Expression of Freedom: An American Invention

Dear I-Dont-Know-What-To-Call-You-Anymore,

i really enjoyed this piece. i can see why Jang thought it lacked soul - its very clearly a history piece but then i got that from the intro so i knew what i was getting. as an overview it was great! dizzy gillespie`s bio comes out in april 2006 if you didnt know. i`ll be doing a review so this will come in handy. thanks!

Axey.

I thought you would get a tickle out of this March 2, 2006 ``Pooch Cafe`` comic strip by Paul Gilligan.

nice article Qutubshahi. i`ll look forward to your article on gharaanas and hopefully that`d trigger a discussion between you and Señor Ballu. :-)

This has nothing to do with Jazz but I was wondering if it would be possible to get an album, ``The excellence of Farida Khanum`` somewhere in the US. I`m not even sure if it has been issued on CD.

Thanks
S

#20 thanks for the warning.. anyhoo just got a mailer for a music ``conference`` which you can dispatch kulharee to so you can enjoy an honest martini after a hard days work and feed the pigeons ;-)


http://www.learnquest.org/concerts/index.html

Jang, with all due respect, please please do not urge Kulharee to write on the ghranas. Let me break it down for ya Brah!! Imagine you are having a nice time having drinks with pretty kabooters in a bar, you are enjoying the scene and just happy hanging with your friends. But someone that shall remain nameless, in the cadre of friends feels he needs to (for the 50th time) drop some knowledge on the Lukhnowi gharana and how it compares to the Dariya ganj gharana... after listening to the intricacies of what makes a gharana with the dha tin ta dhik tin tik dha as compared to dhinak tinak dhin dha dha tha...you not only want to scream allah ho Akbar and blow up the suicide vest, hopefully killing everyone in teh bar, but with a sly peek you try to locate a blunt object to repeatedly bludgeon yourself to death, in the event the belt malfunctions. So consider this a fair warning...from someone who doesn`t want to bring this website down over an article on the fking gharanas.

gracias XOXO

Jang, Yani sucks. Whoever considers him a musician needs to get his/her head examined. His is very techno crap, it may appeal to some people, I have never really cared about his stuff that much. Musically speaking, his compositions are very basic. Lots of keyboards and no substance.

In terms of this article lacking “Soul”… Soul, as you would know, is an offshoot of Blues, but it took a more of a Gospel religious turn, some of the earlier stuff (Ray Charles, etc.) is good, but I intentionally didn’t want have too much Soul into this article. May be in the next one. Kill me.

Beej. I guess I should’ve. I will keep that in my mind when I write my next article.

axe: look forward to your article about ustads ..this article lacks soul :( ... (reads like nazar hyat khans articles written by browsing wikipedia.) maybe write about a jazz club-prowl or something.

one question: why is yani who elevated the art of elevator music not jazz?

Okay Axeman, thanks for the clarification (why didn`t you explain all this the first time around, instead of rocking and rolling with all that Jazz which ended up giving chowk-staff the Blues?) I think you should have preceded the article with a short note (not within the body) explaining who you are and why you wrote it, and perhaps appended a list of sources/links at the end. Don`t let negative feedbacks on this article (or any others) stop you from continuing to write more! Regarding what you said about not being a writer, I have come around to believe that we are all writers of sorts - and we are all simply groping, permanently groping for THE words - and those of us who can find the right ones are the lucky souls of the world! I wish you good luck!

Beej, I welcome your critique, and as I have said before, I don’t, by any means, consider myself to be a writer (let alone a good one at that). Those who know me (my buddies in NYC and Lahore) know me as an amateur musician, with my head buried deep in the ass of all kinds of music. I did not “lift” any passages from any published work to write this essay, but I had learnt a lot of stuff written/shown on screen to do so. I would say that around half of it was from the “Jazz” of Ken Burns, another 20 or so % from Scorsese’s, “Blues” (also done for PBS) and the rest from a few books, and websites. After all, this is Jazz, with a limited history. I would argue that writing about Jazz is not such a big challenge; even my 8th grader would have done a fabulous job (and so much better than I ever could), because it is so recent, and there is so much stuff available. Even though, I can’t count on getting your approval, but I will soon be writing about the Gharans of the North Indian Classical Music, as I have bee been fortunate enough to be in the company of some really accomplished and wonderful North Indian Classical musicians. I will share my private conversations with such superstars as Marhoom Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib.

