Concert Review by: Peter Westbrook
Venue: Sangha Bookstore (Takoma Park, Maryland)
March, 2006 - This was a very interesting evening for a number of reasons. First of all, it
was another example of a setting in which jazz and related genres of music can
be presented in a way that makes economic sense. The organizers, Transparent
Productions, to quote from their website,
(http://www.geocities.com/eyelounge/DC/trans.html) "is a non-profit, volunteer
organization that produces creative improvised music concerts in the Washington
DC area. Our goal is to bring this wonderful music to DC audiences while
maximizing the benefit for the artists (by giving them 100% of all proceeds.)"
On this particular occasion, I counted between 50 and 60 people at Sangha
Buddhist Bookstore (sangha.ws) which itself is "a fair trade store &
performance space," where "purchases of anything and everything directly
supports and helps to sustain worker-owned co-operatives." Their policy ensured
that the musicians were reasonably well compensated for the evening. The
intimate setting also lent itself to a high level of rapport between musicians
and audience.
The resulting music was drawn from the more accessible side of Rothenberg's
work. One of the most accomplished multi-instrumentalists in the jazz sphere, he
likes to work, as he explained to me, "both inside and outside," and he sustains
a number of different projects representing this full range of expression.
Sync is a collaboration between contemporary, improvised, American music,
in the persons of Rothenberg and bassist/guitarist Jerome Harris, and the
Hindustani or North Indian tradition, represented by Samir Chaterjee who is
probably the most accomplished tabla player residing in New York.
Jazz/Indian fusion is by no means a new genre, the earliest example is John
Meyer's Indo-Jazz Fusion with Joe Harriot, from Great Britain in 1967.
Since then, John McLaughlin's Shakti went a long way to popularize the
genre, blending his guitar work with Indian artists such as violinist Shankar,
flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia, and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, among others.
Percussionist Trilok Gurtu has done a lot of work in this area, as has an
Italian group called Tihai, and the record label Water Lilly
Acoustics has recorded a number of albums pairing Indian players, both
Northern and Southern, with jazz artists, such as the collaboration between
American flutist James Newton and Indian saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath.
Sync's approach takes its own unique angle. In the notes to the group's first
album Port Of Entry, Rothenberg compares their approach to "a trio of
chefs, experienced in varying degrees in the different musical cuisines of the
world." The results are consistently engaging. Rothenberg utilizes his clarinet
and bass clarinet a good deal, plus outings on alto saxophone and one number on
the Shakuhachi, a Japanese, end-blown flute. He contributes textures that
move from quasi-Indian to bluesey, to a ‘free' jazz sensibility, particularly in
his solo cadenzas. Chaterjee supplies a mastery of tala, or Indian
rhythmic cycles, allowing for compositions by both Rothenberg and himself, in a
variety of odd, but seamlessly-incorporated meters. Harris, mainly playing
acoustic bass-guitar, but occasionally acoustic guitar, provides the glue that
holds the whole sound together. The quality of both the writing and the playing
ensures that all the elements blend together very successfully.
The program this evening drew on pieces from both of their CDs, Post of
Entry and the brand new Harbinger, including "March Hair," which
managed to have a march-like feeling in spite of being in 13, "Crumbly" which
features Rothenberg's alto sax, "Gamalang," and two of Chaterjee's compositions,
"Kashmir" and "109" which alternated between 10 and 9 beat cycles.
Sync is one of the finest examples of "World Music Fusion," (or whatever the
marketing people like to call it.) Their CDs are available at Amazon.com,
with more information at nedrothenberg.com. They are definitely worth
seeking out.
For more information: http://www.nedrothenberg.com
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