed into an extraordinarily lovely work of art. Matteo Fraboni’s composing and arranging talent is brilliant. The compositions and arrangements were both emotional and intellectual in their appeal and incorporated all the Quintets instrumental diversities and yet was mindful of the player's individual "sound". The Quintet was professional to the highest degree, the quintet’s individual and collective improvisation was spot on. Sometimes the violin and saxophone blended so well that they sounded like the brass section of a jazz band. Violinist Sharat Srivastava’s solos were fresh, distinctive and very personal in tone and mood yet fitted the overall composition, and Aditya Jayakar on Piano was in tune with the feel of the band and took some good rapid fire solos. But it was Rainer Pusch who stood out as a 

colossal musician who bared his emotions through his alto saxophone, and flute, displaying exquisite technique, artistic expression and musicianship, playing energetic and expressive solos. It was soul satisfying to hear him. And Abhinav

Khokhar on bass was an ideal jazz bassist who thinks on his feet and harmonises and lays a solid foundation for the band. Of course Matteo Fraboni is a versatile drummer who plays an array of inventive swinging, syncopated rhythmic patterns to support the band, and a point to note is, though he is the leader, composer and arranger of the quintet, he is restrained and does not give himself too much prominence, but remains an unobtrusive accompanist. Both the bassist and the drummers’ solos were well conceived and constructed. 

     Amongst Matteo Fraboni’s compositions was one called ‘Varda’, named after the cyclone that hit Chennai in 2016. Another was ‘The Society of Liquid Law’, and another called ‘Unknown Knowledge’. To hear this engaging Quintet was indeed a pleasure and a privilege.

      THE BEER PUPPETS set was full bodied, loud and appealed to the rock music lovers in the audience. Defining the music they performed at the Jazz festival is difficult. It could be called R & B, or it could be called Soul, or it could be called new form of rock, but it was performed with full-spirited energy and it could be called jazz too because there was a degree of improvisation. The guitar player Anthony Cammarota was versatile and surprisingly perceptive. Especially when he ‘comped’ behind the solos with interesting chords. But he played his solos sometimes like a shredding rock 

guitar player and sometimes as like a sensitive jazz guitarist. And of course there was Karim Ellaboudi on piano who is more a Jazz pianist than anything else, and it was his elegant, stylish and tasteful playing that made the music rise above itself. Shreya Bhattacharya’s is a gifted vocalist, her voice a powerful and supple instrument with which she belted out some fiery vocals. The bassist, Abhishek Dey, was the force to be reckoned with, it was he who was the drive behind the music, and his bass playing was outstanding as was  his understanding of the music. And the drummer, Aron Nyiro’s musical intelligence was obvious, he has a wonderful sense of tune, tempo and dynamics and his technique and stick work and his ability to use every part of the drum set with telling effect was incredible. So while The Beer puppets music was hard to define as jazz, it was good music that could be only be played by Jazz influenced musicians.

     It was an evening of fine music that was enjoyable, refreshing and artistic.  And appealed to the senses and to the soul.

DAY TWO

     Day Two. 3^rd of December 2017, Phoenix Arena, Hyderabad. This was the day of atmospheric, imaginative, experimental music in the amphitheatre that was suitably bathed in the luminous glow of a full moon.

     UNDER THE SURFACE from Netherlands, comprised the leader, Joost Lijbaart, who played Drums & Percussion, Bram Stadhouders, Guitar & Electronics and Sanne Rambags, Vocals & Lyrics. 

The trio’s music seemed experimental, but was actually loosely structured to give each musician room to listen and respond. One could tell that Joost Lijbart was a skilled jazz drummer who kept control over the pieces that were played and kept the trio within the structure of the music, and Bram Stadhouders on acoustic-electric guitar provided the melodic hooks on which the remarkable young singer Sanne Rambags improvised using her voice as an instrument. Under The Surface played what sounded like open and experimental music, but was, in reality, precise, controlled and atmospheric, and the music gave the impression of it being balanced between magic and reality. The bands profile very aptly described their music as a “search for space through silence and improvisation”.

