SFJazz is a bright jewel in the busy San Francisco music collage. Besides year round events, each October kicks off the annual SF Jazz Festival, "where for 3 weeks in the fall, the city by the bay is the jazz capital of the world" (USA Today).
While jazz is an intrinsically American school of music, the last decade has seen a spurt of creative experimentation of jazz with other genres of music. The opening event for the SF Jazz presented the fruits of one such blend with Indian classical. Prima facie, Indian classical music belongs to a very divergent style....with an ancient tradition rooted in old world ragas, religion, and a very Eastern philosophy to music. But think beyond that you and realize, that Jazz and Indian classical and any other musical genre, are ultimately... all music. And as long as you bring a ready mind and open ears, you will be entertained.
And so I was. My friend and I didn't have tickets and were at the back of this very long line at the box office to buy el cheapo tickets (prices ranged from $20-120) However we lucked out big time when we spotted this middle-aged gentleman trying to get rid of 2 tix for his friends who couldn't make it. He sold us prime Orchestra $60 tix for $30! Nothing like finding a good deal to make an excellent event even better ;)
The 2nd set far overshadowed the first. There were long tabla and sitar jams, with the percussion and piano thrown in for good measure. There was an Indian vocalist as well. I don't profess to recognize any of the ragas, he did sing extremely well. I was blown away when the veena started playing. I wish I had paid more attention to Indian classical as a kid, because I was quite riveted. Sometime in the middle we had 3 saxophones going on at the same time, interspered with the banjo and the dholak. Quite a jugalbandi!I'll be back next year.
A shout out to SF Jazz for showcasing such creativity!
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