A city-based photographer is relating an international jazz outing to a festival of folk music, says Jignes Shah.
 At the show, From Monterey to Malwa, part-time musician and photojournalist Hari Adivarekar will show his photographs from the Monterey Jazz Festival of 2008 in California, USA and the Malwa Yatra, a series of concerts that was hosted in Madhya Pradesh in March this year. Although unique in their own ways, the two festivals had a few connections, offered Adivarekar .
How did you get to Monterey? And then to Malwa?
Malwa wasn’t on the horizon when I was at Monterey two years back. The organisers were willing to let me – a non-resident on a tourist visa – cover the jazz fest. There were no remunerations. For the Malwa Yatra, I was hired by [filmmaker Shabnam Virmani’s] Kabir Project in Bangalore.
How much time did you spend with the artists?
At Monterey, over three days, from late morning to late night, five stages, varied cuisines and fine wine. I was privy to a range of jazz stalwarts and brilliant young upstarts to keep me truckin’ for years. The smaller stages afforded some interactions with people like [R&B singer] Ledisi or [saxophonist] Maceo Parker, but never with big names.
On the Malwa Yatra, I spent seven intimate days with the musicians. The itineraries were gruelling. The performances would begin at 8-9pm and boisterously motor on till 3-4am. We would then retire to a cowshed, room, field or house for a few hours of sleep, before hitting the road the next morning.
 How did you go about linking jazz to Indian folk music? Why not the blues, or hip-hop?Other genres do connect with jazz, and I believe the divisions – societal, cultural and musical – are only in our minds. With these two genres, I saw spirituality, complexity – musical and philosophical – honesty, and a voice against oppression. I saw audiences making their yearly pilgrimage – entire villages squashed into Tata Sumos or affluent African Americans in SUVs – with that same look of anticipation and eventually satiation. These things brought clarity about why I wanted to link the festivals and musical forms.
How different were the two festivals?
While jazz has evolved to something respected by all strata, folk music has yet to garner the same exposure among urban audiences. Having said that, at one of the concerts in Rupakhedi, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, 20,000 villagers attended, huddled up and nodding along furiously till the wee hours. There were no more than 10,000 people at the Monterey Jazz Fest on its best day. And they weren’t lent mattresses and blankets and fed three times a day like the Malwa attendees.
You were riding in a pink bus?
Through fields, tea stops, naps and conversations, our pink bus rumbled through the roads of central Madhya Pradesh. Despite the long, hot journeys the music remained the highlight, as Mura Lala Kaka and Parbat Jogi, Mukhtiyar bhai and Narayanji, and Delhi rockers Manzil performed song after song, forgetting the unforgiving drone of the engine, the terrible shock absorbers and stiff seats. It was a journey through the heart of Kabir on our pink bus.
What’s next – Mountain Jam to the Madras Music Season, perhaps?
If someone’s willing to foot the bill, most certainly. |
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