SAT OCT 28 2017 / 8PM
Zakir Hussain and Dave Holland: Crosscurrents CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT UBC
“This is a very exciting tour and concept that we’re working with. It all started out with an idea that I couldn’t shake. We all know about how Indian music has influenced jazz, how Ravi Shankar influenced John Coltrane and George Harrison, but we seldom talk about how jazz has influenced Indian music…We’re very interested in exploring and presenting how the music has evolved, from traditional Indian compositions. Actually, it’s a whole gamut of music that we cover!” – Zakir Hussain (Restless and Real, 2017 interview with Douglas Heselgrave)
Zakir Hussain and Dave Holland: Crosscurrents PRESENTED BY THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Pre-show Talk 7:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema With Fred Stride Concert 8pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall Zakir Hussain tabla Dave Holland bass Chris Potter saxophone Shankar Mahadevan vocals Louiz Banks keyboards Sanjay Divecha guitar Gino Banks drums There will be one 20-minute intermission. Set list to be announced from the stage.
Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you!
“ Jazz first came to India by way of the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s
and ’40s and quickly influenced the music of India’s burgeoning film industry. The improvisational nature of jazz was familiar to Indian composers and musicians, who found a way to incorporate jazz harmonies and chord progressions into their work. As a few decades passed, and as the West was enjoying the inspiration of Indian classical music, certain musicians came to influence popular music in India in a big way. Among these are jazz pianist Louiz Banks, jazz guitarist Sanjay Divecha, and superstar composer/vocalist Shankar Mahadevan.”
– Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain tabla The pre-eminent classical tabla virtuoso of our time, Zakir Hussain is appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A national treasure in his native India, he is one of the world’s most esteemed and influential musicians, renowned for his genre-defying collaborations. Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Zakir’s contribution has been unique, with many historic and groundbreaking collaborations, including Shakti, Remember Shakti, Masters of Percussion, the Diga Rhythm Band, Planet Drum, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, in trio with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer and, most recently, with Herbie Hancock. The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Zakir was a child prodigy who began his professional career at the age of twelve, touring internationally with great success by the age of eighteen. As a composer, he has scored music for numerous feature films, major events and productions. He has composed two concertos, and his third, the first-ever concerto for tabla and orchestra premiered in India in 2015. It was later performed in Europe, the UK and the US. A GRAMMY-award winner, he is the recipient of countless awards and honours, including Padma Bhushan, National Heritage Fellowship and Officier in France’s Order of Arts and Letters. In 2015, he was voted “Best Percussionist” by both the Down Beat Critics’ Poll and Modern Drummer’s Reader’s Poll and received SFJazz’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. As an educator, he conducts many workshops and lectures each year, has been in residence at Princeton University and Stanford University, and, in 2015, was appointed Regents Lecturer at UC Berkeley. He is the founder and president of Moment Records, an independent record label presenting rare live concert recordings of Indian classical music and world music. Zakir was resident artistic director at SFJazz from 2013 until 2016. 4
Dave Holland bass Over the course of a nearly five-decade career, bassist/composer Dave Holland has exemplified the evolutionary process in musical form, reinventing his concept and approach with each new project while constantly honing his instantly identifiable voice. Since his professional debut in the mid-1960s with Miles Davis’s legendary Bitches Brew band, that voice has been heard in a remarkable number of different contexts. He collaborated with Spanish guitar legend Pepe Habichuela; accompanied the great vocalist Betty Carter in her last years; forged a new sound with the pioneering avant-garde quartet Circle alongside Chick Corea, Anthony Braxton, and Barry Altschul; stood alongside legends like Stan Getz, Hank Jones, Roy Haynes, and Sam Rivers; and provided early opportunities to now leading players like Chris Potter, Kevin and Robin Eubanks, and Steve Coleman. Dave Holland has been at the forefront of jazz in many of its forms since his earliest days. He leads a GRAMMY-winning big band, an acclaimed quintet, and the Overtone quartet. He is also part of a duo with Kenny Barron and has released a number of important solo recordings.