     C.A.R. is four young musicians from Koln, Germany, Leonhard Huhn on alto saxophone, bass clarinet and effects, he pushes the boundaries of music by creating a delicate web of sound heavily altered by electronic effect devices. And Christian Lorenzen who plays Piano and Synthesizer is one of Germany´s flagship jazz musicians, Kenn Hartwig on acoustic-electric Bass is equally, or more at home with electronics and researching the world of sound. And Johannes Klingebiel on drums plays many genres of music but more of Techno and Deep House.

     The four musicians of C.A.R. concocted a brew of musical sounds that incorporated jazz, experimental music and free improvisation that, as someone said, “carries you away like a cloud”. 

 ERIK TRUFFAZ & RIATSU, ANAND BHAGAT & NEIL GOMES

The Erik Truffaz headed outfit played their set of exotic music last. Erik Truffaz lyrical and melodious trumpet lines were played over looped repeating patterns of sounds from his own trumpet, similar to an elephant trumpeting, and these sounds were sometimes draped over a grating factory-floor like groove, or sometimes to more atmospheric dreamlike groove similar to what Miles Davis experimented with and was ‘done with’ towards the end of his life. Comparing Erik Truffaz and Miles Davis is not far-fetched, because Erik Truffaz does play his trumpet with the same spare, thoughtful, melancholic feel as Miles Davis, but in this concert these are patched on to textures and atmospheres created by his band. Riatsu, who composes ambient techno to dark ambient electronic music.  Anand Bhagat percussionist known for his skills with the West African Djembe and who played the Didgeridoo too for some of the more exotic soundscapes, and multi Instrumentalist voice and guitar player Neil Gomes. However experimental the music may have sounded to an audience, Erik Truffaz music and the sound of his band, though out of the ordinary, is still engaging and interesting.

     All in all, it was an extraordinary two days of music. The music was quite unusual, often on the thin edge of Jazz, but it was a wonderful experience to listen to such diverse sounds and such a diverse range of music from an array of great musicians, every one of whom believed in what they were doing and gave us in the audience everything they had with holding back.

     The 2nd Hyderabad International Jazz Festival was conceived, coordinated, and made to happen through the sole effort of the one man band, Joe Koster, of course, with a whole lot of help from friends and institutions such as Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Alliance Française Hyderabad, US Consulate, Secunderabad Club, Phoenix-Arena and a few sponsors and donors.

Pratap Antony /hydmusic.com / 7^th December 2017   Photographs: Joe Koster  

TWIN CITIES PIANO FESTIVAL 2017

A Celebration of Music Played on Piano

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, Musee Musical and Vidyaranya School, whose hallways and playgrounds are imbued with the sound of music, created this two day ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ on the 11th and 12th of November.

     The 'Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017' was really a tribute to pluralism and the composite culture of the twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad. It was also a tribute to the parents of music students, and music teachers, proving that the people of the Twin cities appreciate and encourage good music, even music that is not rooted in local culture.

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Musee Musical were very clear on why this was called a Piano festival. It is a festival because it was not a competition; it was a celebration of the music played on a Piano. And why piano? Why not keyboard? Because the Piano is an acoustic, wooden musical instrument that produces a sound in which the tone colour and timbre is natural and rich. It is the true instrument to bring out the beauty of Western Classical music. A Yamaha Grand Piano was provided for the festival by Musee Musical (Western Musical Instruments and Music education), to celebrate their 175th year in the service of music.

     Western classical music, as we call it, can be described as ‘art’ music that stands the test of time and remains relevant to generations after it has been composed. It is music that’s been composed and written in music notation so that musicians can play it by reading the musical notation, and so Western Classical music, or, really, all Classical music, ‘Carnatic’ and’ Hindustani’ Classical music is played and listened to for centuries after being composed, just as plays by Kalidasa or Shakespeare are ‘classics’ because they are still read, performed and enjoyed even today, centuries after they were written.

