The Carnatic Jazz Experiment:Developing Approaches to Cross-cultural

Composition and Improvisation

Carnatic Jazz Experiment, Concert One. 13 March, 2009.

Me, pre-2004.• Brought up on Bach, Hendrix, Mahler, Stevie Ray

Vaughan, The Beatles, Stan Getz, Tom Waits and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

• Began professional career playing jazz piano at 15. Gradual shift to guitar in late teens.

• Bachelor of Music (composition), QCGU, 1998.• Focus on odd-meter jazz-funk-fusion complexity (Babel

1996-2000). • Immersion in new music/orchestral music

composition. (Compost 1996-2005; ACOF 2001 and 2002; Affiliate of TQO in 2003).

• Focus on jazz playing and composing (Toby Wren Trio 2002-2005).

• Influence of Carnatic music beginning in 2004.

My Research 2004-2009• “The Carnatic jazz experiment: Learning to

reconcile Carnatic and jazz in my composition and improvisation practice (2008-09)”.

• Research as practice:: Practice as research. • An autoethnography.

• 2 performances: Test cases for approaches to composing and improvising in a Carnatic-jazz style.

Me

compositions and Improvisations

Carnatic Lessons

Carnatic Listening

Carnatic Reading

Carnatic Collaborations

carnatic-jazz me

Carnatic Music• Sounds like this: Sowmya, ‘Jagadandakaraka’ (Thyagaraja).

• And this: TN Sheshagopalan, ‘Aparathamula’ (Patnam Subramania Iyer).

• And this: Aruna Sairam, ‘Venkataramanee’ (Purandara Dasa).

• It can also sound like this: U Srinivas, ‘Raghunathaninne’ (R S Iyengar).

• And this: R Prasanna, ‘Maha Ganapathim’ (Dikshitar).

• And this: Karaikkudi R Mani, ‘Sruthi Laya’ (KR Mani).

• It is monophonic (melody with rhythmic accompaniment) against a R-5 drone. • The effort that Western music put into harmony, Indian music put into melodic and rhythmic

construction. • Rhythmic approach is the most complex of any musical culture. • Carnatic compositions are long and intricate.• and, the aesthetics are different to western music.

My Learning Process

• See Carnatic concerts – Chennai 2006, 2008.• Texts on Carnatic music Pesch, Ramanathan, Wade, Qureshi et al, Lavezzoli, Farrell,

David Nelson, Mannarkoil Balaji.

• Cross-Cultural Musicianship QUT Music & Sound

• Other C-C collaborations Dheeraj Shrestha, Hyelim Kim

and teachers and collaborators….

Gurus and Collaborators

EshwarshankerJeyarajan

Tunji Beier

Rajyashree Josyer Srikanth

Andrew Shaw John Rodgers Dheeraj Shrestha

Karaikkudi R Mani Palghat Raghu R PrasannaU Srinivas

Stephen Newcomb Jamie Clark

Developing a Cross-cultural composition/improvisation language

• Learn, compare, synthesize, do. • Jazz glasses. Rethink.• Immerse. Relearn.• Deliberate actions:

… composition exercises, improvisation exercises,

collaborative exercises.

Summary of Approaches• Use of rhythmic cadences: Moras and Korvais.

• Use of Gamakas.

• Use of compositional forms.

• Reconciliation of drone.

• Use of concert structures.

Rhythmic Cadences in Improv• Practice RCs in the hope that they would

magically come out in performance.

• Learn simple Moras. Eg. 3x(n)• Practice specific RCs for specific pieces. • Practice RCs of different lengths.

Gamakas

• Listen to lots of Carnatic music.• Practice Carnatic pieces.• Intentionally use Gamakas for expression in

other forms of music.

Compositional form• Carnatic krithi: (in very broad brush-strokes)

PallaviAnupallavi Charanam (all composed, generally 2 lines of text, with variation)

Alap (improvised introduction of ragam- pitch set)

- Improvisation (trading with accompanist) can occur at the end of any section. Usuall ends in a korvai or mora. - A key phrase from the pallavi is usually used as a point of return to be sung after subsequent sections and at the end of improvisations.

Reconciliation of drone

• Mridangam, tabla, ghatam are pitched.

