People like A.R. Rahman and Dr. Karan Singh swear by it, and it is patronised by none other than jazz enthusiast and former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee.
And this year, the Jazz Utsav, formerly known as Jazz Yatra, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in India. The utsav, that begins on October 31 and concludes on November 2, will be held at the Siri Fort Auditorium.
The festival offers to bring jazz heavyweights from countries like Spain, the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Germany and Poland. Also performing this year will be India’s The Goa Collective that includes Elvis Lobo, Shayne Ballantyne and Arjun Sen on guitar, Lew Hilton on Bass and Bosco d’Souza on drums.
Spain’s well-known trio Diego Amador, the Netherlands’ Deborah J. Carter Quartet and Italy’s Francesco Cafiso Duo will perform on Day One. Saturday’s line-up includes Norway’s Helge Lien and Ruth Wilhelmine; the Steve Davis Quartet (The U.S.); and the Arne Jansen Trio (Germany). Besides the Goa Collective, the High Definition Quartet (Poland); and the famous David Hazeltine trio from the U.S. will perform on Sunday.
On what jazz lovers can look forward to, festival director Astri Ghosh says: “We are bringing a band from Spain and two bands from the U.S. for the first time. There is a Spanish pianist, Diego Amador, who uses the piano like a percussion instrument; then there is a 17-year-old young Italian saxophonist, Francesco Cafiso, who started his musical journey at 12; there is a female vocalist, Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer, whose amazing voice can go up and low five octaves; and an extremely energetic German band.”
Despite the festival being around for 30 years, it still remains a “niche” event. Agreeing, a former Jazz Utsav member says: “When we started the Jazz Yatra in the 1970s, we were all amateurs. We belonged to other professions, but were dedicated jazz lovers. Those days, we were excited because we were starting something new in terms of western music.”
“But once we were able to bring sponsors and bring Grammy award-winning guitarist and composer Larry Carlton to perform in 2010, we thought we had broken into ‘that circle’. But unfortunately, the next year the sponsors backed out and we couldn’t create a buzz. If a celebrity like A.R. Rahman performs at the Jazz Utsav, buzz will be created, and it will gain the required push too. But we cannot afford him.”
Astri adds: “We are a small organisation and we face acute financial crunch. Sponsorships of course will help. Famous American jazz historian Ted Gioia mentioned on his website that the India’s Jazz Utsav is South Asia’s biggest and America should send more jazz artistes to India.”
Though the Indian Council for Cultural Relations organized a jazz festival at Nehru Park for three consecutive years, it was discontinued abruptly.
Says A.R. Rahman: “Every age deserves its art and music. People have a lot of choice today as there are so many live shows happening in each city. Jazz will pick up too as today’s youth love western music.”
This year, Astri hopes more people will be able to attend the festival as the venue has been shifted from FICCI to Siri Fort. To generate more interest, the Dutch and the Spanish bands will be staying at the India International Centre and conducting workshops on Tuesday.
