Jazz and Karnatic Music Intercultural Collaboration in Pedagogical Perspective

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1/27

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Jazz and Karnatic Music: Intercultural Collaboration in Pedagogical Perspective

Author(s): Tanya KalmanovitchSource: The World of Music, Vol. 47, No. 3, The Music of "Others" in the Western World (2005),pp. 135-160

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2/27

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005:135-60

Jazz

and Karnatic Music: Intercultural

Collaboration

in

Pedagogical Perspective

Tanya Kalmanovitch

Abstract

As

uniquely

ntercultural

usic,

azz

hasbeen

haped

y

ts

oint

frican

nd uro-

pean atrimony

as well s a host

f

ocal nddistant usicalothers

"

Among

hese

Indian lassicalmusics

lay special

ole: n wareness

f

ndianmusics

part

f

he

contemporaryazzconsciousness,

nd

azz

musiciansave

requently

ooked

o ndian

classicalmusic s a source

f

bothmusicalnd xtra-musical

nspiration.

arnatic

music-

ongmarginalized

n ndia nd broad- s

emerging

n he

wentyfirst

entu-

ry

sa site

f

pecific

estheticnd

edagogical

nterestn

azz

This

aper eports

n

an

educational

xchange

roject

etweenhe

azz

nd

Contemporary

usic

rogram

of

he ew

chool

niversity

New ork)

nd he

rhaddhvaniesearchnd

Training

Centre

or

Musics

f

heWorld

Chennai),

irected

y

he uthornDecember003

January

004,

n collaborationith

r

Karaikudi

. Subramanian

Brhaddhvani),

Martin ueller

New chool)

ndRonan

uilfoyleNewpark

usic

entre,

ublin).

1. Introduction

Accounts

f

ndianmusic's

reception

n

the

West fter

ndependence

avefocused

on tsrole

n

1960s'

popular

ulture. cholars ave

all but

gnored

hemusic's on-

nections o

American nd

Europeanazz,

which

isplay onger

nd more

omplex

musical nd cultural oots.As a

uniquely

ntercultural

usic,

azz

has been

shaped

by

ts

oint

African nd

European

atrimony,

s well as a

host

f ocal

and distant

musical others."

mong

hese,

ndian lassicalmusics

lay special

ole:

n aware-

nessof ndianmusic s

part

fthe

ontemporary

azz

consciousness,

nd

azz

musi-

cianshave

frequently

ooked o

ndian lassicalmusic s a source f bothmusical

and xtra-musical

nspiration.

John oltrane

amously

tudied

industani usic

rom

ecordings

ndwith

avi

Shankar,

ndwas

planning

o

travel o ndiafor xtended

tudy

efore

is

untimely

death

n

1967.Since

Coltrane's

arly

nd nfluential

xample,

number f

azz

mu-

sicians-including

uchnoted

erformers

s

Charlie

Mariano,

teve

Coleman,

am-

ey

Haddad,

Myra

Melford,

on

Cherry,onny

Rollins,

ohn

McLaughlin,

on

Ellis,

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/27

136

theworld

f

music

7(3)-

2005

David Liebman

ndJames

Newton-

have raveled

o

study

n

ndia nd

collaborate

with ndian

musicians.More

recently,

heightened

wareness f world

music" as

seen new

generation

f

professional

azz

musicians

rom

urope

ndNorth

mer-

ica take

up

studies f ndian

music,

oth

n

ndia nd abroad.

Meanwhile,

genera-

tion fAmerican-born

outhAsianmusicians

avecomeof

age

as

azz performers,

making

music

xplicitly

nformed

y

various

iasporic

dentities.

In

prevailing

Western

models f the

tudy

f

non-Westernmusic-

typified

y

the tandard

articipant-observer

ethodologies

f

ethnomusicology-

he

Western

student

spires

o the

tatus f

"insider,"

ffacing

er

dentity

s

a

Westernmusi-

cian.1Jazzmusicians' tudyf ndian lassicalmusic anbedistinguishedrom c-

ademic

tudy y

hemusician's

ntent,

ften

made

xplicit,

o

combine

retentionf

her rtistic

dentity

ith n

incorporation

f features f ndian

music nto

perfor-

mance.The

rhythmic

eatures

f North nd

South

ndian

lassical

music re

more

readilyncorporated

nto

ross-cultural

erformance,

ince

hey

voidboth

he

high-

ly specialized

armonic

oncepts pecific

o

azz

and

the

highly pecialized

melodic

and

microtonal

spects

f ndian

lassicalmusic.

The Karnatic

music f

South ndia s of

ncreasing

nteresto

azz

musicians ue

to its

comparatively

ore

laborate

hythmic

tala)

system.

he

specific

tility

f

Karnatic

hythmic

ystems

orWestern

rofessional

usical

ducation- s

formal-

ized n azz educator onan

Guilfoyle's

ookCreative

hythmic

oncepts or

Jazz

Improvisation

nd

composer

Rafael Reina' class

Contemporary

usic

through

Non-Western

echniques

t the

Conservatoriuman

Amsterdam

n

the

Nether-

lands-now

provides

azz

musicians ith

clear rameworknd

pecific

ools

o

n-

corporate

arnatic

lements

nto

heir

mprovisation

nd

compositionGuilfoyle

1995,1998;

Haddad

1986a,

1986b).

In

the

ast,

Western

tudentsavefocused

n theHindustani

usic fNorthn-

dia.

Since itarist

avi Shankar's

apid

ise

o

celebrity

n

North

merica nd

Europe

in

the

arly

1960s,

Hindustani

usichas dominated

heWestern

oncept

f ndian

music. t bears he nfluenceffourteenth-centuryuslim ulers,eflectinghe raf-

fic

n

culturend

materials

long

he

ilkRoad.

Similarly,

industani usic's

dom-

inance

n

the

Western

magination

eflectsndia's

colonial

history.

t s

not n acci-

dent hat he

abla nd itar

fHindustani

usic,

nd

not he

mridangam

nd

vina f

Karnatic

music,

ave

underscored estern

antasies f

an

exotic

ndia.

Rather,

t s

by

consequence

f the

entralization

f

power

n

thenorthernalf

f the

ubconti-

nent,

nd a

reflection

oth f the

development

f Westernized

ndian lites n

the

north,

nd

ongoing

rafficn

culture etween

he

metropole

nd ts

margins.

More

recently,

s a

specific

outh

Asian

diasporic

resence

s

emerging

orld-

wide,

Karnatic

music s

assuming

ew

prominence.

ong marginalized

n

ndia nd

abroad,Karnaticmusic s newly entral s both instrumentnd con...providing

structural

nd

deological

nity

o the

ommunity

hat

dentifiestself s

South ndi-

an"

(Hansen

1999:104).

As Western

musicians ravel o

South ndiato

study

n n-

creasing

umbers,

xpatriate

outh ndianmusicians

e.g.,

Trichy

ankarann

Tor-

onto)

nd

studentsf

Karnaticmusic

e.g.,

RafaelReine

n

Amsterdam)

ave

been



4/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic

137

establishingmportant

istal

itesof South

ndianmusical wareness nd

activity,

creating

iverse

ewcommunitiesfKarnatic

music

iteracy.

Jazz

musicians

rom orth

merica nd

Europe

re

collaborating

ithKarnatic

musicians,

reating

ew

compositional

nd

mprovisational

orms

ased on struc-

tures

nd

techniques

rawn

rom

arnaticmusic usedwith

azz.

These fusions"

f

jazz

and ndianmusic re

aking lace ncreasingly

n

a structural

evel,

made

possi-

ble

through

esternmusicians'

amiliarity

ith he

vocabulary

f Karnatic

music.

