If you thought listening to Jazz in Gurgaon was merely firing up your laptop to Youtube and Spotify, then the mind blowing initiative of DLF 5 : Staging a Jazz concert showcasing a Jazz legend at 1 Horizon Centre was indeed a gigantic value add. Adding grist to the plethora of Cultural and Musical events staged under the auspices of DLF.
Many thanks to DLF for opening the language of jazz to all comers and newbies. Louiz Banks Quartet headlined the Jazz India circuit launch. And for many of us, we will not have to take the A train to the Lincoln centre.
Jazz is difficult to learn, both because of its complexity and because of its improvisational nature. Many players amass an encyclopedic knowledge of the music’s structures, but learning to improvise is as much a bodily skill as a mental one. through a mix of styles, from gospel to free jazz.
I first heard the maestro Louise Banks atr the Blue Fox in Calcutta in the early eighties where he was jamming with Braz Gonsalves (sax) and Pam Crain (vocals) . Those hoary days when Usha Iyer sang at the Grand to light up Chowringee and JS was still alive. And the legendary Sanjay Divecha (guitar) like a silent movie accompanist grounded the music and frame his personal interface with the piano. He was certainly the backbone of the Quartet.
Louis Banks opened big and closed bigger with his predilection for downtown jazz that always includes a generous mix of desi compositions. He did not disappoint playing Howrah Bridge and the classic favorite Summertime with equal aplomb. Chasing a historical agenda that actualized in the eighties with a mix of contemporary jazz with classic that was appealingly desi evoking rapturous applause from the appreciative audience.
We were reminded of the generation of Herbie Hancock and Beck and this mash-up of stuff: listening to Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck and Coltrane music set to familiar scores
At the end, you have the sense of having undertaken an immense journey, across variegated landscapes, in the footsteps of a purposeful wanderer. Thank you DLF this was awesome!