Warrior… Very true. I completely concur that contemporary Jazz is drifting away from “in-your-face” Jazz ideals of the early Jazz age. Jazz was as much about Music, as it was about social commentary of the days it prevailed in. But there are many aspiring musicians who continue to get inspired by the Gurus of the yesteryears. Art is very time specific. The classical Jazz still resonates with Jazz lovers.

Re: # 15
I`ll wait for your article on the Gharanas. One thing I miss in the US is the small concerts held often in the suburbs of Bombay by SPIC/MACKAY or the small local music circles. You wandered in, paid your 5 rupees or so and listened.
The amplification was not great but the music was invariably fulfilling. I suppose you will have listened to Ustad Imrat Khan? I have always been a great fan of the surbahar....You rarely hear it played nowadays.. A friend of mine used to play it very often. He`s an AIR staff artiste now and mostly plays the sitar.
One of my favourite memories is a concert in Ville-Parle (in Bombay) when Hariprasd Chaurasia regaled us from around 10 pm to around 2 n the morning. He played , Jhinjhoti, Maajh Khamaj, Pahadi, I think Madhma Sarang and finally Bhairavi.
Smashing ..

S

I started listening to Jazz in India because AIR used to broadcast a program by Willis Conover called the Jazz Hour. I think it may have come originally from VOA. The signature tune used to be ``Cherokee``. Willis Conover used to whistle it at the start of the program.
However the musician who grabbed my attention then was not an American but a gypsy guitarist from France/Belgium called Django Reinhardt. Along with Stephan Grapelli and , ``The Hot club quintet of France ``they performed some lovely rendering of standards and their own compositions.

I`m afraid though that Jazz is no longer in your face anymore. Most teenagers and their ilk prefer hip-hop or rap. Jazz has matured and perhaps is in very serious danger of dying. With Wynton Marsalis going back to the old standards most recording companies are just re-issuing tracks by the old masters. It`s far more profitable for them to do that than to promote new musicians. It`s become liike Western Classical music in that people hardly hear any new composers.

It seems sometimes that the only people who have a chance are the young and pretty ladies like Diana Krall etc... I cannot see an Ella Fitzgerald making it today.

By the way Western classical music did permit improvisations till the Romantic period. Even as late as Mozart, composers had fillers in their concertos for cadenzas by soloists to show off their virtuosity. I think it was from Beethoven onwards that , that bit was dropped.

S

Alright, perhaps I was a bit too hard on this author (not the first one, of course) and perhaps there IS a bit of originality in this write-up - some of the humor is pretty good actually - now that I have read it a second time. The ``cut and paste`` term was not to be taken literally - I am sorry axeman if you thought I was accusing you of plagiarising. I was not - I just like original stuff.

(Also, I better be nice - why is it that I suddenly get the feeling that I am being watched!)

There is no reason for interactors to indulge in abusive language (and this includes the writer of this piece). Also, if an accusation is being made about the article not being original, please direct me to the `original` work.

It is absolutely unnecessary to bring in the Chowk editor in almost all interacts or make insinuations about a ``gang``. If you must, then fight content with content. Consider this as adding to the ``quality control``, which incidentally is not about keeping ONE person happy.

There is to be no further dicussion on this post.

Thanks.

#10 Axey

I notice you have not denied the ``cut and paste`` accusation. Sorry man, your article stinks and you know it. If you wish to see what an original article reads like - go read, for example, ``Lahore in a Moment``. Give us something original and people will love you for it. Nobody wanted a history lesson in Jazz - most people who are into it they just like the music. And don`t give this crappy excuse that this is a history lesson so there is no room for original content - nobody believes it.

Thou protesteth too much! This write-up was a stinker and you know it. You don`t like my comments - then go write it better!

