A night of jazz, folk and a bit of music theory

Perhaps, the best aspect about visiting Satori Meditations for a musical evening is that it works as an escape for many. When mostly what we have in terms of shows and concerts in Dhaka are based around pop and rock with a bit of underground heavy metal scattered here and there, shows that fuse Eastern and Western music through jazz and Bangla folk are few and far between. 

Such nights at Satori are a breath of fresh air.

Importantly, jazz shows challenge my levels of comprehension of the finer genres of music. There is always something new to learn and witness as a fan and as a listener who wants a taste of something beyond the ordinary.

The ensemble for the night boasted names that are revered in the niche community of jazz lovers as much as a glorified pop star is to mainstream audiences. 

Imran Ahmed (Guitar), Towfiq Arifin (Drums), Mohaimin Karim (Bass) and Rahin Haider (Saxophone) are all musicians who possess tremendous dexterity over their instruments and just as pop stars draw in thousands of enthusiastic teens to your ICCBs and Army Stadiums, it was these very instrumentalists that drew in a full house of around 50 at Satori on 22 December.

Nazrul Islam (Bangla Dhol), accompanied by his vocalist wife Baby Akter, was also a part of the band for the night, bearing the flags of folk music.

The show was divided into two sets: the first segment was all about instrumentals, some Imran Ahmed originals and some cover numbers. The second set featured a complete performance where the jazz masters took a backseat to Nazrul Islam's Dhol and Baby Akter's raw and unfiltered voice as they performed some popular folk songs.

The performance started with one of Imran's originals, 'Samba Shada Kalo.' Even though his soothing intro plucking with a highly reverberated tone drew my attention, what caught my eye was how drummer Arifin meticulously used a pair of mallets to build up the song's momentum before switching to his usual drumsticks.
 
"I look at each song like I look at life. Everything has a beginning and an end. Whenever I'm working on a composition, I try to build up the energy gradually till the climax. Sometimes we use different voicings and dynamics and different phrasings when they fit," is what Arifin said while explaining his choice of using mallets in the song.

In jazz, a fascinating element that has consistently intrigued me is the guitarist's ability to play a note that, to my accustomed ears attuned to four-chord simplicity, might initially sound discordant.

Yet, it's precisely such adventurous attempts of  'not playing' the 'expected' note that brings an unexpected weight and depth to the music, turning what sounds 'wrong' into something with added gravitas.

"These are spontaneous decisions. The tonal centre keeps on shifting as per the composition and I guess that is why you hear those notes which aren't in the key that your ears had registered in the first go," explained Imran.

The track Samba Shada Kalo is a good example of what Imran explained. The track originally starts in the key of C minor but the chord progressions keep on moving in a 2-5 movement and at a certain point, the song changes keys.

There was another instrumental in the first set called Anthropology by Charlie Parker, which was also a fun tune to groove to. The track had an upbeat beginning and in between Imran had a few single-string chromatic runs, hearing which always pleases the metal-infused guitarist inside me. There were sudden pauses and breaks in the song and by the end of it, Arifin stole the spotlight with his beats.

You might be wondering why I've focused extensively on the guitarist and drummer, seemingly leaving the bassist and saxophonist in the shadows. I humbly acknowledge that much of the intricacies woven by a bassist and saxophone player surpass my musical understanding.

But having sat right in front of the bassist throughout the entire show, all I can tell you is if one were to liken Imran's fretboard dexterity and Arifin's percussive prowess to the human body, it was Mohaimin's bass lines which functioned as the vital pulse keeping the lifeblood flowing through the musical organism.

In between breaks, I caught up with Nazrul Islam and asked about the differences he encounters while collaborating with musicians of a genre foreign to his inherent musicianship.

"Jazz musicians are different. We have a lot more freedom in folk. It has a lot more to do with the groove but when we are collaborating with these musicians, we have to adhere to certain structures and limits," he said.

In the second set, all the attention was on Baby Akter's vocals as she delivered a flawless performance where witnessing her raw 'deshi' voice fuse seamlessly with all the 'bideshi' (foreign) instruments in the background was something to behold.

I also asked the jazz musicians about the intricacies of fusing two polar opposite genres of music and while explaining, Imran went into detail about the song 'Bhandari,' which they performed in the second set.

"A lot of Bangla music is structured very similarly to modal music. Bhandari, for example, is in C Mixolydian, which is the fifth mode of the major scale. C is the fifth of F. Which means if I'm playing C Mixolydian, I am invariably also playing notes of the F major scale," Imran said.

"Bangla songs generally don't have a lot of key-centred changes. Especially in folk. It's word-driven, more about the spiritual connection the songs entail,  more about being locked in one groove. But we never felt limited or restricted when combining with folk," he added.

Before ending, something must be said about the crowd and the atmosphere they created in the rather small-spaced hallroom where Satori hosts most of their music shows. The crowd loved the setlist and were very appreciative throughout the 90 minutes of live music.

"I think subconsciously our target was to reach the audience through what we like and our tastes and I think that worked out well.  Most who showed up knew what they were in for and the few who had no idea about the music we play ended up liking it too. It's a great feeling, not going to lie," concluded Mohaimin.