International Jazz Day: Young musicians boost India’s Jazz scene

In 2014, then 18-year-old metal drummer Aditya Dutta couldn’t stop himself from swaying to the sounds of Soul and Jazz icon Stevie Wonder, introduced to him by a friend.
This chance meeting with the legendary musician did ‘wonders’ for Dutta as nine years since, the hardcore metalhead has changed the course of his musical journey and now devotes the entirety of his time improving his understanding of Jazz.
“That was the first time I explored the charm of this music. We didn’t understand how the music operated, but we anyway put in a lot of effort and got it done. And ever since then I’ve been exploring this,” Dutta told PTI on the eve of the International Jazz Day on Sunday.
The drummer is among the young musicians who have taken up the African-American genre, improvising it on the go, and are turning many an evening soulful with their performances.
The genre that originated in the African-American communities has always been received well by Indian audiences, even when they didn’t recognise it as Jazz, going as early as “Gore Gore O Banke Chhore” in “Samadhi” (1950), “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” in “Howrah Bridge” (1958) and “Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si” from “Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi” (1958).
Some newer Hindi numbers such as “Kaisi Paheli Zindagani” in “Parineeta” (2005), “Darling” in “7 Khoon Maaf” and “Muskaanein Jhooti Hain” in “Talaash” (2012), have kept Jazz alive in cinema .
However, independent Jazz musicians believe it is in the last ten years that the genre has picked up pace around India with an increased number of young artistes, dedicated platforms, and intrigued audiences.
“Ever since the usage of the internet increased, people have started recognising it. Earlier, you had to have someone who is into this music to be introduced to it. Now you’re just scrolling the reels, there will be a viral meme, but you’ll have a jazz track in the background,” Dutta said.
Arjun Sagar Gupta, Jazz musician and the founder of The Piano Man Jazz Club, adds the rise in number of venues has also had a “cyclical effect” on the popularity of the music.
The 38-year-old said that it was events like the famous ‘Jazz Yatra’, which first started in 1978 in Mumbai, that initially exposed people to the music, but now with more such events, the availability of internet and more venues, the wave has been catching up with the youth.
“Over the last 10 odd years the number of shows has increased exponentially. There are so many other venues that have come up not just in Delhi, but across the country.
“It’s a nice cyclical thing because there’s more exposure to Jazz and more people listening, more musicians playing and so more shows are happening and then it goes round and round,” the musician-cum-restaurateur said.
In Delhi, apart from The Piano Man Jazz Club, there are places like Depot48, Blues, and Home that organise Jazz gigs. Similar scenes unfold at Mumbai’s Jazz and Blues, Bonobo, and The Bombay Jazz Club.
India’s very own Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, has also welcomed some sweet sounding Jazz venues into its fold, including Windmills Craftworks and The Humming Tree, and a dedicated music space in The Blue Room.
International talents like Matteo Fraboni, Simon Thacker, and Alexander Beets performing at Jazz events, including ‘Jazz India Circuit’, ‘Jazz Utsav’, ‘Jazz Weekender’, and ‘World Jazz Festival’, have also played a role in making the music popular.
Naveen Kumar, a “self-proclaimed” music aficionado and software developer, forayed into Jazz as a listener a few years ago. In the days of the past, Jazz may have spelt dance to people, but to him, it is long evenings of tranquility.
“I love the flow of Jazz. There is no wrong form of Jazz. There are times when I cannot work without Miles Davis or Ella Fitzgerald or the good old John Coltrane in the background,” the 30-year-old confessed, adding that the stillness of virtuoso trumpeter Louis Armstrong “drowns him in a trance-like state”.
Another Jazz lover, Pallavi Sharma, a 20-something postgraduate student from Delhi University, fell for the unpredictability of the genre.
“More the improvisation, the better it is…And Jazz serves this idea perfectly for me. It is one of the most entertaining and engaging music genres. I love the fact that it is more of an instrumentalists’ genre, which makes it unpredictable and fun,” Sharma said.
First introduced to Jazz through the sound of Coltrane’s saxophone, Sharma tilts more towards the instrumental side of it than vocal.
But, what is making young musicians take to a genre that was once considered “immoral”, a symbol of rebellion, and even “the devil’s music”? For Dutta, the immense possibilities of improvisation and expression attracted him the most.
“There’s more scope to express yourself and you’re not bound by approaching things in a particular way. You’re also able to articulate music the way you want. You’re not losing on the fundamentals of timekeeping, but you are an equal part of the ensemble,” the 27-year-old musician explained.
Starting at the age of four, Aditi Malhotra practised Hindustani Classical music before venturing into the world of Jazz, Black American music and Brazilian music at 17.
The Berklee College of Music graduate believes the challenges of Jazz also happen to be what gives a musician “a lot of open creative space to explore and grow”. She also finds a connection in Hindustani Classical and Jazz.
“It is limitless as you can keep studying and keep growing… A lot of jazz musicians have been influenced by Indian classical music. Both of them insist on improvisation, which is really important,” the 25-year-old said.
There may still be some time before the young troop of Indian Jazz musicians takes over the world, but they sure have got their notes right. Or wrong, as Miles Davis said, “There are no wrong notes in jazz, only notes in the wrong places.” (PTI)