     So, the music of Western Classical composers such as J.S Bach (1685-1750), W.A. Mozart (1756-1791), F. Schubert (1797-1827) and F. Lizst (1811-1886), live on even today, and pieces by these composers amongst other older and more recent composers, were performed by the young pianists/musicians on the 12th of November.

Day Two - Grand Finale of the Piano Festival

     The 18 pianists selected out of 42 who auditioned, displayed their musical abilities on the piano on the 12th of November. And it was impressive to hear so many young piano students aged between 7 and 16 show an interested audience how well they could play.

     It was such great mix of young people and the names of the 18 pianists that played showed how music brings together people of different communities, and regional cultures.

     The order of the young pianists who played, according to the programme, was: Samuel A. Marcus 30 (announced as a special guest), Vivek Mathur - 15, Ananda Gopalakrishnan - 11, Akundi Indravandith Karthikeya - 11, Rushabh Musthyala - 16, Lakshay B. - 12, Samyuktha Nandineni - 13, Dhriti Agarwal - 14 & Omi Vegada (four hands), Bindu Sravanthi - 16, P. Vishal Reddy - 14, Kshittiesh Bharadwaj - 15,& Khiyati Bharadwaj,  Kashvi Aggarwal - 7, P. Harshith Reddy - 13, Ananya Achanta - 13, Christine Grace Khumuckcham - 14, Devulapalli Sai Sri Vaishnavi - 13, Yash Agarwal -13,  Saketh Ram Josyabhatla - 15.  
     You can hear the whole evenings performances here on youtube:-  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh5PcTm3UjY

     Music is the greatest communication in the world and these young musicians were so proficient; of course, some more so than others - a few showed so much promise that it looks like there will be more concert pianists from India in the making - so that we in the audience marvelled at their gift of music. Both Mamta & Jagruti of Musee Musica, and Joe Koster of Hyderabad Western Music Foundation acknowledged that it is the parents and teachers of these musically endowed young musicians who have to be lauded, for recognising the children’s need for music and for encouraging them to learn, practice and develop their talent. 
Day One The Concert Pianists of the Piano Festival

     We will now come back to the first day of the Piano Festival, the 11th of November 2017. As part of the two day piano festival, two judges who were brought in from Ahmadabad and Mumbai to audition and select the pianists for the 12th of November, performed a selection of classical pieces on the 11th November.

     The musicians were Shantanu Patel, a concert pianist from Ahmedabad who has returned from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a Masters of Music (MU) in performance and conducting, he is also an B.A. (Hons.) in music, specialising in performance, from Middlesex University, London. Cecil Vineet is a composer orchestrator, singer/songwriter, with a Masters degree in scoring for Film, Television and Video games from the Berklee College of Music, Boston, he also holds a Licentiate Diploma in Piano performance.

     Though I love classical music, I am not a musician enough, or expert enough, to tell whether the pianist interprets a composer well or not, I will only say this about Shantanu Patel’s playing, that he plays very naturally, fluidly and effortlessly, he could bang the hell out of the piano and then play as softly as a whispered secret, he balanced lyricism and piano gymnastics skilfully, yet captured the sentiment of all the pieces he played.

    Shantanu Patel began the evenings programme with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Twelve Variations on theme "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman"(English: “Ah, Mother, if I could tell you”), K.265, based upon a French folk song.

    Mozart’s work began by stating the basic theme, the familiar tune “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and then with such a simple theme, Mozart creates variations of the theme with modifications and embellishment in rhythms, harmonies and texture and yet we recognise the melody throughout. Mozart's genius is mind blowing.

     Next he played Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31 by Frédéric
Chopin, composed and published in 1837. Chopin, many feel, is the best composer for the piano. Shantanu Patel introduced this piece by saying that though the composition is in B flat minor, most of the work is written in D flat major.

     The third work Shantanu played was Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5, by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which he completed in 1901. The pianist displayed speed and subtlety both in the very intense fast sections and also in the calm ones!

    Shantanu Patel concluded his programme with Prelude pour le piano, L. 95, a three movement piano suite, Prelude, Sarabande and Toccata composed  by Claude Debussy, one of the most innovative composers who completed this work in 1903. Prelude pour le piano did not seem easy to play but was played in a way that seemed effortless.