SouthAsian

azz

musicians,

esident

nd

non-resident

like,

renow

speaking

rom

a

diasporic erspective,

dding

new

configurations

f

race, ulture,

nd

dentity

o

jazz's potentnterculturalix.These circumstancesesultnsignificantewsyn-

cretic/hybrid

orms f

music,

nd howhow

azz

holds he

otential

o

articulateew

non-oppressive

nteractions

etween ast andWest cross

nduringnequities,

nd

new

onfigurations

f

power.

This

paper rovides preliminaryeport

n

an educational

xchange roject

e-

tween he

Jazz and

Contemporary

usic

Program

f theNew School

University

(New York)

and

the

Brhaddhvani esearch nd

Training

entre

or

Musics of the

World

Chennai).

directed he

venture,

hich

ook

place

from

ecember

003

-

January

004,

n

collaboration

ith

Dr

Karaikudi . Subramanian

Brhaddhvani),

MartinMueller

New School)

andRonan

GuilfoyleNewpark

Music

Centre).

t was

designeds a pilot cheme or proposed ive-yearnternationalxchange etween

Brhaddhvanindmembersf

the

nternational

ssociation fSchools f

Jazz.

Our

primaryoal

was

to

develop

modelfor ducational

xchange

etween

n

Indian chool ndWesternchool

hatwas

both

quitable

nd

reciprocal.

nherento

our

oncept

f

xchange

was an

emphasis

n

mutual

earning

s

expressed

n

collab-

orative

erformance.

e wished or he ndian

articipants

o

earn s much bout

jazz

as the

azz participants

ere o earn boutKarnatic

music,

o

betternable ll

parties

o

engage

n

meaningful

usical iscourse.

We

hoped

hat

asting

elation-

ships

would e formed etweennstitutions

nd ndividuals. e

expected,

inally,

o

articulatehe esthetic,urricular,ndorganizationalerms fsuch nexchangeo

that ther chools ould

makeuse of

our

model.

Although

he

exchange

rogram

as

not

nitially

ntendeds

such,

t came to

form he entral

art

f

the

fieldwork

or

my

Ph.D.

dissertation,

hich s concerned

with

xamining

nteractionsf

professionalazz

andKarnaticmusicians

hrough

he

lens of

postcolonial

nd

globalization

heory.2

s a

professional

azz

musician

whose

estheticoncerns ave ed meto

study

arnatic

music,

nd s a

Ph.D. candi-

date nvolved

n

researching

he ame

phenomenon,occupy

dual

standpoint

s

musician nd cholar.

This

ccount erves

s a case

study

fcontact

etween

azz

and ndian

musicians.

In describinghe ocial,economic, esthetic,nd nstitutionalrganizationfthe

study,propose

o

examine he ocial

ndmusical tructureshat re

required

o sus-

tainmutual

xchange

n transcultural

ractice.

situate he ccount

within histori-

cal and cultural

ontext,

n

order o

llustratehe

reciprocal

ature f

nfluence e-



5/27

138

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005

tween

azz

and

ndianmusic.

Ultimately,

hope

to

highlight

he

potential

f

azz-

Karnatic onfluence

s a site or

quitable

ntercultural

xchange.

2.

A Brief

History

f

Jazz

and Indian Music

2.1 The

Global Character

f

Jazz

Problems

n

defining

he haracternd content f

azz

have been

present

ince he

genre'svery eginnings.cademic iscourse requentlyramesazz as an African

American

music,

ut he erm

jazz"

functionss a

signifier

or

n extendedndhet-

erogeneous

ange

f

genres.

he

musical,

acial nd

culturalharacterf

azz

resists

delimitation

ndthe

variegation

fthe diom vades

onsensus.

hough

romtsbe-

ginnings

thas borne

hemarks f

a

joint

European

ndAfrican

atrimony,

azz

has

always

been

permeable

o musical

nfluences rom ther

ultures,

nd ndeedhas

been

haped

rom

ts

nception

y

both

ts

proximity

nd

opposition

o

Westernlas-

sical and

thnicmusics.

As America's

first

opular

musics,

pre-jazz

and

jazz

forms

preadrapidly

throughout

he

world,

tarting

n

the

mid-nineteenth

entury

nd

ccelerating

n

ear-

nest t theturn fthecentury.azztraveled o distant ontinentsia routesong

charted

yEuropean

olonists;

s colonialism

as

given

way

o

globalization,

azz's

international

argins

ave

effectedn

increasing

mpact

n

its

metropoles.

y

the

beginning

fWorld

War

I

a

wealth

f

professional

azz performers

n

Europe,

sia,

Australia,

nd SouthAmerica

ad

adopted

nd

adaptedazz

in

their wn

countries,

preparing

he foundations or

azz

to become

fully

nternationalized

Shipton

2001:2).

The

impact

f these

arly

ocalizations

an also be seen to have

aid the

groundwork

or he

globalization

f American

music n the 1980s."World

music"

fusions f

American

nd

non-

mericanmusic

ad nfact een

aking lace

since

he

beginningf thetwentiethentury,s local performersdapted ndincorporated

jazz

into ocal

musical orms. rom hat

arly

ime

azz

has served

s a site or he r-

ticulationf ocal

dentity

ndresistanceo

hegemony.

he nternational

istory

f

jazz highlights

he

multiplicity

f ocal voices

and the

reciprocal

ature f musical

influence.

2.2

Jazz

n ndia

As

in

Europe

nd

Africa,

frican-merican

minstrel

roupes ppeared

n India as

early s themid-nineteenthentury,ntroducinghemusic nd musicians ourban

Indian ulture.

uring

he

azz age

of

he

1920s

nd he

ig

band raof he

1930s

nd

1940s,

uropean

ndNorth merican ance

bands ourednternational

ircuits,

er-

forming

n

ballrooms

nd

major

hotels

n

Bombay

nd Calcutta.

n

the

930s,

azz

also

came

to

ndia

via

wealthy

ndians

whose

ravels

o

Europe ut

hem

n

contact



6/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic

usic 139

withAfrican-merican

azz

musicians

erforming

here.

pon

returno

ndia,

hese

lites

would

rrange

or ndian

hotels

o

engage

hemusicians or ocial occasions

(Pinckney

989:36).

In

ndia,

azz

has

generally

een ssociated

with

Westernized

ndian

pper

lass-

es

and

those

uropeans

nd

North mericans

iving

n ndia n

a

diplomatic

rbusi-

ness

apacity.

azz lourished

n

themostWesternizedndian

entersuch s

Calcut-

ta and

Bombay.3

here

s

little

vidence hat he

azz played

n ndia n the irst alf

of he wentieth

entury

ore

ny yncreticelationship

o

ndianmusic. he context

of

performance

either

nspired

or ondoned he rticulationf

resistance; ather,

jazz was more ikely means ywhich ndianmusiciansspired o achievegreater

levels f tatus

nd

mobility.

From

ndependence

nward

t

became

ncreasingly

ifficult

or

musicianso

earn

a

living layingazz

in ndia.Two main actorsontributedothis:

irst,

he

rohibi-

tionmovementf

he

1950s,

ndmore

enerally

he nti-Westernentiment

hat

ol-

lowed

ndependence.

he

majority

f

ndian

azz

performers

ere rom

nglo-Indi-

an

or Christian oan

communities

nd

occupied marginal

osition

ith

espect

o

the

prevailing

indunationalistentiment.

azzmusicians

ontinued

o be

patron-

ized

bywealthy nglo-Indians,

or

whom

twas a status

ymbol

o

hire n

Anglo-In-

dian

azz

bandfor ocialfunctions

n

private

lubs nd

op

hotels,

ut uch

atronage

deterioratedith hewidespread nglo-Indianmigrationhat egan n the1950s.

Jazzwas not

ncorporated

nto

he ndiannationalist

roject,

hich

ocused n

constructingspiritualized,

e-historicizedndiannational

music ree fWestern r

Muslim nfluence.

n the

enerations

fter

ndependence,

owever,

azz enjoyed

ew

currencymong

heWesternizedntellectual

nd artisticlites.

tarting

n the

Cold

War,

WillisCono er' "Voice of

America azzHour"beamed

azz

into he ndian

imagination:

he was the

guru

who ed them the

many

ntricaciesf

azz.

