Tribeca ’15: Song of Lahore

There have been many notable fusions of jazz and South Asian musical forms over the years, such as Buddy Rich’s percussion duets with Alla Rakha and the Indo-Jazz Fusion double quintet co-led by Joe Harriott and John Mayer. However, the impetus for such explorations typically started on the jazz side. The traditional musicians of Pakistan’s Sachal Studios are a different case entirely. They decided to experiment with jazz forms and they did it at a time when simply being a musician could get them killed in Islamist Pakistan. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy & Andy Schocken chronicle their unlikely collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in Song of Lahore, which screens during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

In Taliban infested Pakistan, culture of any sort is largely prohibited. It was not always so. The Sachal Studio musicians represent a long line of artists, stretching back to the time when Lahore was a renowned center of music. Things were bad under the Zia regime, improved somewhat after his fall, but became even more dangerous in recent years. Identifying the need for a safe creative outlet, Izzat Majeed secretly opened Sachar Studios.

Finally, Pakistani musicians had a place to play together. With their chops rebounding, Majeed challenges them to tackle American style jazz, hoping it will broaden their potential base of listeners. The idea that the commercial popularity of jazz looks enviable to Pakistani musicians is a pretty depressing thought. Nevertheless there are kinships between the two musical traditions, most notably the improvisational ethos.

Of course, one of the bestselling jazz records of all time was Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, featuring his classic rendition of “Take Five.” When the Sachar Studio posts a video of the ambitious arrangement of “Take Five” on youtube, its viral appeal quickly surpasses their expectations. Soon, they are invited to play a special concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center. However, melding the two ensembles will be a tricky proposition.

Wow, it is simultaneously inspiring and horrifying to see musicians risking everything to play jazz. Indeed, Song leaves little doubt jazz is the music of freedom, giving a deserved shout out to the U.S. State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors program of the 1960s. Longtime fans and patrons will also find it cool to see J@LC mainstays like Ron Westray, Victor Goines, Ryan Kisor, and Joe Temperley on the big screen. However, not to be pedantic, but the frequent references to “Dave Brubeck’s Take Five” get a little irksome. Actually, Paul Desmond, a longtime Brubeck band-member and leader in his own right, composed “Take Five” and his alto solo (along with Joe Morello’s classic drum solo) helped make it so enduringly popular.

Regardless, Obaid-Chinoy & Schocken show a fine general understanding of the music and appreciate it enough to let us hear some of the performances in their entirety. Ellington’s “Limbo Jazz” is an especially hospitable vehicle for the combined group’s improvisations.

Song of Lahore does something that is almost impossible. It gives viewers a faint glimmer of hope for the future of Pakistan. It also features some wonderfully swinging and sophisticated music. Highly recommended, Song of Lahore screens again today (4/23), as part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

PBS Stomps Off Holiday Jazz

Whenever PBS broadcasts jazz programming, I have to give it breaking news treatment. After all, I have been critical of the network for using Ken Burns Jazz series as a carrot during pledge drives, and then failing to deliver regular jazz programming throughout the rest of the year (terms like “bait and switch” may have been bandied about). So PBS definitely deserves credit for broadcasting Wynton Marsalis and members of the J@LC band live from their home in the House of Swing (Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center) in Red Hot Holiday Stomp, as part of the Live from Lincoln Center series.

The first half of the program was a well conceived set consisting largely of swinging versions of holiday favorites. Literally everyone loves jazz Christmas music, but a lot of folks just do not realize it. After all, jazz musician Vince Guaraldi was responsible the beloved music of the ever-popular A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here Marsalis and company run through some crowd pleasing Christmas standards like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” and what Marsalis called “that old Christmas favorite:” “Sheik of Araby.”

If not revolutionary, there were some very entertaining solos, especially from Wessel “Warmdaddy” Anderson on alto and Wycliffe “Pinecone” Gordon on trombone—it is great to hear them back in the band. “Sweet Papa” Don Vappie, who according to Marsalis “got up out of his sick bed to come out here tonight,” probably supplied the highlight of the set with his soulful vocal on “Blue Christmas.”

