01 June 2020, 05:30 am
A Short History of How Jazz Became an Indian Music
Programme Type
Films and Exhibitions
Presentation by Shri Naresh Fernandes, author of the book, The Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The story of Bombay's Jazz Age
Introduction: Ms Shubha Chaudhuri
From the accounts of most standard jazz histories, it took the genius of American saxophonist, John Coltrane to demonstrate in the 1960s how jazz could enrich itself by seeking inspiration in Hindustani classical music. But the reality is more complex. From the 1940s, a passionate group of Indian jazz musicians had been attempting to find an Indian way to play jazz, both in art music and in popular music. The presentation will use audio clips and photographs to trace the journey of jazz from New Orleans to New Delhi, exploring how an American transplant became a vibrant Indian hybrid in the fertile soil of the subcontinent
Talk held on 26 November 2014 as part of the exhibition Jazz in India on view from 26 to 30 November 2014
Introduction: Ms Shubha Chaudhuri
From the accounts of most standard jazz histories, it took the genius of American saxophonist, John Coltrane to demonstrate in the 1960s how jazz could enrich itself by seeking inspiration in Hindustani classical music. But the reality is more complex. From the 1940s, a passionate group of Indian jazz musicians had been attempting to find an Indian way to play jazz, both in art music and in popular music. The presentation will use audio clips and photographs to trace the journey of jazz from New Orleans to New Delhi, exploring how an American transplant became a vibrant Indian hybrid in the fertile soil of the subcontinent
Talk held on 26 November 2014 as part of the exhibition Jazz in India on view from 26 to 30 November 2014