His dis-

embodied oice

had

been

o seductive hat

t

turned

many

f

those

who

might

ave

otherwise

atronized

he itar nd the

mridangam

to

the

patronage

f themusic f

blackAmerica"Mehta1993:16).A group fGujaratindParsibusinessmennau-

gurated

he iennial azzYatra estival

n

1978.Jazz

ppreciation

ocieties emained

active

n

Calcutta

nd

Bombay Gupta

004),

and ndian-born

azz

musicians

raz

Gonsalves,

ouis

Banks,

nd Ramesh hotham ollaborated

ithKarnatic ocalist

R.

A. Ramamani o

nitiate

ignificant

ew

yncretic

orms

n

the1980s.

2.3

Jazz

nd ndianMusic

Indianmusic oundts

way

nto

azz by

he

ame

route

t ook nto

American

opular

culture:hroughhe nfluencef sitaristaviShankar.hankar as establisheds a

solo

performer

n an international

ndianmusic

performance

ircuit

y

the

mid-

1950s,

ut twas his

collaborations

ith

rominent

nddiverse

Westernrtists

uch

as classicalviolinvirtuoso ehudi

Menuhin,

azz saxophonist

ohn

oltrane,

nd

most

mportantly

he

English

ock

uartet

heBeatles hat arned

im nternational



7/27

140

theworld

f

music

7(3)-

2005

fame

n the

1960s.

Shankar's

itar

igured rominently

n

the oundtrackfthe

op-

ular

magination,

nd Shankar

uickly

ecame

he

figurehead

or

he

ntire

ndian

classical

music radition

Reck 1985:93).

American

opular

ndcounterulture f

the

1960s

was

unabashedly

rientalist

in

tone,

nd

this ecamemanifest

n

new

piritual

ndmusical nterestso

which n-

dianculture

as central. merican

opular

ulture f

the

day

was

"[a]

curious

mix

that ncludedRavi

Shankar,

industhani

usic,

xperimentation,

allucinogenic

drugs,

indu

philosophy

nd

gurus,

nd the ndia

pilgrimage"

ibid.: 6).

As hun-

dreds

pon

thousands

f Western ouristsraveled o

ndia

n

search f

enlighten-

ment, newbreed f"jet-streamuru" oundubstantialollowings- nd substan-

tial

profits-

n

theUnited tates.

By

the

mid-1960s

hefad for ndianmusic nd

culture ad reached

pic proportions,

n

argepart

ue to the normous ame fthe

Beatles,

whose

engagement

ith

rugs,

ndian

music,

nd Hindu

philosophy

as

welldocumented

nthe

opular

media. he

"raga

ock"

ad eachedts

peak

between

May

and

September

966

Farrell

997:177).

Jazz's

affiliation ith ndian

music,

lthough redating

ock

music's,

was also

shaped y

the

Zeitgeist

f

the

960s.

Ravi Shankar's

utelage

f

prominent

merican

and

Europeanazz

musicians uch s John

oltrane

nd John

McLaughlin

et nto

play ignificant

esthetic

evelopments

n the

azz

idiom.

y

1961,

Coltrane

as al-

ready eeply ngagednthe tudyfHindustani usic nd ould ee the ossibilities

for

his artistic

rowth.

e

told

nterviewer

ranois

ostif,

I

collect herecords

[Shankar]'

made,

nd his musicmoves

me. 'm certain hat

f

recorded ith

im

I'd

increase

mypossibilities

enfold,

ecause 'm familiar ithwhathe does

and

understand

nd

appreciate

is

work"

in

Porter

999:209).

A

meeting

etween ol-

trane

nd

Shankar

was

arranged

n

December

961,

nd

several essonsfollowed.

Accounts f Coltrane' interest

n

Indianmusic

foreground

is

oint

musical nd

spiritual

otivations.

is

study

f

Hindustani usicwas

part

f

a

broader

ompara-

tive

project hrough

hich e aimed o uncover

nd

express

musical

niversalities,

this art fa stillbroaderpiritualourney hrough hichhe soughto understand

and

deepen

ismusical

owers

ibid.:

1

1).

Coltrane's

yncreticpproach

o

his ndi-

an nfluences

perhaps

most

bvious

n

the rack

India"

from he

lbum

ive t the

VillageVanguard

recorded

n

November 961.

The

melody

s

likely

ranscribed

from Vedicchant

vailable

n

a

Folkways

elease tthe

ime,

nd he xtended

m-

provisation

akes

place

overG

pedal

Coltrane

998;

Porter

999:209).

Since

his

death,

oltrane

as

occupied

n conic

osition

n

azz,

and

his

egacy

as

ntroduced

Indianmusic o countless

azz

musicians.

A

prodigious

nd

prominentoung

musician ho oured

ithMiles Davis

while

in

his

twenties,

ohn

McLaughlin

lso became nvolved

with

he

vogue

for

ndian

culture ndspirituality.cLaughlin's uru riChinmoy avehim hename Ma-

havishnu",

hich

McLaughlin

hen

ent o a seriesof electric ockfusion ands

calledthe

Mahavishnu

rchestra.

n

1971,

during

he lush fhis considerableuc-

cess with he irst f

hisMahavishnu

ands,

McLaughlin

nrolled s

an

extra-curric-

ular

tudent

t

Wesleyan

niversity

o

study

arnaticmusic n thevina

with r

S.



8/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

nd

Karnatic usic

141

Ramanathan. erehe metKarnatic iolinist

.

Shankar,

Ph.D. student

n

the thno-

musicology rogram. heyplayed

ater hat

year

with akir

Hussein,

on of

Ravi

Shankar'

accompanist

lia Rakha.Not

ong

fter,

cLaughlin

bandoned he uc-

cessful

Mahavishnu

roject

in

his ownwords the oudest

ndfastest

roup

n the

Planet ")

for he coustic

uartet

hakti

n whichhe

collaborated

xclusively

ith

Indian lassicalmusicians. e has described

is

time

laying

with

Shakti"

s

idyl-

lic,

ullied

nly y

the

disapproval

f

agents,

adio

tations,

nd

his

record

abel:the

project

as a commercialailure

McLaughlin

004).

The

group

as

enjoyed

onsid-

erably reater

ommercialuccess ince tsreformulation

s "Rememberhakti"

n

1997.

2.4

Jazz

nd Orientalism

In

1978

Edward aid

used he erm

Orientalism"

odescribe he

uropean

onstruc-

tion fthe

tereotypical

rient

s a

romantic,xotic,

nd

unchanginglace.

Both

n

object

f cademic

tudy

nd

subject

fvivid

maginings,

TheOrient erved ode-

fine

urope

and

the

West)

as its

contrasting

mage,

dea,

personality,xperience"

(Said

1978:2).

Said discussed

he

cholarly

nd

maginativespects

f

Orientalism

as

acting

within he ontext fa corporatenstitutionormaintaininguropean-

specifically

rench ndBritish-

mperial

uthority

ver heOrient.

The

history

f he

elationship

f ndianmusic

nd heWest anbe read

s a case

study

n

Orientalism,

nd the

manner

n

whichmusicwas

manifest

n

the olonial

project

as beenwelldocumented

y

Farrell

1997),

among

thers. ince

the

egin-

nings

f

mperialism,

ndianmusichas seen several

ogues

n the

West,

most oin-

ciding

with

pecific olitical,

conomic,

r

cultural vents hat ave

brought

ndia

into he

public magination.

rientalism

id

not

become

pparent

n

azz

in

any ig-

nificant

ay

until he

1960s.

David

Reck describes a brief

lurry

n

azz,

with he

obligatory re-performanceojournn Calcutta r Bombay, anskriticitles or

tunes,

cat

singers

n

saris,

ambura rone

backgrounds,

uest

abla

players

nd

pseudo-raga

mprovisations

hich

usuallymetamorphosed

nto hemore

familiar

jazz

licks"

Reck 1985:95).