Chris Potter saxophone A world-class soloist, accomplished composer, and formidable bandleader, saxophonist Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. Down Beat called him “One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet” while Jazz Times identified him as “a figure of international renown.” Jazz sax elder statesman Dave Liebman called him simply, “one of the best musicians around,” a sentiment shared by the readers of Down Beat in voting him second only to tenor sax great Sonny Rollins in the magazine’s 2008 Readers Poll. Potter’s impressive discography includes 15 albums as a leader, and sideman appearances on over 100 albums. He was nominated for a GRAMMY for his solo work on “In Vogue,” a track from Joanne Brackeen’s 1999 album Pink Elephant Magic, and was prominently featured on Steely Dan’s album, Two Against Nature. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Ray Brown and many others. His most recent recording, Ultrahang, is the culmination of five years’ work with his Underground quartet with Adam Rogers on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, and Nate Smith on drums. His penchant for risk taking and genre bending make him an ideal collaborator. 5
Shankar Mahadevan vocals Shankar Mahadevan is among the greatest Indian vocalists alive; having risen to fame in Mumbai’s fabled Bollywood film industry as a composer, playback singer, and member of the famed Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composing team. He sang from his earliest days, but then diverted into a career as a software engineer. In 1998 he ventured into music and released his first album, Breathless (so named because the title song was written as though it was to be sung in one breath). This quickly brought him to the attention of Bollywood, and he soon became the singing voice of every Tamil hero. He won the first of his many awards for his film music with a collaboration with legendary director A.R. Rahman, then won several National Film Awards. As time went on, he found his own compositional voice, and he has since become the leading composer in Indian film music, selling millions of records every year. In 2012 he was invited by UNESCO and the U.S. State Dept. to perform at the United Nations for the finale of the International Jazz Festival. He previously worked with Zakir Hussain as the vocalist for the Remember Shakti quintet.
Louiz Banks keyboards Louiz Banks has been nicknamed the “Godfather of Indian Jazz,” and it’s appropriate; his commitment and devotion to jazz convinced his father to change his son’s name to Louis in honor of the greatest of jazz trumpet players, Louis Armstrong. He began playing music in his homeland of Nepal, but his career accelerated when he settled in Mumbai, where his performance work in night clubs popularized the genre. His work (co-producer, arranger, and pianist) on the album Miles from India brought his name to great recognition in America, receiving a GRAMMY nomination. In the same year, he was the featured keyboardist on John McLaughlin’s Floating Point.
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Gino Banks drums Gino Banks is Louiz’s son, and it is clear that the adventurous spirit of world music exploration is in his DNA. He has played with classical greats like Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Vikku Vinayakram, Ustad Sabir Khan, and many others. He is a stalwart in the Bollywood Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy film music world. He works regularly with fusion groups like Niladri Kumar’s Sitar Funk, Rakesh Chaurasia’s RAF, and many others. Rock music is in his world, and he has backed many dance groups. One of his best known efforts was taking part in Bob Belden’s album Miles from India. Gino also teaches, primarily at the True School of Music in Mumbai.
Sanjay Divecha guitar Sanjay Divecha’s entire history has seen him pursue a vision of world community as expressed through music, which is in perfect accord with the implicit principles of Crosscurrents. Born in Mumbai, he began his formal musical studies with five years of traditional sitar. At the same time, he was listening to Western folk, blues, jazz, and rock, and eventually settled on the guitar as his primary instrument. Largely self-taught, he decided to expand his horizons and study in America, and in 1987 he landed at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, where he worked with Scott Henderson, Joe Diorio, and Robben Ford. Over 15 years in Los Angeles he recorded and toured with the likes of Angelique Kidjo and Carlos Santana, among many others. He returned to India in 2003 to reconnect with his cultural roots and absorbed Indian folk music from both North (Hindustani) and South (Carnatic) traditions. His album Full Circle, released in 2008, captures that journey.
