Congo
Square JazzFest 2008
31st
January to 2nd February 2008,
Dalhousie Institute
Congo
Square brings you JazzFest 2008.
Saturday February 2, 2008
6:00 PM : Introduction of Bands
6:15 PM : Brian Melvin-Amit Heri – Karl Peters Trio
(USA/India)
Brian Melvin is an internationally known
drummer/percussionist/educator. He has played and recorded
with many of the worlds leading musicians. Not limited by
styles, he's worked with the late Joe Henderson, Mike Stern,
John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano,
Bobo Stenson, Toots Thielemans, Richard Bona, Bob Weir ("The
Grateful Dead"), Greg Allman ("The Allman Brothers
Band") and many more. One of his main associations has
been with the Hall of Fame bassist Jaco Pastorius. They were
good friends and made five historic recordings together. One
of their most famous was "Standards Zone" (Global
Pacific Records,) which was the no. 1 jazz album for 15 weeks.
Currently Beatlejazz, a series of recordings in which the
Brian Melvin trio has collaborated with the likes of John
Scofield, Michael Brecker, and Randy Brecker, has been in
the top ten on their first three releases as well. Having
lived in New York and Europe, he is no stranger to the international
jazz scene. Brian lived and played in New York a few different
times, starting in 1987. At that period he was the house drummer
at the Blue Note jazz club after hours sessions, along with
playing in the Mike Stern trio for two years at the famous
55 bar. It was also during this period where Brian and Dave
Kikoski started their long musical and personal friendship,
which continues currently in Beatlejazz. In 1998-99 he shared
living quarters with Al Foster and played all over New York,
and the east coast. Recently Brian has been involved in many
great projects, including Beatlejazz, Fog, Geografix, and
many European projects as well. Also a resident of Tallinn,
Estonia, Brian has been teaching workshops and masterclasses
all over Europe as well as playing in numerous musical settings.
He is very active in world music and has been playing tablas
and various hand drums along with electric percussion.
World drumming has also been big interest of Brian. Master
tabla players Alla Rakha and his son Zakir Hussain were his
teachers, and remain the most highly regarded masters Brian
knows and studies. They turn drums into gold, and watching
them together was an experience beyond words. It is a constant
inspiration that he will always treasure. Also African Drumming
has always captured his imagination, and great friend and
drummer Kwaku Daddy shared some of his insights of the African
drumming and folklore.
Amit Heri grew up listening to the blues,
Indian & western classical, rock & jazz. The objective
of the AMIT HERI GROUP is to share a personal journey through
music that highlights the commonality between musical cultures.
One of a few Indian musicians to perform at major international
music festivals (Berlin Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival,
London Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Rome World Music
Festival,
WOMAD Festival, World Social Forum and many
more), Amit Heri studied on a scholarship at the Berklee College
of Music, USA and has performed with various internationally
known artists including Charlie Mariano, Aka Moon, Zakir Hussain,
Ramamani & the KCP, Trilok Gurtu, Matt Garrison, Robert
Miles, Salif Keita & Angelique Kidjo. He has scored music
for feature films (including MORNING RAGA), dance and theatre
productions. AMIT HERI'S albums include: AMIT HERI GROUP (Earth
Music, India), MORNING RAGA (Music Today, India), Charlie
Mariano "Bangalore " (Intuition, Germany), Louis
Banks "Music for Romance" (Music Today, India) &
Trilok Gurtu "Beat of Love" ( Universal, USA).
Karl Peters is the bass guitarist of Amit
Heri Group. He is unanimously acknowledged as the numero uno
bassist in India. Karl’s virtuosity on the bass, his
knowledge of western Jazz harmonies and his grasp of Indian
modes and melodic concept makes him an invaluable force in
any Indian and International musical group. Karl has performed
all over the world with many groups most recently with the
Indian Fusion Group - SILK featuring Louis Banks, Shankar
Mahadevan, Siva Mani and Shridhar Parthsarthy. Apart from
playing with SILK, Karl performs extensively with many groups
with varied musical styles.
His solos are one of his main features in any band and it
is always funky, masterly, lyrical and full of soul &
swing and has always been a favourite of the audience. That’s’
Karl, he loves to play and is the most in demand bass player
in the country.
As the saying goes, when Karl plays he always delivers. A
living legend already, every band is richer by his presence.
7:45 PM : This Is Not Fusion with guest Brian Melvin
(Drums) (India/USA)
This Is Not Fusion
This Is Not Fusion is primarily Amit Chaudhuri’s brainchild.
Amit Chaudhuri is one of India's leading novelists ('one of
his generation's best writers', the Guardian; 'one of the
most talented and versatile writers of his generation', the
Village Voice), and has won several international awards,
including the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the Betty Trask
Prize, the Society of Authors' Encore Prize, the Government
of India's Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Los Angeles Times
Book Prize for Fiction. At present, he is Professor of Contemporary
Literature at the University of East Anglia. He is also a
performing vocalist in the Indian classical tradition, and
has recordings and CDs from HMV India. For the last two years,
he embarked on a conceptual experiment in music, bringing
together the Indian raga with the blues, rock, and jazz; this
has travelled widely in India and Europe, and has been performed
in, among other places, Berlin, the theaterschauspiele, Frankfurt,
the Palais de Bozar, Brussels, the Lille 3000 Festival, and
the British Museum, London. The CD, This Is Not Fusion, was
brought out earlier this year by Times Music.
In October 2007, the CD was launched at the London Review
Bookshop, soon after a sell-out concert at the legendary jazz
club, the Vortex. Soon after, Amit Chaudhuri and his musicians
played at the Pushkin Room in Bloomsbury in London, and then
at the Troubadour, where Bob Dylan played his first British
gig. The music has had some excellent responses from musicians
and critics from England, India, and other parts of the world,
who see it as a genuine departure.
9:00 PM : Congo Square Ensemble (India)
Congo Square Ensemble
This band is a representation of the jazz heritage of Kolkata
and comprises musicians drawn from prominent Jazz Bands and
sessions players of the city.
|