Reck contrasts

uchfaddishness ith oltrane's

more

serious

evel" of

engagement,

nd

certainly

he

nearly

0

years

f nteractions

e-

tween

azz

and Indian

music since then-

during

which ime

popular

music has

moved n to other

reoccupations-

hould howmost

azz

musicians' nvolvement

in

ndianmusic obe

basedon

something

ore ubstantial

han ashion.



9/27

142

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005

3.

The Pilot

ExchangeProgram

3.1

Backgroundf

he

xchange rogram

Dr

Karaikudi . Subramanian

nd

Brhaddhvani

The educational

xchange

was

originally

onceived f

by myself

nd rish

assist,

composer

nd ducator onan

Guilfoyle,

n

collaboration

ith r Karaikudi

.

Sub-

ramanian,

ounder

nddirectorf he

Brhaddhvaniesearch nd

Training

entre or

Musics of theWorld

n

Chennai,

ndia.

Dr

Subramanian,

ninth-generation

ina

playernthe amilyfKaraikudi inaiSambasivayer nd nA-gradedrtist fAll

India

Radio,

has

performed

nternationally

ndreleased

ward-winning

olo

albums.

In

1975he enrolled

n

the h.D.

program

n

ethnomusicology

t

Wesleyan

niversi-

ty

n

Middletown,

onnecticut,

ompleting

dissertation

n

which e examined

he

Karaikudi nd

Mysore

vina

styles

n

considerable etail

Subramanian 986).

Through

his

esearch

e was led to reconsider

is native

radition,

not

s a

com-

pelled

r

deliberate

cquisition,

ut s a

worthwhile

earch odiscover

my dentity

n

whateverontext

find

myself'

Subramanian000:79).

Upon

hisreturn

o

ndia

n

1986,

ubramanianook

p

a

position

s a

professor

n

the

Department

f Music at the

University

f

Madras.He became oncerned

ith

whatheperceivedo be theuneven tate f music ducation othn the raditional

gurukala

master-disciple)ystem

nd nstitutional

ettings.

n

response,

e devel-

oped

modern

arnaticmusic

methodology

hat alanced raditionalnd nstitution-

al

approaches

n

globalperspective.

his

methodology,

ince itled Correlated

b-

jective

Music Education

nd

Training"

COMET),

is at theheart f

Brhaddhvani's

mission.

Founded

y

Dr

Subramanian

n

1989,

Brhaddhvani

s a

non-profit,ax-exempt

institution

upportedy

the

Ford

Foundation,

ith dditional

roject upport

rom

national oundations.

he centre s locatedon

a

quiet

street

n

Raja

Annamalai

Puram, prosperouseighborhoodncentral hennai. he mainbuilding eatures

classrooms,

n

open-air

uditorium,

recording

tudio,

ehearsal

pace,

a

library,

andoffices.t

employs

small

tafff

dministrators,aretakers,

nd

computer-au-

dio

technician,

ndmost f he

eaching

taffre

graduates

f he

rogram.

rhaddh-

vani' simultaneousommitmento tradition

nd

to

technology rovides triking

juxtapositions:

n

the

ourtyard

inamaker .

Natarajan

uilds n nstrumentccord-

ing

othe

rinciples

earned ver

hree

enerations,

hile

nside

r. Subramanian

l-

lustratesheuse of

FruityLoops,sequencing

oftware

oolmost ften sedto

gen-

erate

oops

for lectronic

usic,

s

a

practice

oolfor

earning

arnatic

hythms.

Brhaddhvanis a

founding

ember f ndia's Archives esource

Community

(ARC),a national etworkf rchivesupportedy he ord oundation.mongts

archival

rojects

as

been

he

documentation

f

Sopanam

the

emple

music fKer-

ala,

using descriptive

otation

eveloped y

Dr

Subramanian

pecifically

o

repre-

sent he

omplicated

amakas

f South

ndianmusic.

xperience

n

theuse ofnota-



10/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic

143

tional nd

computerechnologies

s a

meansof

documenting,

nderstanding,

nd

learning

usic

ives

Brhaddhvani's usicians

umerous

dvantages.

Central o Brhaddhvani's ission as been the

concept

f

fostering

ollabora-

tions crossmusic

raditions,

oth

withinndia

and

nternationally.

tudentsearn

folk

ongs long

with lassical

epertoire;

he nstituteosts nternationalusicians

and

composers

some,

ikeFinnish

omposer

ero

Hameenniemi,

eturn

egularly);

and nternationaltudentsromWesternlassical nd

azz backgrounds

ave tudied

there or

eriods

fweeks rmonths.ince

1998,

Brhaddhvani

as

participated

n

an

exchange rogram

ith he lassicalmusic

rogram

tthe ibelius

Academy

n

Hel-

sinki, inland.

My

own

xperience

ith rhaddhvani

egan

n

May

of

2002,

when traveledo

Chennai o

study

ith r

Subramanian.

uring

he ourse four

essons,

r Subra-

manianwould ften sk me to describe owthematerials e was

teaching

me could

be

applied

o

my

wn

practice

s a

jazz

andWestern lassicalviolist ndviolinist.

was

frequently

truck

y

the similaritiesetween r

Subramanian'

pedagogical

philosophy

one

which aw music

ducation

s a

democratic

nd

piritual

ndertak-

ing

concerned

with

rticulatingdentity

nd

self-expression

n

society-

nd

that

which sharedwith number f

my olleagues

n

azz

education. utof

these is-

cussions,

we

began

o

articulatehebasis for collective esthetic f

ntercultural

collaboration.shared otes rom

my

essonswith

my olleague

Ronan

Guilfoyle.

Together, uilfoyle

nd

developed

basic

concept

or n Indian ducational

x-

change.

Dr Subramanian'intial

esponse

was

enthusiastic,

uthe was concerned

thatwe

develop

proposal

hatwas

trulyquitable.

Duringmy

ast

weeks

n

Chennai,

uilfoyle

nd

developed proposal

or a

pi-

lot

xchange

o be carried utunder he

uspices

fthe nternationalssociation

f

Schools f

Jazz,

n

nternational

etworkf schools f

azz

founded

y saxophonist

David Liebman

n

1989.

A

membership

f 84 schools

represents

0

countries

n

North nd South

America, sia,

Europe,

nd

Australia.

entral o the

ASJ' man-

date s an educational nd aesthetichilosophy hich oldsazz andcontemporary

improvised

usic o serve s the ontextndrationale or

he

ostering

f ross-cul-

tural ommunication

nd

nter-cultural

reativity"

Liebman

996:198).

At

the ore

of

the

ASJ's

philosophy

s the

oncept

f

nternationaltudent

xchange.

he heart

of the nnual ASJ

meetings

rethe nsembles hat reformed rom

he tudentsf

memberchools.

During

he

week-longmeeting

he tudentsehearse

riginal

mu-

sic;

despite

requentinguistic

nd cultural

arriers,

hese nternational

ollabora-

tions

esult

n

performances

f n

exceptionallyigh

evel.The ASJ

has a

history

f

adressing

conomic

isparitymong

ts

member

chools,

roviding

hefunds

ach

year

o

a school hat

would

therwise e unable o affordo send

teacher nd stu-

dent.

In

July

002

Guilfoyle

nd

presented

he

proposal

o

the ASJmembers

t the

meeting

n

Helsinki. he

proposal

was

adopted

nd

a

number

f

schools

xpressed

interest

n

participating.eturning

o ndia

n

December

002 1

engaged

n a number

offurtheriscussions ith

r

Subramanianbout henature nd

contentfthe

pro-



11/27

144

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005

gram,

nd

potential

ources f

project

unding.

he

following

onth artinMueller

confirmedhat he

Jazz nd

Contemporary

usic

Program

ttheNew

Schoolwould

step

orward

s

the irst

articipating

chool.

