Jazz Articles
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Phil Scarff: Ragas on Saxophone
by Geno Thackara
Plenty of Western players have been inspired by the exotic sounds and qualities of Indian music. It's a much smaller number who've formally studied its classical traditions, however, and fewer still have been successful enough to master the forms and play to the acclaim of Indian audiences. Quick--can you name one off the top of your head apart from John McLaughlin? If not, you're probably still in the majority even among jazz connoisseurs. If Phil Scarff is a ...
Continue ReadingNatraj: Deccan Dance
by AAJ Staff
Jazz naturally shares much in common with the music of India and Africa. Ragas emphasize improvisation around a harmonic structure; the music of West Africa relies upon the superimposition of complementary rhythms. Lately there's been a dramatic recognition of that fact in Boston, with groups like Antigravity and Natraj drawing from both Eastern and Western traditions. On its third release, Deccan Dance, Natraj somehow manages to make a raga sound jazzy and yet at the same time tribal. The two ...
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