     Cecil Vineet Abhishek, the modest and self effacing musician, in his 

introduction, said, he had added orchestral accompaniment to Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2, one of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous Piano compositions, electronically, as is done in many movie and television serials. He then displayed his skill in not only playing the piano, but in programming, scoring and arranging the Rachmaninoff Prelude in C-sharp minor in a tasteful arrangement like a Concerto for piano and orchestra.

     The programme concluded with a surprise, with both the pianists getting together to play a four hand piece.    

     It is not common for the Twin Cities to hear a bona fide concert pianist play live, and so this was a rare auditory treat for this writer, and for all the other Western Classical music enthusiasts, thanks to the ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ and the phenomenal effort put in by Joe Koster the chief organiser on behalf of the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation.

Pratap Antony / 15/11/2017/HWMF www.hydmusic.com

FEELING THE JOYOUS ENERGY OF FRESH YOUNG MUSICAL TALENT

 Lighting a path to a bright musical future
    I had the great pleasure of being in the audience at a very special evening of choral music by a choir of young people aged between, perhaps, 10 and 15, who presented the audience with a beautiful gift of lively and vibrant music.

     This 16 or 17 voice choir that brought so much joy to the audience was ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore. The choir consisted of students of Sandra Oberoi’s ‘Harmony’ Music School in Bangalore.
     Sandra Oberoi is a Western vocalist and music educator who is responsible for fostering the talent of these young musicians, and who, I’m sure, inculcated the young choristers with the astonishing self confidence that they displayed; and invested the singers with good intonation, verve, understanding, and the ability to sing well beyond their years. The natural clarity of the children’s voices while they shared their joy in making music gave us in the audience even greater joy.
    But, I’m getting ahead of myself, the evenings programme on the 5^th of November 2017 at Vidyaranya School was organised by the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Harmony-The Music School (Bangalore), and began with a short recital by the Deccan Voices, a twin cities based group of enthusiastic 

singers from a "medley" of backgrounds and cultures brought together by their shared passion for vocal music. 

The Deccan Voices sang, ‘The Music is Always There With You’ by the eminent composer, John Rutter, followed by ‘Suo Gan’, a Welsh lullaby. They then performed four songs from the Oscar winning movie ‘La La Land’, the songs were ‘City of Stars’, ‘Another Day of Sun’, ‘Audition - Fools who Dream’ and ‘Someone in the Crowd’. Kudo’s to the Deccan Voices for performing without looking at the music sheets and with minimal direction from Joe Koster the choir director who accompanied the choir on keyboard and who had also trained the choir for performance.
You can hear the Deccan voices on these youtube videos
Youtube - City of Stars from La La Land https://youtu.be/XIb1JOeXj-8
Another Day of Sun from La La Land https://youtu.be/BjgrApar0x0
Someone in the Crowd from La La Land https://youtu.be/laLNMzKB1L8
Audition – The Fools Who Dream from La La Land https://youtu.be/vAdnyCnMnQI
The Music’s always there with you – John Rutter https://youtu.be/fnpeQc-Gs9I
Suo Gan – Traditional Welsh Lullaby – Mark Burrows https://youtu.be/R4kq2S3fgwQ
     Let’s get back to the main event, ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore; they performed a selection of ten songs, the programming was well thought out and the songs were interestingly performed, the talented musicians

/vocalists sang with zest and exciting musicality, the sound was always clean, the diction clear and they kept the rhythms strong, spicy and accurate while maintaining pitch with amazing ease and composure. 

     All the songs were sung from memory. The children in the choir were so musically gifted that it was hard to believe that they were just school children. And so we must  give credit to their teacher Sandra Oberoi for song selection, programming of the music, for her wonderful attention to detail; for arranging some of the songs and for training and bringing out the children’s talent and musicianship and preparing them perfectly to express their joy in making music without inhibition, and for making them shine like the little stars that they were, so that we in the audience could experience their musical gifts through their smiling eyes, swaying limbs and their heartfelt singing. . 