3.2

Pedagogical

nd

Philosophical

ationale

We

took

s a

startingoint

he

ssumption

hatmodernmusical

ifehas an ncreas-

ingly

ranscultural

haracter.oth

azz

andKarnatic

musiciansre alled

upon

oen-

gagewithmusic utside he phere f their wnculture nd/orraining.s David

Liebman

wrote

n

1987,

The

fact

hat

jazz]

groups egularlyntegrate

usic

rom

all

culturesnd

tyles

s taken or

ranted

y ontemporary

mprovising

usicians.

it

follows hat he

ducational

hilosophy

fferedo

young

tudents

hould e

simi-

lar"

Liebman

1996:198).

More

recently,

he

Association

f

European

onservato-

rieshas

questioned

he elevance

f

European-based

usical

raining

n a

multicul-

tural

ociety

hrough

ts

Connect

nitiative,

European

nion-funded

roject

which

in

2001

recomended

range

f

nitiatives

romoting

ranscultural

usicianship

nd

cultural

iversity

Caird

nd

Shrewsbury

001).

On

a

practical

evel,

Dr

Subramanian

hought

hat

earning

hefundamentalsf

Western usic ould mpower is tudentsyprovidinghemwithhe ools oenter

intomutual

ollaborations ith

non-Indian

erformers

nd

expanded

mployment

opportunities

n

the

ocal

music

ndustry.

hennai's amilfilm

ndustry,

or xam-

ple,

offered

mployment

or tudiomusicians

using

Western

opular

music,

lassi-

cal

music,

amil

folk

ongs,

ndKarnatic

music.

In

our

essons,

r.

Subramaniannd

discussed hemannern

which rtistic

ol-

laboration etweenndian

ndWestern

musicians

requently

ell hort f a

genuine

exchange.

ue to a

variety

ffactors

among

hemack

of

xposure,

ack

of

opportu-

nity,

nd

economic

arriers)

azz

education as notbeen

readily

cessible

o ndian

musicians;s a result,rtisticollaborationsedbyWesternmusicians avetended

to assume

unidirectional

haracter,

n

which ndian

musicians'

ontributionsre

aestheticallyompartmentalized.

haredmusical

ocabulary,

e

agreed,

was

a nec-

essary

onditionor reemusical

onversation

mong

ll

participants.

With

his

n

mind,

he

rogram

as

designed

o that

articipants

rom achcoun-

try pent

n

equal

time s host nd as

visitor. o

complement

r. Subramanian's

methodology,

e

developed

basic curriculum

o

guide azz

educators

n

teaching

the

undamentalsf

azz

totheKarnatic

articipants.

his

urriculums

discussed

n

detail n

the

ollowing

ections.

The

partners

n

this

roject

hared

strong

elief

n

the

potential

f

mprovised

music s a device or piritualnd ocial hange.Webelieved hat hentersectionf

jazz

andKarnatic

musicheld

particularotential

or

mutuallympowering

ollabo-

rations cross ultural

oundaries.n

both

azz

and

Karnartic

usic,

ndividualx-

pression

s

sustained

hrough

o-operative

ocial

nd

performative

ractices.

mpro-

visation,

n this

ontext,

an

be seenas a

zone for he

rticulationf differencend



12/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic

usic 145

even dissent.

ompared

o

the

oloist-centred

orth ndian

lassical

performance,

Karnaticmusic's nsemble

oncept learly

rticulatesctive olesfor

hythmic

nd

melodic

ccompaniment.

he

accompanists

re

responsible

or

he same musical

matierial

s

soloists,

ndare

required

o

mprovise

xtensively

ithin

concert

er-

formance.

n

both

azz

and Karnatic

music,

musician's

nique

sound"-

a com-

plex

mix

f

nstrumental

one, imbre,

nd

technique,

s wellas the se of

character-

isticmelodic

atterns

nd

diosyncraticxpressive

evices- is a

prized uality.

3.3 Curriculumoals

In our nitial

eport

e outlined

sample

urriculumor

azz

students

nd ndianmu-

sic

students,

hich

epresented

hemost

useful

oncepts

hat ould

be

adequately

represented

ithin ne month's

tudy.

The

study

fKarnatic

music

may

enefit

azz

students'

usicianship

n

three

ri-

maryways.

First,

study

fthe

Karnatic

hythmic

tala)

system trengthens

unda-

mental

hythmicechnique.

econd,

tudy

fKarnatic

music'smelakarta

melodic)

system rovides

tudents

ith n

expanded

melodic

alette

nd n enhanced

ware-

nessof the

elationships

f scale tones nd tensions.

hird,

he ral

ransmissionf

informationnd he rimacyf he oice trengthenusicians' itch iscrimination,

intonation,

nd

bility

o

represent

usic

ocally.

he

primacy

f

he oice

n ndian

musical ulturelso carries he

potential

o

bringazz

vocalists

nd nstrumentalists

together,ddressing

n

enduring

ender

ivide

n

azz

education. ther

ignificant

benefitsf

Karnaticmusic

tudy

nclude

xposure

o

ts

ompositional

orms

f

Kar-

natic

music,

ndthe

philosophical

ndthe

piritual

ramework

nderpinning

lassi-

cal music

ractice

n

South

ndia.

Karnaticmusicmakes se of

concepts

uch s metricmodulation

ndodd

metres

in a

highly eveloped

nd

clearly

rticulatedashion.

hese

techniques

re used to

generateension ndrelease, dding notherimensiono themprovisingndcom-

posing

musician's reative

alette.

hythmicrainingenerally

roceeds y

way

f

vocal

solfeggio ystem

alled

konnekolr solkattu

hat s

highly

lexible

ndcan be

used to

strengthen

tudents'

hythmicechnique egardless

f

genre

r

nstrument.

Dr Subramanian

as

developed

numberf

xercises hat each n awareness f

var-

ious

subdivisionsf

pulse.

n his

"Displacement

xercise"

he tudents

taught

o

perform

series f

rhythmicatterns

ver n 8-beat

ycle

adi

tala)

subdivided

n

4

(caturasra

ati),

n which

he

attern

s

sequentiallyisplaced

y

one

subdivision

n

each offour

ycles

see

Figure

).

Studentslso

benefitrom

earning range

f

Karnatic

hythmic

echniques,

uch

as the ollowing:

korvai

also

known

s

mora):

contrasting

r

concluding attern,epeated

hree

times nd

resolving

o

the irst

eat,

hatmarks he ndof

a

section,

percussion

solo,

or

a

melodic

mprovisation;



13/27

146

theworld

f

music

7(3)-

2005

Fig.

1.

Displacement

xercise.

Displacement

{adi

tala

)

K.S. Subramanian

Transcribed

y

.

almanovitch

1.

Keeping

he

ala,

hant

Takadimi"ntil

ou

ave

irmy

stablishedheubdivisionf our. hen

ou

are ecuren

his,

egin

hexercise

elow.

2.On heast

eat f he irst

ycle,

hile

aintaining

he

ubdivision,

ay

Tadigenaka"

r

Taka

Takita"o

ive group

f ive. hen

ou

egin

he ext

ycle,

ach

roup

f our

Takadimi)

ill

e

displacedy

/16ote.n heast eatf he

econd

ycle,

dd he

roup

f ive

gain.

epeat

hisn

thehird

ycle

s

well,

esolving

heast

roup

f ive.racticehis

xercisentil

ou

re

ery

ecure.

3.

Next,

dd he

hythms

romPatternsf our".

se ach

hythm

orfull

ycle,

nd

xplore

he

differentensionsreatedgainsthe eat.Oneatternsnotatedere.)4.Use ombinationsf

atterns

i.e.

a-dim

im-ta).



14/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic

147

koraippu

systematic

eduction f

a

melodicor

rhythmichrase.