The second half of the set was made up of “Music, Deep Rivers in My Soul,” a musical collaboration between Marsalis and poet Maya Angelou. S. Epatha Merkerson conveyed strength and warmth in her delivery of Angelou’s words, but the text itself seemed slight compared to the heft of Marsalis’s major works on similar themes, like Blood on the Fields, Congo Square, and In This House on This Morning. Though impressive, the energy of Jared Grimes accompanying tap dancing is probably best experienced live, and was not well served by the camera work last night. Again, the band acquitted itself well. In particular, Ali Jackson’s concluding drum solo was a perfect conclusion, showing wit and dexterity, rather than bombast.

Surprisingly, the typically witty Marsalis did not bring his A game for between-tune banter, but the only really embarrassing aspect of the broadcast was Glenn Close’s gushy “interview” with Marsalis. If you can forget that, which should not be hard to do, it was entertaining showcase of what J@LC does best. (Look for it if your local affiliate did not carry it live last night.) Even if you are not down with Marsalis and his conceptions of jazz, this is great band. It has most of what I consider their classic line-up from the late 1990’s, with fantastic musicians, like Anderson, Gordon, Joe Temperly, Victor Goines, Ron Westray, and of course Marsalis himself, making Holiday Stomp a solid, if all too infrequent, jazz feature on Public Television.

Tribeca has CHOPS

One of the refreshing things about attending IAJE conferences is seeing and hearing high school students who have a passion for jazz. Those are the sort of young musicians who are performing in Jazz @ Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition this weekend and are featured in Bruce Broder’s documentary CHOPS, screening at the Tribeca Film Festival.

CHOPS started as a film about Broder’s son Owen, an alto and clarinet player, and his jazz band mates from Douglas Anderson School for the Arts, in Jacksonville, FL (DA). What started as an examination of their dedication to jazz grew in scope when their school’s band was accepted by Jazz @ Lincoln Center for Essentially Ellington, dubbed “the Super Bowl” of school jazz band competitions at one point in the film.

The DA jazz band had competed in Essentially Ellington once before, but they were clearly considered underdogs. Eventually, CHOPS introduces viewers to two bands from Seattle, who are perennial rivals in EE, sort of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of high school jazz bands. However, the DA musicians are the focus of the film, with Broder, drummer Jamison Ross, trombonist T.J. Norris, and trumpeter Jeron “Recio” Fruge taking most of the interview solos. On camera, these young musicians are poised, articulate, witty, and very serious about their music.

Every year J@LC sends out new Ellington transcriptions to high school bands. Those who chose to compete, record three of them, with hopes of performing their selections in New York. Each year, one tune seems to be picked by nearly every band. In 2006 “Idiom 59, Part 2” (part of a suite originally composed for Newport) was the song of the year, seen performed by a string of bands in a montage. Conversely, we only see one rendition of “Rocks in My Bed,” but Isabella DuGraf, the vocalist from Seattle’s Roosevelt High, seems to make quite an impression on the young men from DA.

Anytime a film comes out with a predominantly Ellington soundtrack, its worth seeing. However, CHOPS really captures the passion these students have for the music, which only grows as they go work their way towards New York. There is no question you develop a rooting interest in the DA band as you follow them from band auditions, through their preparations for the competition, to the main event. Watching it makes one optimistic about the future of jazz. All sorts of marketing comparisons could be made for the film: a musical Rocky, Hoop Dreams with a rhythm section, etc.

In fact, the sports comparison is apt. Its producers have a background in sports films, and it has been entered in the Tribeca Film Festival’s sports film division. Certainly, the DA band members practice, travel, and play together like a sports team does. What they do demands mental and physical discipline, and the competition they face is just as serious.

CHOPS has one more screening in conjunction with Tribeca, at 10:30 tomorrow morning, in the Kips Bay AMC. Hopefully, as it makes the festival circuit, CHOPS will land a nice distribution deal, because it really deserves it.