     Worth mentioning is that Sandra Oberoi had designed this programme, so that every singer got to sing either a solo, or be part of a duo or trio along with the choir to display their talent. The eminent pianist, Irina Tsarenko accompanied The Harmony Children’s Chorus. Since all the soloists and the chorus performed much more captivatingly than I ever expected, I will not describe how they sang each song, suffice it to say they displayed impressive musicianship. This is the programme in the order that they performed.

The first song they performed was Flower Duet – This pretty song, composed by Leo Delibes for the opera, ‘Lakme’, was sung by two sopranos, a boy and a girl along with the chorus. They next performed Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Reqiem. This too, was sung by two sopranos and chorus. Next was Lord make Me An Instrument of Thy peace - this acapella (unaccompanied) piece by Michael John Trotta is based on a French poem that used soft harmony and counterpoint brought out the beauty of this song. Tomorrow, from the musical 'Annie', and arranged by Sandra Oberoi, was sung by a soloist and 
chorus. The well known song  I Could Have Danced All Night, from My Fair Lady, was arranged by Sandra Oberoi for soloists and chorus. Memory - from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ‘Cats’. Sandra Oberoi expressively rendered this song 

accompanied by Irina Tsarenko, and listening to this song moved me inside out, despite having heard the song by many singers both live, recorded and on youtube by the original cast of ‘Cats’, so, this became the most beautiful rendition of the song I’ve ever heard. Rise Up by Swiss DJ and composer Yves LaRock was next by soloist and chorus. An Evening Prayer from Hansel Gretel  and opera by 19^th century composer Engelbert Humperdink. Next was the charming song How Far I’ll Go from the Disney animated movie ‘Moana’ again for soloists and chorus. It was this tune I think, which had a young little dancer in a tutu dance, while this song was being sung. It was endearing, to say the least. The next song, Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better, from the movie ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ was rendered so dramatically and well by the two fiercely competitive singers that the audience was thoroughly amused and entertained. The song Chili Con Carne – was next, by Swedish composer, Anders Edenroth, who sings in the acapella singing group ‘Real Group’. This song is a simple recipe for a Mexican dish that is insanely hard to sing, especially to maintain its rhythmic vitality and tempo, and more than ever while dancing, which the Chorus did so well. The last part of the set was called Bollywood Medley, this medley of ‘Bollywood’ songs was arranged by Sandra Oberoi and was good fun.

     Sandra Oberoi and the Harmony Children’s Chorus from Bangalore are talented and committed singers that brought to us the freshness of young musical minds that are lighting a path to a bright musical future.
     You can hear Sandra Oberoi's Harmony Children's Chorus - the whole concert here: -  Youtube https://youtu.be/cMSjtmHcyuc

     The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation (HWMF) once again brought the Twin Cities a good musical experience. The indefatigable organiser-in-chief, Joe Koster, founder director of HWMF, and musical director of Deccan Voices, thanked the Vidyaranya School for supporting HWMF and the Deccan Voices, who use the school premises for practices and for concerts, for their quiet but resolute support to music in the twin cities.

Written for Hyderabad Western Music Foundation www.hydmusic.com

ENJOYABLE, CLASSIC, STRAIGHT AHEAD JAZZ BY THE ADRIAN D’SOUZA QUARTET

STANDARDS AND MORE WITH STRONG AND INVENTIVE MUSICIANS

Secunderabad Club  8^th May 2017

Written for The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation www.hydmusic .com

    What a good time we had! Yes, we really had good time, a great time actually. It was a delight to hear some superb, ‘straight ahead’ jazz music - music that was not influenced by any sort of fusion, rock oriented beats or heavy electronic effects, but Jazz in its most elemental form: jazz standards, swinging rhythms, bossa nova, and the blues.

     And responsible for giving us such a good time was the Adrian D’Souza Quartet comprising Adrian D’Souza on Drums, Karan Joseph on Keyboard and bass, Lydia Hendrikje Hornung, Vocals, and Pawan Benjamin on Tenor saxophone.