Also

per-

formed s a

dialogue

between oloist nd

accompanists

n which

mprovised

phrases

re

repeated

n

call-and-responsetyle,

nd

progressively

alveduntil

they

re n

unison;

gatibheda

variations

n

the ubdivision

gati

ofthe

beat,

n

3,4,5,

7

or

9;

and

trikala

literally,

hree

speeds',

in

which he

pulse

remains

onstant,

ut a

rhythmic

r melodic

attern

s executedn

double,

reble r

quadruple

ime.

The modern arnatic

ystem

f

ragas

melakarta

ystem) omprises

2

ragas

r-

ganizedbysix scaletypes. ach scale is composed f sevennotes svara)chosen

systematically

rom

2

pitch ositions

svarasthana),

hich

orrespond

o the

12

tones

sed nWesternlassical nd

azz harmony.

f

the 2

melas

approximately

4

are

of

realmusical

ignificance

n Karnaticmusic

Powers

000:

177).

Mostofthese

are differento those ncountered

n

azz

harmony,

nd a

study

f the

melas hould

expand

he

azz

musicians'melodic

alette.

arnatic

agas

are derived rom he 2

melas which re

reference

cales devoidof themusical

eaturesmbedded

n

the

concept

f

raga.

A

raga

s

neither scalenor

melody,

but ather continuum ith

scale and tune t its

extremes"

ibid.'.US).

Ragas

can be described

y

their onal

qualities pitch

rder r

intervallic

tructure

n

ascending

nd

descending

orma-

tions) ndmelodic ualitiesnoteswhich eceive mphasis, oteswhich re used

transitionally,

ndmelodic

atterns

hich re

highly pecific

ndwhich haracterize

a

given

aga).

The melodic haracteristicsf

ndividual

agas

are laborated

y system

f

ga-

makas.

The

usual

conceptualization

f

gamaka

s

"ornament"

s

incomplete,

s the

term enotes

very spect

fthe

erformance

f

given

vara

n

the ontext f ra-

ga

the

gamaka oncept ncorporates

hich

itch

note

s

to be

approached

rom,

how

t s

to

be

attacked,

ow

t s

tobe

held nd

released,

ndwhich

motifsreto

be

applied

o

t.

These

vary

urther

till

y

the

peed

f

the

erformance.

Instruction

n

themethods f

developingmprovisations

n themelakartas

ro-

vides he

azz

student ith new

way

o ookat

developing

melodicmaterial f

any

sort.

tudy

f

raga

and

gamakas

ffers

range

f

expressive

evices ndextended

techniques,

nd

challenging

tudentso

think

eeply

nd

differently

bout

herela-

tionship

fnotes

n

melodic ontext.

We

developed

jazz

studies urriculumor he ndian

articipants

ased on our

experiences

s

collaborative

erformers.

urfocus

hroughout

as

to

provide

he n-

dianmusicians ith

hose

musical

omponents

nd

aesthetic

rinciples

f

azz

that

we

thoughtecessary

oenternto

meaningful

ndmutual

xchange.

n

addition

o

the xercises

resented

n the

following

ections,

e

encouragedazz faculty

em-

bers ocriticallyhinkhroughheir wn ssumptionss Westernerformers,ndto

use their

xperiencestudying

arnaticmusic o thinkbout

homologous

erms nd

concepts.

or

example,

major

cale couldbe

very oughly

escribed s

raga

San-

karabaranamor4/4 ime escribeds adi tala.

We

asked hat

azz participants

llus-

trate ll

points

oth

hrough

heir wn

performance,

nd

by nvolving

he ndianmu-

sicians

n

performance

t

every ossible

ccasion.

hrough

his,

we

hoped

o

provide



15/27

148

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005

the ndian

articipants

ith

store f

heoretical

nowledge

nd

practicalxperience

to

bring

o futureollaborations

ithWestern usicians.

Indian lassicalmusic s

performed

ver fixed

onic,

nd

ndianmusicians

er-

ceive melodic

tructures

n

relationship

o the onic. he movementfrootnotes

n

Western

armony

an thereforee difficultor ndianmusicians o

understand,

xe-

cute

nd

respond

o.

We

proposed

hat he

azz

participants

ntroducendian

artici-

pants

o harmonicmovement

n

azz through

he

tudy

f basic forms uch s the

three

hord

lues.While he

azz

teacher

layed

r

sang

n

mprovisation,

he ndian

participants

ouldbe

guided

n

singing

he

moving

oots.As

they

ecome

familiar

with his, he eacher ould ing rplay he oots ndhavetheKarnatic articipants

improvise

ver he

moving

onic.

Additionally,

he

azz participants

oulddemon-

strate

oncepts

fchord/scaleubstitutionsver fixed

onic,

uch s

Coltrane-style

tension ndrelease

atterns

ver form uch s

"Impressions"

Coltrane 998).

Polyrhythm

s

twodifferent

et

omplementaryhythms

n

play

tthe ame ime.

The

ndian

hythmiconcept

s

inear,

ot

olyrhythmic;

s a Karnatic

oloistmodu-

lates nto new ubdivision

gati)

of he

ulse,

he

ccompanying

usicians

ill

fol-

low

heror him.We

proposed eaching imple

wo-handed

hythmic

xercises hat

could be used

to

introducehemusicians o the dea. For

example,

hemusicians

couldbe

taught

ow o

play rhythm

f

hreen

one

hand

gainst rhythm

f wo

n

theother. o

visually

ocumenthese

xamples,

we

suggested

lternate otational

aids,

uch s theTime

Unit

Box

System

TUBS)

notationf

4

over

Figure

):

Fig.

2. Two

Cycles f

4

over

Polyrhythm

n Time

Unit

ox

System

otation.

We also

suggested

hat

jazz

drummeremonstrate

ypical

Afro /8

drum et

rhythms,

o

that he ndianmusicians ould

ry

mprovising

n

turn ver he3

pulse

andthe

pulse

nherent

n

those

atterns.

The

concept

f four-

nd

eight-bar

orms irects he tructures

f

nearly

ll

azz

melodies,

orms nd

mprovisations.

our- nd

eight-barycles,

n

particular,

orm

the

asis

of lmost

ll

azz improvisation.

n Karnatic

omposition,hrasesmay ary

in

ength

epending

n the ictates f he

melody,

utKarnaticmusicians o notnec-

essarily

rganize

ala

cycles

nto

nyparticularroups uringmprovisation

other

than he nherenturationf he ala

tself).

azzmusicians

orking

ith

ndianmu-

sicians ften uild olo lines owards resolution

oint

t the ndofa four-barr

eight-barhrase, nly

o find he

ccompanying

ndianmusicians o not

respond,

due to their

misunderstanding

f

theWesterners'

hrasing.

ikewise,

azz perform-

erswithout

rior xperience

n

Karnaticmusic

will

not

ecognize

arnatic

oloists'

methods f

building

nd

resolving

ension

n

mprovisation.



16/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic 149

In

order o resolve

his,

we

suggested

hat he

azz

instructor

resent

standard

32-bar

rogression

n AABA

form,

ndhave he ndianmusicians

lap

on

the own-

beatof

every

our

ars s

they

isten.

nce

they

ecome

omfortable

ith

his,

he

Indian

musicians

hould

mark hename

of

the

point

n

theform ut oud

e.g.,

call

out

A'

on the

1st

nd 9th ars-

'B'

on the

17th- nd

A'

again

on the

25th)

s the

teacher

lays

he

melody

nd

mprovises

ver he orm. he

azz participants

hould

demonstratehe

methods

y

which

hythm

ections nd soloists

mark ff our- nd

eight-barhrases.

Swing

s

the

African-American

hythmic

radition

hat

ives azz

from ouis

Armstrongo SteveColeman tsunique lavour. ecause t s a specialized erfor-

mance

ractice, eveloped y

he ndividual ver

years

f

tudy,

e

proposed

nly

simple

echnicalmodelfor he ndian

articipants

o

build

upon.