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UBC School of Music Fanfares The fanfare that was performed in the lobby prior to this concert (7:30pm and 7:45pm) was commissioned by the Chan Centre from UBC student John Stetch as part of an ongoing partnership with the UBC School of Music. Azura Quartet Eric Toombs - Soprano Saxophone; Mo Miao - Alto Saxophone; Haley Heinricks - Tenor Saxophone; Mia Gazley - Baritone Saxophone Steinway Artist John Stetch pushes the edges of his jazz and classical training to fuse melodies from Mozart to Ukrainian music to pop culture anthems. Originally from Edmonton and then New York, Stetch started piano at age 19, and is now a 6-time Juno nominee who just released his 15th album this fall. Reply All for saxophone quartet “As a child, I played saxophone for many years, in mostly jazz and eastern European styles. When composing this piece, I wanted to feature sounds of east-meets-west, especially since it opens a concert of Dave and Zakir, two huge stars of disparate worlds.” - John Stetch
Pre-concert dinners at Sage Restaurant The Chan Centre has partnered with UBC’s Sage Restaurant for the 2017/18 Chan Centre Presents series. Now it’s easy to enjoy dinner before your performance, in a location just steps from the Chan Centre. For only $39.50 per person, indulge in a delicious three-course menu of fresh, West Coast cuisine. Details at chancentre.com/sage. Bon appétit!
SANTA J. ONO
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MARIZA and let us know about your experience tonight.
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Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
Pre-show Talk with Fred Stride 7:15pm: Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre UBC School of Music faculty member and director of the UBC Jazz Ensemble Fred Stride talks about the rich history of cross-cultural connections between jazz and the music of India.
MAR 16 & 17 2018 / 7:30PM
Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
Exquisite and unnerving, these two major artists combine experimental Inuit vocals and Greelandic mask dance to cast their traditional roots in a contemporary light.
CHAN CENTRE AT UBC
Tickets and info at chancentre.com
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Riding the Current Between the East and the West By Hannah Wong At first glance, it would seem as if jazz and Indian classical music would have little in common. Indian classical music’s history spans thousands of years and made its start in the temples and courts in India. On the other side of the world, jazz took its form in African American communities of New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. How did these two seemingly very different worlds manage to overcome their geographical distance to fuse into something new? Jazz first found its way into India in the first half of the 20th century, having been introduced to Indian elites by Western influences. The music started off as a source of entertainment for foreigners posted in the country and eventually the big band tunes spread to the clientele of upper class Indian aristocrats. With its modes, steady rhythms, and use of improvisation all similar to that of Indian classical music, India was charmed by the new genre. It wasn’t long until nightclubs and ballrooms of the country became saturated with sounds of swing and bop. Classical instruments such as the tabla and sitar began jamming to the influence of jazz and eventually, a new genre was formed. What started as a form of elite entertainment soon found fame in Bollywood screens and Indo-jazz became a prominent and well-established genre in the years that followed. The influence did not just work one way, jazz music was equally enraptured by what Indian classical instruments had to offer. Jazz virtuosos such as saxophonist John Coltrane were exploring modal improvisations found in Hindustani music. The Beatles themselves – George Harrison, in particular – were inspired by Ravi Shankar and used the sitar in “Norwegian Wood” and the swarmandal in “Strawberry Fields Forever”. The Crosscurrents project explores a fresh and stimulating musical palate as Chan Centre audience favourite Zakir Hussain and jazz bassist Dave Holland bring us the delicate fusion of east and west with the help of renowned saxophonist Chris Potter, award-winning Bollywood composer and vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, Louiz Banks (piano), Sanjay Divecha (guitar) and Gino Banks (drums). Hussain was first introduced to jazz in his teens when he met Duke Ellington who was visiting in India during that time. “[At the time] not only have I never heard the big band sound, but I didn’t even know there was a big band sound ever,” he recalls in a 2014 interview with SF Jazz, “it was eye opening”. About the author: Hannah Wong is a student of the Arts & Entertainment Management Diploma program at Capilano University. Having already received her undergraduate degree at UBC in music, she is currently back on campus as a Marketing & Communications Intern at the UBC School of Music and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
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Celebrating 20 Years The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts opened its doors in 1997, and this season we’re celebrating 20 years! Visit our anniversary archives at chancentre.com for memorable events, stories and never-before-seen photos from two decades of world class performance.