     But before these strong and inventive musicians came on stage and put a brand new spin on some of the old Jazz standards with mainstream jazz, Latin music and blues ballads, the evening began with a performance of a few songs by a local eleven member vocal ensemble the ‘Deccan Voices’.

      The Deccan Voices began with a rendition of an old Duke Ellington jazz standard ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’. A pop song by Toto, ‘Africa’. A hymn, ‘All Things bright and Beautiful’, and a choral version of ‘Take 5’, the eleven singer choral ensemble ended with ‘Balleilaka’ a Tamil song by AR Rehman. The ‘Deccan Voices’ directed by Joe Koster on keyboards looked like they were enjoying themselves and dealt with the rhythms and harmonies well. All-in-all a good performance!

      Let’s get back to the main event, and the music and the musicians of the Adrian D’Souza Quartet .

     Though the leader of the band is usually the main protagonist, with Adrian D'Souza on drums, it is an ensemble cast, with every musician playing their part. Yet Adrian does steer, guide and support by listening and responding. Adrian’s lightly swinging drumming is spare and elegant, and sometimes quite rambunctious as the tune needs, but his drumming is always in good taste, with a refined emotional sensitivity to the feeling of the song.  

    Lydia Hendrikje Hornung, has a light, jazz soaked, crystalline tone of voice that is sweet and flexible, textured and emotionally strong. Most of all she is so refreshingly easy to listen to. She demonstrated super vocal control, elasticity and command in the vocal twists and nuances when she improvised. Generally an insightful, able and classy singer.

   Karan Joseph on the keyboard is the backbone of the quartet. Karan is a resourceful arranger, very expressive keyboard player, sometimes a powerhouse who cuts loose, opening up free-flying improvisation, sometimes quiet and sensitive, hunched in concentration, sometimes head-back and smiling, neck stretching with bird-like movements, always maintaining an inventive but steady bass with his left hand.

    Pawan Benjamin, what can one say about this tall, thin, long haired young Tenor Saxophone player, who plays such touching, tender, and sometimes blistering and blazing solo’s; his saxophone sounding like a thoughtful voice as though he was thinking through his solos, with every phrase always connecting to the other and being completely meaningful.

     The audience saw the inner enjoyment that the musicians felt while the Quartet  played, not the overt show of rock musicians, but simple smiles of pleasure when the musicians heard one of them or the other playing a passage that that they had just created, and which grew wings and soared away, whether it was the singer singing an emotional passage or the keyboardist playing a piquant passage, or the saxophone saying something so meaningful, or the drummer playing an appropriate variation, they shared the pleasure of the musicians bringing out the best in each other, and giving pleasure to the audience at the same time.

     Whether the Adrian D’Souza Quartet played a beautifully put together slow blues, or a Brazilian samba, or a ballad or a jazz standard like 'Tenderly', or ‘East of the Sun’, or ‘Speak Low’, or the beautifully rendered ‘Moonlight in Vermont’, or a Wayne Shorter classic, the music was about joy. It was not music played for musicians. It was music played for everyone to enjoy. It was music that was completely accessible, completely understandable, completely empathetic. it was music that left the audience feeling good and elated. This was without doubt, the best Jazz show that the twin-cities have seen in the last two years.

      And for this pleasure we must thank The Secunderabad Club, Bharati Cement, The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Goethe Zentrum.

All Photographs by multi-man Joe Koster 

THE ART OF JAZZ WITH THE ROTEM SIVAN TRIO

Written for www.hydmusic.com   website of the the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation
JAZZ AT SECUNDERABAD CLUB ON 8^th APRIL 2017

     Jazz is a music that is partly planned and partly spontaneous. Jazz is a very technical form of music. It is a musical art form.

     The art of the musician in jazz is their ability to play freely and inventively within the rigid structure of the music. Jazz has a disciplined musical structure that uses sophisticated harmonies and progressions in its many styles and genres within which improvisation takes place.