We

suggested

hat

the

azz

instructoread

the ndian

articipants

n

clapping long

with

azz

recording

on the

nd

nd

4th

eats f 4/4

ar.

After

his,

he

or

he would emonstrate

he asic

jazz

ride

ymbal

eat,

hen ave he ndian

musicians

epeat

ton the

ymbal.

inal-

ly,

heorhe would et

up

a

metronome-

rask some

participants

o

keep

di tala-

and ead

everyone

n

a

call-and-responseattern

f

syncopatedhythms.

One of he

most

mportanthings

e felt

azz participants

ould

give

othe

ndian

participants

as an

understanding

f the

history,

thos,

nd aestheticsf

azz

from

the ractitioner'soint fview.Wesuggestedhat n nstructorrom heazz school

lead a discussion f the

history

f

azz

as an intercultural

usic,

ncluding

treat-

ment fthe

history

f

azz

in

ndia

nd ndianmusic's

mpact

n

azz.

We also rec-

ommended

hat he

following opics

be addressed n discussion nd

llustrated

y

live

performance

r

by

recorded

xample:

Whatmakes

good azz

solo?

How free

s

the

azz

soloist o

deviate rom heharmonicorm

nd he

tructure?

hat,

f

ny,

i-

erarchiesre

present

ithin

azz

ensembles?What s a

jazz rhythm

ection?

How

does nteractionunction

ithinhe

hythm

ection nd

withinhe nsemble?

3.4 TheNew

School

n

ndia

The

Jazz nd

Contemporary

usic

Program

t

New School

University

ffers

n un-

dergraduate

urriculum

asedon

the raditionf

artist-as-mentor;

aculty

redrawn

the iverse

ool

ofactive

azz

musicians ho iveand

perform

n New York

City.

A

large ercentage

f he tudent

ody

s

foreign,

ndnumerouslassroom ourses

nd

ensembles ocus n

musical raditionsutside f

azz, providing

tudents

ith

xpo-

sure o

a

diverse

musical ndculturalducation. ntil

he

xchange rogram,

ndian

musichad notbeen formal

art

fthe

urriculum,

utwas touched

pon

n

rhyth-

mic nalysisessons ndworldmusic lasses.

New School tudentsnd

faculty

ndicatedheirnterest

nthe

xchange rogram

after memowas

circulatednthe all f2003. Martin

Mueller,

xecutive irector

f

the

azz program,

hose six

participants

fter e conducted

nterviews;

articipants

were elected asedon

an

expressed

nterest

n

Karnatic

music,

willingness

o

par-



17/27

150

theworld

f

music

7(3)

2005

ticipate

n n

equitable xchange,

nd he

bility

o

carry

he inancial

urden,

s their

was

no

funding

or ravel r accommodations.hree

faculty

members,

assistJo-

hannes

Weidenmuller,

axophonist

Arun

Luthra,

and

percussionist

ristina

Kanders,

ere

oinedby

taff

ember/vocalistlaudia

Atkinson,

nd

hree tudents:

saxophonists

icholasMenache nd Evan

Herring-Nathan,

nd

drummer

oody

Shaw

II.

The New School

participants

ad

varying

evelsof

exposure

o

Karnaticmusic

prior

otheir

ourney.

run

uthra nd

Woody

hawhadbeen o ndiabefore. uthra

hadtraveledhere wicewith is ndian atherndrememberedindustani usic

s

part f the oundtrackf his childhood. e was interestedrimarilyn whathe de-

scribed s "the

ver-arching

piritual

ocus" f

ndian lassical

music,

s well as

in

developing

heKarnatic

hythmiconcepts

e had first

ncountered

s

a studentt

theNew School

Luthra 004a).

Johannes

Weidenmuller,

German

assist,

was

aware f ndianmusic

mainly

hrough

akirHussein.

He

had

been

working

n met-

ric

modulation

n

his own

performance,

ndhad been

planning

o

study

n

ndiafor

some ime.He was

not

pecifically

ware fKarnaticmusic ntil he

xchange ro-

vided

"theneeded

push"

Weidenmuller003).

Kristina

anders, oo,

reported

long-standing

ream f

tudying

n

ndia.

he

hadbeen

xposed

o

Hindustani usic

while

rowing p

n

Germany,

ndhadbeen

xposed

o Karnatic

hythmiconcepts

by fellow rummer.laudiaAtkinson as nterestednthe xchange rograme-

cause

mportant

usicians he

admired,

ike

Coltrane

nd

the

Beatles,

had been

n-

fluenced

y

Indian

music.She

was

interested

n

learning

ndianvocal

technique,

though

he had ittle dea what

o

expect

Atkinson 004).

Drummer

Woody

haw

III had

pursued

n

undergraduate

egree

n

ethnomusicology

nd had

previously

traveledoNew Delhito

study

industani usic.He

wanted o

tudy

he

mridangam

and

translate

ts

anguage

o thedrum et.

Saxophonists

van

Herring-Nathan

nd

Nicholas

Menache

ad

achbeen

xposed

o ndianmusic

hrough

heir

wnmusical

explorations,hough

ever

hrough

ormal

tudy.

ickMenache

ommented,

I

had

listened lot o themusic, o I expected omethingohappen.t's such rich cene,

and

there's wealth f nformationhere-

here

as

clearly

omething

o be

gained

from

oing"

Menache 004).

All

of the

participants

eredrawn

o

the

pportunity

to

study

n

ndiaunder structurednd

organized roup etting.

The New

School's

visit

o

Brhaddhvani

as scheduled o coincidewith

he

win-

ter reak nd

Chennai's

usy

music estival

eason.

Many

fBrhaddhvani'teachers

are

busy

with ehearsalsnd

concerts

uring

his ime ndnormal lasses

re

gener-

ally

uspended,reeing

he chool'sfacilitiesor he

xchange

isitors.

Dr. Subramanian

tructuredhe

program

o culminate

n

a

collaborative

erfor-

mancewithKarnaticmusicians

n

January

0.

Forthe irstwoweekshe

presented

daily lassesduring hich hefundamentalaterials,esthetics,ndphilosophyf

Karnatic

musicwere

aught.

tudents ere lso

given

daily

nstruction

n the ala

system y mridangamist

amakrishnand

in

raga

and vocal

technique

y

Usha

Narasimhan.r. Subramanian

lso

arranged

isits rom numberf

guest

rtists,

n-

cluding

mridangamist

richy

ankaran,

fusion"

ercussionist

. Murali

Krishnan,



18/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic

151

and Tamilfolk

inger uppuswamy ushpavanam.

ield

trips

were

organized,

n-

cluding

temple

ance

performance,

arnatic

oncerts,

nd

special

udience

nthe

home fthe elebrated amil

film

omposerlayaraja. articipants

ere ble to

ar-

range

dditional

nstruction,

ccording

otheir

nterests,

ith

mridangamists

. A. S.

Mani and B.

C.

Manjunath

n

Bangalore

nd n

Chennai

withKarnatic

axophonist

Kadri

Gopalnath.

As the

performance

rew

loser,

articipantspent

more ime n rehearsalshan

in

classes. Some New

School

performers

ere

able to

spend

xtensive imewith

master outh ndianmusicians uch as

Trichy

ankaran

nd

Pushpavanam up-

paswamy. he NewSchoolparticipantsnd Brhaddhvaniacultyehearsedwoof

Dr

Subramanian'

compositions,

o be

performed

ithKarnatic iolinists

algudi

G. J.R. Krishnannd

Vijayalakshmi,

nd he

New School

participants

orked ode-

velop

selection f

azz pieces

o demonstrateheir radition

o

ndian udiences.