Silver Screen By Jennifer Van Evra The Chan Centre is best known as a concert hall and theatre — but it has also been a sci-fi gladiator fighting ring, a superhero nightclub, a trendy luxury apartment, a cafeteria, and a high-tech company office. Thanks to its modern look and flexible spaces, the building is a favourite among film and TV location scouts, and has played host to nearly 100 productions, from Hollywood blockbusters to student films. Halle Berry walked the halls in her catsuit when the Telus Studio Theatre became a high-tech bar in Catwoman. In Josie and the Pussycats, the lobby was transformed into a stunning high-end apartment. In Fifty Shades of Grey, when lead character Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) graduates from college, she walks across the concert hall stage. For the George Clooney film Tomorrowland, the adjacent stretch of Main Mall became the 1964 New York World’s Fair, while the building was filled to the brim with racks of costumes and extras awaiting their big moment. When heartthrob Ryan Phillippe and Tim Robbins did an outdoor scene for Antitrust, a nearby staircase was packed with students trying to catch a glimpse from above; and there was plenty of buzz when the popular Step Up dance film series chose the Telus Studio Theatre for its big finale. Even the stylish women’s washrooms have been used for multiple shoots, and one week, the Great Performers Lounge went from a posh office to a warehouse to a men’s locker room. “It’s amazing what professional set decorators can do. It’s so convincing when you see it,” says Rentals and Programming Manager Wendy Atkinson, who regularly fields calls about the space. “There’s no other venue quite like it in town. That’s why it’s used so often.” As part of the 20th anniversary of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, we have commissioned 20 stories from writer Jennifer Van Evra – just a glimpse into all that has shaped who we are as an organization today. Read more at chancentre.com. 12
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The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Cameron McGill Carl Armstrong Wendy Atkinson Lloyd Balser Laura Busby Kara Gibbs David Humphrey Flora Lew Glenda Makela Trevor Mangion Chloe Martin-Cabanne Veronica Maynard Caitlin McKee Claire Mohun George Pereira Andrew Riter Nadia Roberts Lyndsey Roberts
Co-Managing Director Co-Managing Director Events & Customer Service Manager Programming & Rentals Manager Head Audio Technician Rentals & Programming Assistant Marketing & Communications Manager Production Manager Financial Coordinator Financial & Programming Clerk Ticket Operations Manager Operations Clerk Administration & Finance Clerk Artistic Presenting Manager Marketing & Communications Coordinator Production Clerk Assistant Technical Director & Head Lighting Technician Events & Front of House Coordinator Ticket Office Supervisor
Members of Cupe 2950 Front of House, Stage, and Ticketing Staff Janice Lew Taryn Plater
Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student
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“The music we do is weaved together through stories and life experiences. When people
The Chan Centre would like to thank our 2017/2018 series sponsors: come to hear us, I hope they are uplifted The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
and that we give them a lot to take home.” – Dianne Reeves (San Diego Union-Tribune, 2016)
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Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre Full details at chancentre.com
Oct 29 at 3pm: Monteverdi’s Orfeo Presented by Early Music Vancouver Oct 29 at 7pm: The Foreclosure Follies Telus Studio Theatre Presented by Live Canon and The Annual Review of Insolvency Law
Nov 3 at 8pm: Science & Reason Post Show Presented by Pangburn Philosophy Nov 4 at 7pm: Gad Elmaleh Presented by Just for Laughs Nov 5 at 1pm: 2017 RCM Vancouver Convocation and Gold Medal Awards Ceremony Presented by the Royal Conservatory
Nov 8 at 8pm: Texas Troubadours featuring Ruthie Foster, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Carrie Rodriguez Presented by the Chan Centre Nov 10 at 8pm: UBC Symphony Orchestra with Robert Silverman Presented by the UBC School of Music
Nov 12 at 3pm: Seong-Jin Cho Presented by the Vancouver Chopin Society Nov 17 at 7:30pm: String Fest: UBC Chamber Strings Telus Studio Theatre Presented by the UBC School of Music
Nov 17 at 8pm: UBC ChoirFest Presented by the UBC School of Music Nov 18 at 8pm: UBC Bands Presented by the UBC School of Music
Ruthie Foster
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CHAN CENTRE PRESENTS SERIES Ruthie Foster, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Carrie Rodriguez I NOV 8 The Jazz Epistles: Abdullah Ibrahim with guest Terence Blanchard I FEB 18 Lila Downs I MAR 10 Daymé Arocena and Roberto Fonseca I APR 15 Circa: Opus I APR 28
BEYOND WORDS SERIES Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory I MAR 16+17
SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! DAYMÉ AROCENA TERENCE BLANCHARD
RUTHIE FOSTER
JIMMIE DALE GILMORE
CARRIE RODRIGUEZ
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM
chancentre.com