The Cool Jazz presentation by The Core

Artistes performing at the programme. PHOTO: Shawkat Jamil

What made this jazz different from the other western forms of music is the use of improvisation. Jazz improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating fresh melodies with repeating cycle of chord changes in a tune. The improviser may depend on the contours of the original tune, or solely on the possibilities of the chords' harmonies. Similarly the eastern Classical music genre is also an improvised presentation of ragas.

Members of the Cool-Jazz band -- double bassist Steinar Rakness, saxophonist Kjeti Moster, pianist Erlend Slettevoll and drummer Espan Aalberg -- during their Asia tour, created fusion with Indian classical instrumentalists -- tabla player Prasanjit Mitra, bansi (flute) player Kanhman Singh and sitar player Fateh Ali. As part of their tour, the choir performed the first show on November 25 at the National Theatre Stage, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

The musicians spontaneously created a very intricate form of theme and variation. The first presentation was based on a Norwegian composition, titled Ileum of Dance. The composition started with the same tune by saxophonist Kjeti Moster and bansi player Kanhman Singh. Later, piano, bass and drums were added to the tune. With the rhythm and harmony provided by the instruments, Fateh Ali on sitar created variations. The structure was flexible. The interesting part of this composition was the improvisation of Prasanjit's tabla and Ali's sitar. The duo took the tune to various directions depending on the inspiration of the moment.

The second fusion was based on a composition titled Indian Song. Kanhman Singh's melody on flute seemed to move the audience. The flexible structure of fusion in the composition gave the tabla player Prasanjit an opportunity to display his mastery of different rhythms on tabla.

The third fusion titled The Rustic Core, based on Puria Dhaneswari, an evening raga, created a surrealistic atmosphere through the melody of bansi and saxophone. The composition, in its latter part, sophisticatedly adopted the rhythms of brushes and drums played by Espan Aalberg.

The title of the fourth composition was Pharaoh, where the audience got the essence of jazz. Improvised melody occurred when musicians -- double bassist, pianist and drummer used slurs, alternate notes and syncopation in order to recreate the melody in new and interesting ways. On stage piano, bass and drums provided the rhythm and harmony while the saxophonist used chords and tone centres to inspire new solo presentation.

In the fifth presentation, sitar player Fateh Ali rendered a Tarana while playing an evening raga on the sitar. Initially two artistes -- sax player and bansi player -- created a new tune inspired by the original melody, harmony and structure, but representing their unique creative passions. Being inspired by the harmony, under composition guidelines the sax player's spontaneous melodic phrasing amazed the audience.

In the final fusion, instrumentalists of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) -- sarod player Yousuf Khan, bansi player Monir, tabla player Meher Hossain and dotara player Ashutosh Shill -- joined the fusion. The superb performance of the instrumentalists at the event was an unusual and well-liked escape from the traditional music orchestra concerts in Bangladesh.

The two-day concert was organised by Royal Norwegian Embassy in association with BSA. State Minister for Cultural Affairs, Begum Selima Rahman inaugurated the show. Royal Norwegian Ambassador, Aud Lise Norheim and Director General of BSA, Ahmed Nazir were the special guests at the event.