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Improvising India >> Purists beware: turn off the brown-o-meter and enjoy the splendid Desi talent at the Jazz Fest
The distinction is subtle, but the point is clear. Indian classical is deeply rooted in tradition, and thus demands rigour, patience and reverence. For good or ill, world beat trends and multimedia cross-pollinations have been slowly inducting Qawwali singing and tablas into the canon of Western jazz, evidenced by the heavy presence of Desi talent at this year’s Jazz Fest. Purists will likely scoff at the legitimacy of some of the acts visiting the fest, draped in the cloak of brownness. But c’mon, most critics know just how un-jazz the Jazz Fest has been the last few years, but few demand the name be changed to 4/4-swinging-blues-fest. Just how these Indian acts register on the brown-o-meter shouldn’t really matter—the Jazz Fest isn’t for purists, it’s for everyone else, right? Here’s a look at those acts. Nintin Sawhney’s latest release, Prophesy, is an extremely stylized and, occasionally, glaringly hypocritical comment on economic, technocratic and social injustice in the world, coated with the redeeming notion of human universality. Although it suffers from the ’round-the world-in-60-minutes syndrome, Sawhney manages to pull it off with some smooth beats, stellar production and a heartfelt interpretation of the world beat genre. With Freeworm at Club Soda, Thurs., July 4, midnight, $22.50
Tabla Beat Science is the brainchild of experimenter extraordinaire Bill Laswell. The all-star lineup includes world-renowned tabla master Zakir Hussain, leading Qawwali singer Ustad Sultan Khan and Karsh Kale (sitting in for Talvin Singh?), resulting in a refreshingly patient exploration of the Asian-underground thing with an irresistible post-dub-type groove to it. Really thick, expansive and hypnotic tablas swirl around the listener, offering no real anchor, but soothing nonetheless. Hussain alone is reason to see this show. With Sultan 32, Midival Punditz and DJ Disk at Théâtre Maisonneuve, Fri., June 28, 6pm, $35.50-$42.50 Shabaz is the new moniker for the Ali Khan Band, a West Coast trio comprised of vocalists Sukhawat Ali Khan and his sister Riffat Salamat, with poly-instrumentalist Richard Michos, presenting an ever-evolving mishmash of Indian classical, Qawwali, hip hop, jazz, and rock rawness. The vocalists come from a long legacy of classical vocalists (11 generations!) and their father was the great Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, whose influence could be heard in the work of the very famous Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It will be interesting to see how the family legacy is preserved here, in the context of a hodgepodge with influences as disparate as great Qawwali singers and Jimi Hendrix. At the Bleue Légère stage (Bleury at Mayor), Fri., June 28, 7:30pm, free Finally, there is the Toronto Tabla Ensemble. Perhaps the most traditional of all, save the fact that in this case the tabla is used as the lead instrument and not an accompaniment. Expect a sophisticated, precise, and instrumentally stunning onslaught of complex rhythms and tones—not to be missed! At the Carrefour GM (Jeanne-Mance and de Maisonneuve), Wed., July 3, 9pm, free : |
Trilok
Gurtu offers a remarkably unstylized vision of Sawhney’s globalism.
On his latest albums, Gurtu also attempts to reconcile Western, Eastern
and African music, but does it without the enormous London budget. The
result is a unique, layered soup of tribal and Qawwali singing, deep
tabla grooves accented by chunky programmed beats and beautifully raw,
unrefined synthesizer which together defy any existing conventional
context. Expect Gurtu’s performance to be rich, honest, soulful
and energizing. At Spectrum, Fri., July 5, 6pm, $29.50, and also July
4 at Metropolis with Medeski, Martin & Wood