Review: World Jazz Festival Brings Global Musicians Together in Mumbai

John Coltrane’s music set the tone and was a recurring theme on day one of the World Jazz Festival, held at St. Andrew’s Auditorium in Mumbai on June 4th and 5th. The hugely accomplished guitarist Prasanna, with Ojas Adhiya on tabla, opened with a set of four pieces, two of them being “Impressions” and “Equinox” written by John Coltrane.

Later in the program, Coltrane’s “Like Sonny” and “I Want to Talk About You” made an appearance, played most deftly by Dutch tenor saxophonist Ben van den Dungen, ably assisted vocally by Deborah Carter on the latter piece.

The first evening had references to many of the masters who make up the rich tapestry of jazz. Dexter Gordon’s famous “Cheesecake” was introduced in grand style by a horn section comprising the aforementioned den Dungen, with Bas Toscani and Ellister van der Moolen on trumpet and a very pleasing rhythm section that included the brilliant Spanish pianist Miguel Rodriguez and the evergreen Marius Beets on upright bass. Beets was also the musical director for the band.

Vocalist Jodi Fredericks from South Africa sang the vocals on “Cheesecake.” The only regret from this performance was that after the riveting introduction, the band did not play long enough before the vocal introduction. Jodi continued with the introspective ballad “You’ve Changed,” which was enriched by a lovely pensive solo from Moolen’s trumpet.

Thelonius Monk’s breathtaking composition “Round Midnight” was vocalized by Jodi Fredericks, followed by “They Say It’s Wonderful” where Fredericks sang an innovative vocalese improvisation on Sonny Stitt’s solo on his rendition. Vocalese is a brilliant way to highlight a notable instrumental solo from some past recording. It will be nice to have much more from this novel approach in jazz concerts. The great Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation” was also performed by the band.

The next part of the evening was a feature of jazz music from New Orleans, courtesy the combination of ven Dungen and Carter with fine support from Miguel Rodriguez, Beets and Mitchell Damen. It was a perfect demonstration of music from the home of jazz. Ven Dungen described the New Orleans sound as being “more from the hip than the mind,” and proceeded to demonstrate why. Inadvertently, they paid a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, performing “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” vocalized by the famous actress in a Hollywood movie.

The final tribute of the evening was paid to the great pianist and bandleader Horace Silver, with the band’s rendition of “Cape Verdean Blues.” All the musicians from the evening including Prasanna and Adhiya joined in and made it a rollicking jam session to end a thoroughly enjoyable evening of jazz.

Day two of the festival followed the trend of the opening day with the brilliant Indian sitar player Ravi Chari, accompanied by the tabla and playing a couple of rhythmic pieces including a Bhatiali dhun. He returned later in the show to participate in the jam session finale.

Alexander Beets on tenor saxophone opened the jazz component of the evening’s performance with a brilliant original, “Blues for the Legends.” A self-confessed admirer of the hard-bop style of jazz – emphasizing interplay between saxophone and trumpet – Beets said this composition was a tribute to the towering tenors Gene Ammons, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine and Houston Person. A rich tribute indeed! Coincidentally, Mr. Person had played in Mumbai in 2012. As on day one, trumpeter Moolen impressed with her playing, this time alongside Beets.

Bassist and vocalist Nathalie Schaap played and vocalized a solo in tribute to legendary bassist Oscar Pettiford. She also sang a couple of songs in the company of the band. The arrangement of “Summertime” was quite novel, but sounded more like ‘Gershwin meets Watermelon Man.’ Their version of Herb Ellis’ pensive “Detour Ahead” was yet another tribute in song, this time to a guitar giant.

Enter vocalist Paul van Kessel who rendered “Everything Must Change” warmly in the company of pianist Sebastian van Bavel. The band joined in and a rollicking version of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” had the audience in good cheer. The duet with Nathalie and Paul doing the honors on “Route 66” was swinging, again doffing a hat, this time to the great Nat King Cole.

Saskia Laroo, also from the Netherlands, played her electronically enhanced trumpet with Warren Byrd on keyboards, and with bass, drums and a vocalist. Known as ‘Lady Miles’, Laroo has followed the legendary Miles Davis’ detour from the acoustic trumpet to the gimmicky but entertaining electronic sound. It has a new audience of listeners. Her trumpet licks are still good, but for this writer, her earlier avatar playing straight jazz was much more satisfying. She is such a huge talent.

A jam session using the old chestnut, “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” warmed up the scene for the finale. And in the end, America’s greatest Kennedy was honored! Edward Kennedy Ellington, better known as Duke Ellington, was remembered when the band played his great composition, “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing”. This rendition had three trumpets, two saxophones and as many as five vocalists! There is rarely a jazz festival where an Ellington composition is not played.

The underlying theme in this festival was the dedication of all the musicians to the masters and their compositions. After all, the grammar of jazz comes from the timeless ‘standards’ created by the masters of jazz. It is this legacy that unites jazz musicians from all over the world. It is their common musical thread.

The hosts, Banyan Tree, lived up to the great Indian tradition of respecting musicians to the fullest. Their floral tributes to each and every participating musician was much appreciated by the full houses attending the World Jazz Festival.

Sunil Sampat is a jazz critic and Contributing Editor of Rolling Stone India. Write to Sunil at jazzwala@gmail.com