By Niranjan Jhaveri

JIVI: The Jazz-India Vocal Institute

Many who bought my Book / CD package on "New Vocal Techniques for Jazz & Modern Music" got very interested and I received a lot of mail from singers wanting to learn more. One thing led to another and to the formation of JIVI - the Jazz-India Vocal Institute.

JAZZ-INDIA, organizers of JazzYatra Festivals since 1978 in India has recently formed the Jazz-India Vocal Institute - "JIVI". Jazz-India has brought hundreds of American jazz artists to India.

Innovations in jazz are very difficult these days, the instrumentalists have explored nearly all possibilities, everything under the sun seems to have been tried already. But there is a bright ray of hope for the future of jazz. Vocal jazz remains highly underdeveloped, possibilities are far from exhausted. The "natural" human voice (as against the operatic) is capable of doing such a lot of amazing things of which very few in jazz are aware. In India we have a very highly developed ancient method of systematically training the voice which can be learnt and used in jazz to lift vocal jazz to the same high levels - and beyond - of technical virtuosity as those attained by the musicians.

Jazz has no other avenue left for future advancement. As you may know, I have been doing lecture / workshop / clinic tours all over USA and Europe (even Japan & Australia) since 1990 and to hasten the development, in 1994 I wrote and published a Book / CD / Notations package titled "New Vocal Techniques For Jazz & Modern Music." Some adventurous vocalists, hungry to do more innovative things in jazz read my book, heard the CD and expressed a desire to come to India to learn more. So to further hasten the process and obtain results I started inviting them to Bombay for two months' intensive training under a Residency Program.

First to come was Ann Dyer from San Francisco (she is listed in Down Beat polls under TDWR in 1995 & 1996). I was able to arrange free round trip air travel, free 5-star hotel, free three-meals a day for her for two months (real cost of hotel $300 per day!) and was able to feature her in JazzYatra 1996. I arranged tutions for her three times a week and ensured that she put in DAILY practice for two to four hours, every single day. Ann reports from SF that the Indian things have started to filter into her jazz singing with sensational results. Several members of the audience approach her after a performance to find out more about the "new" things they heard in her singing.

On her departure came Lisa Young from Australia (I got her a grant of $8000 (Australian equivalent) from an Australian organization). Next to come, September 1997 is a superb vocalist Amy Denio from Seattle, I'm very excited about her doing JIVI as she not only sings, plays alto sax and accordion but is an amazing composer. I'm surprised she is not known in the jazz world. She could well usher in the vocal "revolution" I crave for.

The success of the above led me to form the Jazz-India Vocal Institute or JIVI. I am now looking for YOUNG, TALENTED, CREATIVE, IMAGINATIVE, HUNGRY TO LEARN, READY TO WORK HARD, DEDICATED TO JAZZ candidates to invite for the two months' Residency. Perhaps such singers do not exist, I would settle for the ones that come close! If you know of such persons, male or female, please have them contact me.

At JIVI we do not teach them to sing the same old standards rehashed more or less the same old way. Sing the lyrics (almost always in English language, does the trumpet or sax "sing" in English?), project emotion into the song, do a bit of scatting perhaps, use a lot of vibrato then pass it on to the pianist to fill up some space and time, get back to the song and end it. Next song – repeat the same formula. Where are the innovations? Of course there are few self-taught exceptions: Bobby McFerrin, Clark "Mumbles" Terry, Betty Carter to name a few. The things they do are unique, we will not see another Bobby McFerrin, what he does cannot be taught or learned. But in India, at JIVI, we have the systematic method of teaching the human voice do incredible things.

Already I am finding and getting to know some wonderful singers from different directions who are doing amazing things. Apart from Ann Dyer and Lisa Young, I have now invited Ellen Christi, Amy Denio and Joan Beal. Amy Denio does has accepted, arrives in Bombay September 1997. At the Poznan festival (May 1997) I heard for the first time "live" Portugal's Maria Joao. Others who I love are two Indian singers, Asha Putli (remember her with Ornette Coleman?) and Christine Correa (both grew up in Bombay). I love Gabriele Hasler (Germany) and from UK it is Liane Carrol. I have not heard anything recently from Norway's Karin Krog (she too came to India in 1975 and again 1978 to learn Indian techniques). Many of the above named remain almost unnoticed by the jazz community. Trilok Gurtu does India inspired "konnakol" (vocal percussion), Joe Zawinul does great things with his voice + synthesizer, Arto Tunboyactyn is equally amazing. At the Saalfeldon Jazz Festival in Austria (August 28 to 31, 1997) I heard the most "far out" vocalist I've heard, Phil Minton from London. I plan a JazzYatra Festival featuring such singers only. Already, we have invited several singers for a concert series in Bombay: October 23, 1997 the Zawinul Syndicate (three of them sing), the jazz diva one-&-only Betty Carter and her Trio on Oct.24 and on 25th Amy Denio followed by Trilok Gurtu's The Glimpse (three of them sing).

So, a revolution in jazz is under way. The above singers plus, I am sure some others whose existence I am not aware of, are slowly but surely taking jazz into the 21st Century. I predict that by year 2000 jazz will enjoy a new life with greater popularity, no longer a minority music loved by perhaps only 2% of music lovers, led by the new breed of vocalists. No instrument can match the warmth and direct appeal (human to human contact) of the vocal "instrument". In fact, the instrumentalists will have to struggle to keep up with the incredible things the voice will do. The Three Tenors – watch out! Vocal jazz is about to catch up, even overtake you in popularity!

Niranjan Jhaveri, Honorary Secretary General, Jazz-India/JazzYatra/JIVI 26 B. G. KHER MARG, BOMBAY 400 006, INDIA Fax xx91 22 364 0859 ## e-mail < jazzind@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in >