Perhaps others were too chicken to tell you - or merely intimidated by the new chowk management! (For all I know, you may be part of the gang.)

Re: #9

Blow Job… this is not fiction you idiot. This is what History looks like. This was not an exercise in literary sculpture, it was for an introduction to those who know nothing about it from someone who does a lot. Get it? No. Chooitya. Jazz has a history that no matter who tells it, it sounds the same, but that is too much for your little brains to handle. Trust me, I am right.

#7 Axeman

Looks like somebody got the axe! As anyone can see, my criticism was of the article, not of the music.

Unfortunately, inspite of your displeasure, I must stand by my original comments. In fact, your knee-jerk response further validates what I guessed. Your hypocrisy is quite visible - you ask me - what instruments I play - now contrast that with the very first statement of your article about who this article is for. Well, this interactor IS one of those people - and anyone can see how you reacted.

Face it axey, you have been caught with your literary pants down - and are fuming mad over it!

I hope your next write-up involves a bit more effort than this ``copy and paste`` stunt that you pulled here right under the noses of those watchful but - oh, ever so innocent - editors. Don`t loose heart - you just need to work a bit harder - try to make it a bit more original, that`s all! And I wish you well (really)!

Good show Kutubshahi. Nice read...there is something very endearing and darn right naughty about Jazz. the way it can elate ones senses...the cornucopia of instruments that alomst seem like they are singing. Another wonderful gift to the world by America...almost as good a gift as Scarlett Johannson.

Re: #5

Blow Job Kumar Sahib, What instrument do you play? Where do you play? When is your next CD being released? I made clear that this was meant to be a basic write-up. I apologize for it being too basic for your liking. In terms of PBS, please check a dictionary for ‘not-for-profit’ as you need to first understand basics such as that. Yeah, the Arts and Endowments do provide funding, but there is no mandate that dictates what and how much funding. The PBS is owned by 100s of private TV channels, but it is non-commercial (do youknow what that means?) you should watch it sometimes (do you like Thomas the Tank Engine?), if you live near some transmitters.

I will anxiously wait for your masterpiece on post-war Jazz.

i think it was henry miller who wrote a book on america (after returning from france) lambasting america no end (most of it totally uncalled for). the only thing original about america according to miller was jazz music.

(Warning: reality ahead!)

What a piece of crap this write-up is!

You like Jazz? You really like Jazz?

Are you sure you like Jazz?

If so, please don`t write utter sophomoric buck-waas articles like this.

Those chowk editors must be really hard-pressed! Darn, I thought they were serious about quality control!

[Public Broadcasting Service, a non-profit TV channel that runs on private donations]
As per their web-site, in the year 2003, PBS got approx. $500 million in Federal funding, or approximately 20%.

[Jazz, like all things American, is “in-your-face”...like two gay teenagers kissing in front of their homophobic parents]
What a ludicrous generalization! And what a lousy example. Probably this is the only line which is your own, original contribution to this piece that did not get pulled from else where - other than that long winding introduction!

I better go and take that aspirin, or some such medicine - maybe it can make me forget I ever read this stuff.

Good stuff! You should include a little something on the neo-experimental jazz bands like Vandermark 5. But good stuff.

Wondeful article. I loved reading the whole article with out getting bored. Thanks.
{{{It is like two gay teenagers kissing infront of their homophobic parents. Yes, Jazz is like that}}}
To listen to Jazz , you got to have jazzy mood. To get jazzy, you got to have freedom of emotions (uninhibited) , that;s what jazz is!!!!
Beautiful.Simply beautiful.

Great article! Tracing what a long way Jazz has come. Its a shame though that Jazz is now increasingly associated with pretentious bars and clubs where most people tend to care more about seeing and being seen than actually hearing the music.

jazz suits the mood, the settling-after-work mood which really needs unwinding and pleasant setting of the environment with personal space for time soft corner lights, light coloured brocaded furniture, the waitress too gets absorbed in the aura of the club and attention is desirable, the population around is meagre, the music is light, thoughts are continuous flowing and evening slows down - a perfect recipe for a not-so paltry a less-than-a-degree unsolicited and informal self-discovery.