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Collage by Romare Bearden

Life After the Death of Jazz

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The sound you hear over the bellyaching of purists is jazz’s fresh new blend

by Alexander Gelfand

Collage by Romare Bearden

Published in the July/August 2006 issue.  » BUY ISSUE     

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Mahanthappa’s latest project, the Indo-Pak Coalition, takes Indo-jazz fusion to an altogether different level. At its debut performance this past January at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, the group played selections from Mahanthappa’s recently completed Apti suite. The name Apti, which means “coming together” or “gathering” in Sanskrit, proved to be particularly appropriate. Whether composed or improvised, Mahanthappa’s unmistakably jazzy melodies were dressed in the structures and forms of Hindustani classical music. As Mahanthappa soloed, tabla player Dan Weiss played brisk rhythms called thekas, and guitarist Rez Abbasi improvised melodic ostinatos known as lahras. At times, it was hard to tell whether the performance was a jazz concert or a classical North Indian recital. And that was the point. “I like the idea of putting this format forward but at the same time saying, “I am a jazz musician, and I’m not going to improvise like an Indian musician,’” says Mahanthappa.

This kind of musical pluralism—a commitment to aural omnivorousness, to embracing what the American composer John Adams calls the “shuffle” sensibility of a contemporary musical culture in which the boundaries between genres are rapidly eroding—lies at the heart of the most interesting jazz being performed today. It also bodes well for the future of the art form. Jazz may never again experience the wondrous chaos of the 1960s, but there’s plenty of energy left in the music. And as usual, most of that energy and creativity are to be found at the margins—margins that grow more porous with each passing day.

Alexander Gelfand is a writer, musician, and native Montrealer who lives in New York.

Romare Bearden has had retrospectives at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the Whitney Museum in New York. He died in New York in 1988.

For more on this and other articles in the July/August 2006 issue, click here.

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Comments (3 comments)

dkdike: Thanks to Alexander Gelfand for his brilliant article "Life After the Death of Jazz". He reminds us that the heart of jazz is innovation and exploration and that anyone attempting to define jazz is asking to turn jazz into a fossil when it deserves to be alive, breathing and ever-changing. Clearly, the future of jazz doesn't include " Jazz police" mumbling "that's not jazz". E.W. September 19, 2006 18:22 EST

Neil: What a great article. Gelfand touches on many great points. He recognizes that, like many issues, the "decline of jazz" has many contributing factors.

One other aspect that has effected all musics/musicians is technology and live music in general. The entire music industry has gone through rapid and extensive changes in the past 30 years. Speaking as someone that used to make half my living playing, many of the big band jobs, wedding band gigs, theater jobs and recording jobs available to musicians have decreased (and in many cases fees and pay rates have stagnated). Look at old movies (circa 1930'S and '40's) and you will witness live bands in clubs. If people wanted to hear music 80 years ago, someone had to make it on the spot. Ask yourself when the last time was that you saw a BAND at a wedding.

The music union saw this coming over 60 years ago and the musicians' union strike in the 1940's tried to stem the tide. But I don't know if anyone could have foreseen the current state of the music business.

It seems as though John Q Public will not go out to see live music unless it is in a 50,000 seat house to see the Stones, Bruce Springsteen or Bill Joel. Even young rock musicians and their bands that are starting out now have to play for the door or even PAY to play at a club. It isn't only jazz musicians; symphonies and classical musicians are feeling it as well. Recently a local, professional chamber orchestra (the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra) went defunct because of lack of support and diminished ticket sales.

I believe that we need to look at is the reason people in general no longer support the live arts. And with the prevalence of portable players (iPods, etc.), it will take a strong grass-roots effort of all artists to begin to cultivate listeners/consumers.

Jazz was once 'popular music' and had a share of the music industry pie. The traditional cash cows of the music industry are fading (club scene, recording labels, etc.). The irony is that people still buy music; there is still a music industry and it will take some innovators and forward thinking artists/musicians to begin to effectively use current technologies and begin to build a listener/support base.

Neil January 15, 2008 07:55 EST

Leslie Gildart: Twp words: Jim Hobbs.

There are artists who are making original music that is both coherent and astonishing, but they are mining the long tail for recognition and support. Nobody promotes them. Nobody writes about them. And the only people who listen to them are people who already know who they are.

Timo Shanko, Django Carranza, jazz is still very much alive. You just have to really look for it. June 05, 2008 15:26 EST

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