     Good jazz musicians know how to improvise without getting lost in the improvisation. In a band, jazz musicians must together know how to bring each piece of invented music to a fitting conclusion within the chords and rhythmic changes of the tune that they are playing and make a meaningful whole out of it. 

     Jazz usually, but not always, has a swinging rhythm that characterises jazz as Jazz. And Jazz musicians also play certain seemingly dissonant notes and harmonies in unusual ways during the course of the music that is typical of jazz.

     So jazz is a very special musical art form that is quite often challenging to the listener. Jazz is also an involving music, and so the listener is better served by being an active listener and by being aware of what they are listening to. Jazz is listening music and so it does require certain intelligence from a listener to relate to it. Jazz therefore is played by highly intelligent, highly proficient, and very technically advanced musicians, and this was indisputably the case with the Rotem Sivan Trio.

ROTEM SIVAN, GUITAR & MISHKO M'BA,  BASS   

     Rotem Sivan, the guitarist, leader, composer and arranger, is originally from Israel but settled in New York, and he has just finished his term on the faculty of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai.  Mishko M’Ba, the bass player was born in France, but lives in mainly in Pondicherry when not shuttling between France and Reunion. And Karina Colis, Drums and Vocal, is from Mexico, but is based in New York and is now in India as faculty in the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai.

     On listening to the trio, we would never believe that the three musicians met and got together only recently - in India. Yet, the music was energetic, entertaining and inventive. The harmonic and rhythmic changes were complex and interestingly created. And all the compositions were tightly arranged and structured. But the Trio was so in-sync that they were in a ‘zone of empathy’. Each musician was ‘in the zone’, mindful and aware of what each was doing; each receiving and dispatching secret messages to and from each other to keep the musical ideas flowing. They were so tuned-in to the music that didn’t have to look at each other to have a complete understanding of what each was doing.

     Rotem Sivan was a musical mastermind; every song, whether it was one of his own compositions like ‘Antidote’, or a jazz standard such as ‘In Walked Bud’ by Thelonius Monk, or a Bob Dylan song ‘Make me feel your Love’, or an originally slow Jazz blues ballad like ‘Angel Eyes’, or, any of his other compositions, the arrangements were unique, the harmonies and rhythms, and treatment were always interesting and had his distinctive stamp on them.

       Even Rotem Sivan’s guitar was unique, a Gibson semi hollow body guitar that he had modified to produce the most unique sounds that he hears in his musical imagination ... which he makes come true. Some of the modifications were - an extra pick-up inside the body through which he could get every shade of sound that he could get out of his finger-picking or plucking, or, from his percussive style of playing on the fret board. There was a modification even near the bridge for getting some effect that he had innovated, and even the back of his guitar had a snare from a snare drum, attached to it in case he needed a particular sound while playing percussively on the back. And to top it all Rotem Sivan used every bit of the guitar to produce the most beautiful sounds that he could imagine; and not only that, he produced some most interesting melodies and improvisations one could hear on a guitar. He was a high level improviser, whether his phrases were long or short, they were more often than not, melodious and meaningful.

     And Mishko M’Ba, what and fine musician he is, always in time, always playing the right notes in the right place; always playing perfect harmonies; and always being supportive and imaginative, whether he played along with the lead and drums or soloed. His solos too were always sympathetic, melodious and empathetic.

   KARINA COLIS, DRUMS & VOCAL   
  
    Karina Colis’, drumming was the highlight of the show for this audience. Karina was always listening and tuned in to the complicated arrangements that Sivan had conjured, and, she shifted the rhythms and changed her dynamics to serve the song with real empathy and grace. She was loud and explosive, when needed; responsive to the melody with soft cadences, when needed. Her flexible wrists allowed her to play with the lightness of touch or the heaviness of a rock drummer. But where she won the hearts of the audience was during the encore, when she sang a most unusual version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, Rotem Sivan’s ingenious and interesting arrangement of this old classic, in a clear singing voice that made the audience wish they could hear more songs from her. But the time was up, and the concert had to come to an end.

