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Collaboration with Jazz Teacher, Musician and friend David Liebman … Recent Appearances and Performances : May 19, 2001 - Puffin Foundation Cultural Forum, Teaneck, New JerseyApr 05, 2001 - The Knitting Factory, New York City
Excerpts from David Liebman's Quarterly Newsletter INTERVALS … RECENT ACTIVITITES INDIAN MUSIC I have formed a relationship with a wonderful Indian flute (bansurai) player, Jayanta Banerjee, who is studying at present with the famous sitarist, Vilayet Khan. Accompanied on tabla by Sai Sham, we have played a few gigs together with myself exclusively on soprano and some wooden flute. In the 70s Badal Roy played tabla in my first group, Lookout Farm. We first met on John McLaughlin’s "My Goals Beyond" and for the Miles Davis epic recording "On the Corner". In 1975 Lookout Farm did a State Department tour of India and the next year I returned for a more personal trip with my mother. I also studied some bansurai with a teacher from the Ali Akbar school when I lived in the Bay Area for a few years in the mid 70s. For my taste Indian classical music (both North and South) is among the most sophisticated idioms in the world. The intricacies of melodic nuances (which directly interest me as a wind player) in combination with the incredible complex rhythmic cycles is fascinating and at the same time deeply expressive. Playing once again in that atmosphere has a grounding effect and at the same time reminds me of what is important in music-expression and feeling. Of course, I am for the most part completely lost when I try to deal with the higher complex rhythmic cycles, but my Indian friends aren’t about to play "Giant Steps" either! As with all cross cultural fusions, the important thing is to use good taste in relation to how far one ventures into an exotic style, especially when you consider how closely the music and the culture are related…..
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