The

concert,

itled

Beyond

oundaries: Dedication oWorld

Harmony,"

as

held n

January

0th t the

mage

Auditorium

n

Chennai.

t was

the econd

n a se-

riesof twoconcerts

marking

rhaddhvani's

4th

nniversary,

s well as the nd of

Brhaddhvani'

"Lalgudi

Year",

commemorating

he minent arnatic iolinistnd

composer algudiJayaraman.

ntendeds a fundraisero

help

defray

rhaddhvani's

exchange

rogramxpenses,

he

oncert

as a

well-produced

vent eld n a

large

hall,

extensively

ublicized

n the ocalmedia.Posterswere

hung hroughout

he

city,

nd

commemorative

rogram

ook

was

produced.

t

the

enue,

large

ack-

drop roclaimed

he chool's ndthe

ponsor's

ames,

nd

photographers,

camera

crew,

nd

sound

technicians

moved

throughout

he

stage

area,

documenting

he

event.

The

program

eatured

anjore

olk

music,

arnatic

music,

nd

azz, separate

nd

in

collaboration,

s

well as a series f "cross-cultural

ompositions' y Trichy

an-

karan,

avid

Reck,

Karaikudi

ubramanian,

nd

EeroHameenniemi.

roductione-

lays

aused late tartothe

ongprogram,

nd series f

peeches

nd

presentations

honoringheperformersndspecial guests urthertretchedut theproceedings.

The

concert

ad

tobe

truncated,

nfortunately,

nd

ompositionsy

David Reck

nd

Subramanian,

ncluding

hatwhich he ollectivemusicians ad

spent

hemost

ime

rehearsing,

ere mitted.

Over the ourse f their ime

n

Chennai,

heNew School

participants

ormed

close bondswith he ndian

articipants

nd

developed

heir wnmeans f nstitut-

ing xchange.

ristina

anders

nd

Claudia

Atkinson,

or

xample,

egan

o nstruct

Usha Narasimhann drum et and

Western

musical

notation.

mong

hem,

New

School studentsnd

faculty

ollected substantialonation o Brhaddhvanio

pay

for he ostof

purchasing

drum etfor he chool.

Group

inners

n

private

omes

and restaurantsere lso arranged,ncluding memorableotluckunch f South

Indian ishes

rranged

y

the

aculty

nd tudentst Brhaddhvani.



19/27

152

theworld

f

music

7(3)-

2005

3.5

Brhaddhvani

n

New York

Originally,

oth

r

Subramaniannd

faculty

ember ankiri rishnan

ere o

par-

ticipate

ntheNew

York

eg

of he

xchange.

owever,

unding

onstraints

ltimate-

ly permittednly

Subramanian

o travel o New York.He

arrived n

January

1,

2004,

n

time obe featuredntwo

vents tthe nnual onference

f he

nternation-

al

Association orJazzEducation.

Thefirstf hesewas a

panel

discussion,

oderated

y

David Liebman nd

itled

"Jazz nd ndianMusic: The

Global Conversation

ontinues".

articipating

n

the

discussion ere ubramanian,amesh hotham,onanGuilfoyle,udreshMahan-

thappa, ijay yer,

ndme. The

secondwas a

performance

ith

n ensemble

fthe

New

School

participants

nd

guests,

amed TheJazz nd ndian

Music

Collective".

The

featured

uest

oloists

were

David

Liebman nd

Subramanian,

nd

oining

he

New School

faculty

nd

tudents

ere

avil

layer

amesh

hotham,

usical

irec-

tor

Ronan

Guilfoyle,

nd the uthor. he

program

eatured

ompositions

f Subra-

manian,

.

A.

Ramamani,

nd one

traditionalarnatic

omposition.

he

standing-

room-only

udiences eceived he

concert

nd

panel

discussion

nthusiastically.

Both ventswerefeatureds

highlights

n

coverage

f

the

onference

n

All About

Jazz

ndtheNew York

imes

Donohue-Green

004).

Theperformanceas gratifyingor veryoneoncerned. ickMenache om-

mented,

Thehall

was

packed,

he andwas

tight

ndwe all had

blast. Theaudi-

ence

really

eemed o

enjoy

tself'

Menache 004).

Dr

Subramanian as

gratified

by

he nterest

hown

y

from

azz

musiciansnd ducators.

ater,

onan

Guilfoyle,

Martin

Mueller,

nd

presented

n

oral

report

n the

xchange

rogram

n

a

meeting

withmembers

f

he

ASJ

nd

requested

hat he oard

onsider

permanent

evelof

involvemento sustain

he

rogram.

Where he

ndian

eg

ofthe

xchange rogram

elied n the

xisting

esourcest

Brhaddhvani,

o similar

nfrastructurewaited r.

Subramanian,

o the

New York

leg of theexchangewas comparativelyess defined. ubramanian'sime nNew

York,

cheduled o coincidewith he

AJE

onference,

nfortunately

ell

during

he

first

ays

ofthe

pring

004

semester

t

theNew

School.

With

o Brhaddhvanitu-

dents

resent

nd theNew

School semester

ewly

n

session,

herewas

limited

p-

portunity

o execute he

ther ndof the

xchange.

ubramanianelivered

work-

shop

t

the

New

School,

uthisNew

Yorkvisitwas cut hort

y

ommitmentstthe

University

f

Massachusetts,

mherst,

assar

College,

ndYork

University.

In

the

pring

f

2004,

1

consulted

ith

he

dministration

t

Brhaddhvanind

he

New

Schoolto

prepare

detailed

eport

nd

setof

program

ecommendations.his

report

was

presented

o the

board

of the

ASJ

in

June 004 at their

meeting

n

Freiberg, ermany.he board esolved o take n the xchange rograms a core

activity,

ecommending

inancial

ponsorship

or

r

Subramaniannd

his students.

Theboard

uggested

hat

ubramanian's

xpenses

e

paid

for

im

oattend

he 005

meeting

n

Warsaw,

where e couldbe introducedo the

membership.

owever,

n

the

ntervening

onths he ASJ

ost

major art

f ts

operating

upport

hen he



20/27

Tanya

almanovitch.

azz

ndKarnatic usic 153

Koninklijk

onservatorium

n

den

Haag,

the

Netherlands,

hich adbeen

providing

the ASJwith

ffice

pace

nd

part

ime

taff

ember,

ecided ot orenew

ts

up-

port.

he

organization

s

newly trapped

or ash andunable o

support

henew

ni-

tiative.

n

a November 004

meeting

ithMartin

Mueller,

learned hat heNew

School

ntends

o

further

elp

he

rogramy pplying

or

upport

ithin

he niver-

sity

o

bring

ubramanian

ack

to

teach

s a

visiting uest

rtist. he ASJhas

af-

firmedhat

ur

report

n

the

xchange roject

will

be

printed

nd

distributedo

all

IASJmember

chools,

whichwill

bring higher

evelofawareness fKarnaticmu-

sic

n

general

ndBrhaddhvani's

rogram

n

particular.

4.

Discussion

In

absolute ermstwould eem hat

r

Subramanian'idealofa true

xchange

was

not

ully

ealized. ecauseoffinancialnd chedule

onstraints,

e was unable o n-

gage

n

collaborations ithWestern

erformers

nd teacherswhile

n

New York.

The

teaching

urdenwas

unequally

oaded,

withBrhaddhvani's

aculty roviding

thebulkof the ducational ontributionnd few

opportunities

or heNew School

participants

o

reciprocate.inally,

he nstitutional

upport

hat

we had

hoped

o

would ustain he rogram asnot ltimatelyxtended,nd tsfutureemains ncer-

tain.

Considered

s a

pilot roject,

owever,

number

f

positive

utcomes hould e

noted. he

exchange

as

potentially

aid the

groundwork

or n

equitable edagogi-

cal

exchange,

nd thas

certainly

ointed

othe

reater ains

hat ouldbe made

with

modest

material nd administrative

upport.

considerationf the

hallenges

we

faced

n

realizing

he

project

makes lear he

nduringisproportion

hat eed o be

addressed,

nd

uggests

hemeans

Documents

Jazz and Karnatic Music Intercultural Collaboration in Pedagogical Perspective