     The Secunderabad Club, deserves a credit for having the foresight, the heart and the spirit of cultural responsibility to present the city with this opportunity to listen to Jazz which is a very technical art form. And sponsoring and presenting Jazz is indeed a way to develop and grow musical culture in a society that is in need of a cultural revival.

       Before we forget, the Roten Sivan Trio was preceded by another trio, Abhijith Gurjale on Violin, Nicole Connoly Bhatia on Flute and Joe Koster, the multi-purpose man, on piano, these three are teachers at the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation School of Music, and they performed proficiently on three different classical pieces: Talented Abhijith Gurjale on violin, and the skillful Nicole Connoly Bhatia on flute, displayed their skill as soloists, and then performed along with the competent, multitasking Swiss Knife, Joe Koster, as a trio, showing that the teaching of Western Classical music in the twin cities is in good hands. 

NICOLE CONNOLY BHATIA, FLUTE & ABHIJITH GURJALE VIOLIN 

JOE KOSTER KEYBOARD & ABHIJITH GURJALE VIOLIN

The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, The Goethe Zentrum and Secunderabad Club must be jointly thanked for bringing ‘live’ music of such a high standard to the twin cities.

All photographs by Joe Koster except the last by Parvathy Krishnan 

CONSCIOUS OF RHYTHM, LINE AND FORM SHREYA SRIDHAR – BHARATA NATYAM

     Bharata Natyam is safe! No need to worry about the direction or misdirection this art form may be taking when young and passionate dancers take to the stage.

     This is what crossed my mind whilst watching Shreya Sridhar perform. Shreya is student of the great Hemamalini Arni, the inspirational guru of some of the finest dancers in the country such as Kiranmayee Madupu.

     Shreya Sridhar showed her ability and promise in a good performance at the Kalasagaram Annual Youth Festival of Dance on 18^th March 2017.
     The musicians performing on stage merit special appreciation for their excellent musicianship and outstanding performance that made watching a good Bharata Natyam performance an even greater experience.

      The musicians were: Nattuvangam - Renuka Prasad. Singer- Sweta Prasad

Mridangam- Sridhara Chary. Violin - Sai Kolanka. And assisting the guru, Hemamalini Arni, on stage with the musicians - Kiranmayee Madupu.

     Shreya performed four pieces opening with the prayer extolling Ganesha, the Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles: ‘Vaataapi Ganapatim bhaje ham’ in Ragam Hamsadhwani in Talam Adi and composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

     The next Varnam, the centerpiece of the prerformance expressed the feelings of an ardent devotee of Krishna.  Varnam: Pachai mamalai Ragam Ragamalika. Talam Adi. Composed by Tondaradipodi Azvar. Shreya depicted the words of this piece in dance so that we in the audience could understand what the composer described: “Lord Krishna as a green mountain, with coral red lips. He says he would rather not go to the most beautiful Indralokam even if he were sent there, but worship at the feet of the Lord. He is his only refuge. He wishes to have a glimpse of Lord Ranganatha in Srirangapatnam and attain moksha at his lotus feet”. Uma Sridhar

     The third item was a Padam: Natanam Aadinaar, where Shreya competently illustrated in dance the sheer beauty of the dance of ecstasy and abandon of Lord Nataraja, where the composer Gopala Krishna Bharathi describes the sheer beauty of the dance of Lord Nataraja, where The eight sides of the world shook as he danced, the Ganga overflowed her banks and Adishesha, the great snake on his body trembled with fear. The composition was in Ragam Vasantha, Talam Ata.

     The last item of the programme was a Thillana, a pure dance composition by Vazhuvoor Somu Pillai in Ragam Surati in Adi Talam. Shreya peformed this Tillana with nimble footwork and held poses like classic temple sculpture.

     The dancer’s faultless sense of timing and rhythm and her consciousness of form and line spoke well of her understanding of her meticulous training in dance.

     Yes, young Shreya Sridhar, currently a science student in class 11, gives hope that Bharata Natyam is indeed safe. We owe a debt of gratitude to the dancer, her guru and accompanying musicians for not just preserving Indian Classical Dance, but in lighting a path for the future.   

Photography: Abhijit Sridhar