• Drone as the root of all chords• Drone notes included in all chords• Harmony developed from a ragam (diatonic)

Concert format• Varnum• Krithis (3-5)• Main Piece (containing the tani avarttanam)

- a Ragam Tanam Pallavi; or - a long krithi• lighter krithis, padams and javallis (3-5)

compared to the western

• Big song or 2 to start• Ballad• Unknown material• Big songs to finish

#1 – Holed up in the Palmgrove

• Written in India the week after the Mumbai attacks. • Initial inspiration a Jazz piece (Alcohotlicks), later adapted

to Khanda Chapu (5/8). • Interplay of harmony and drone. • Use of Karaikkudi Mani korvai for melody:

TakitaThom , TakaThom , TaThom , TakitaThom , TakaThom , TaThom , TaThom , TakitaThom , TakaThom , TaThom , TaThom , TaThom , Taka Thom , Taka Thom , Taka ||Thom

• and Eshwarshanker korvai:Dhit , Thang kita taka tari kita taka Tham , , , Thaka thom Thang kita taka tari kita taka Tham , , ,Dhit , Thang kita taka tari kita taka Tham , Thaka thom Thang kita taka tari kita taka Tham , Dhit , Thang kita taka tari kita taka Thaka thom Thang kita taka tari kita takaThat , , deeng , , gi , , na , , thom , , That , ding , gi , na , thom , Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom Tham , Thaangu Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom Tham , Thaangu Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom Tha din gi na thom || Dha

Holed up in the PalmgroveToby Wren (2008)

#2 – Nataraja

• Ragam influence - # 4 and #6• Contrasting sections – jazz/carnatic• Use of groupings – 12=3x4 ; 24 = 3x8• Use of groupings – 3 x n• KRM korvai

Thath , Dhit , Taka Dhin , dhin , ka , Tha , , , Dhit , Taka Dhin , dhin , ka , Tha , , , Taka Dhin , dhin , ka , Tha , , , Tan , gita takadimi Tan , gita takadimi Tan , gita takadimiTaangu Dha , di , gi , na , thom Dha , di , gi , na , thom Dha , di , gi , na , thom

Nataraja harmonic analysis

• Harmony against a drone: Chord progression: Fmaj7, E7, Am, Dm, D#mb5, C, F#m7b5

Against an E Drone: E & B

Implied chord progression: Fmaj7#11, E7, Am9, Dm6, D#mb5 (vii chord), Cmaj7, F#m11b5 (Dm D#mb5 Em is also a neapolitan prog – ie F6, B7, Em)

Evaluation Criteria• A structure or process that allows for full artistic expression by

practitioners from different musical cultures. • Considered design of collaboration, musical setting and

performance setting. • Was it sufficiently different from other Carnatic-Jazz

experiments?

• Was I successful?RCs in Impro ; Gamakas ; Compositional form ; Reconciliation of drone ; concert format.Collaborations? Performances?

Reference ListBooks:Hood, M. (1960). The challenge of bi-musicality. [Electronic version]. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 4, No.2 (May,

1960), pp. 55-59. Retrieved 12 June, 2008, from JSTOR database.Kumar, K. & Stackhouse, J. (1987). Classical music of South India: Karnatic tradition in western notation.

(Monographs in Music 5). Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press.Nelson, D. (2008). The solkattu manual: An introduction to the rhythmic language of South Indian

music. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.Nelson, David P. (1991). Mrdangam mind: The tani avartanam in Karnatak music. Unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, Wesleyan University.Qureshi, R., Powers, H.S., Katz, J., Widdess, R., Geekie, G., Dick, A., et al. (2008). India. [Electronic

version]. Grove music online. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.grovemusic.com.Wade, B. C. (1979). Music in India: The classical traditions. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

CDs:Karaikkudi R Mani: Into the Fire (2000); Sruthi Laya Melodies (1988); Amrutham (2003); Unmatched (2004). Prasanna: Guitar Indian Style (1996); Electric Ganesha Land (2006).Shakti: Shakti with John McLaughlin (1976); Remember Shakti: Saturday Night in Bombay (2001); The Believer (2000); The way of Beauty (DVD, 2006). U Srinivas: Dawn Raga (1995); Rama sree rama (1994); Samjanitha (2008); Dream (1995).

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Karaikkudi R Mani artist-in-residence (Oct 13-17)

• Karaikkudi R Mani (mridangam), • Ghatam Suresh (ghatam), • UP Raju (mandolin), and • BV Balasai (bamboo flute).

• Daily solkattu classes with Sri Mani and Suresh. • I will be running an introductory course in solkattu

for those interested.