On the occasion of International Jazz Day, two vinyl enthusiasts sift through their collections to pick out their favourite—renowned and rare, international and Indian—jazz records
Rare old pressing of a Glenn Miller swing jazz album. Courtesy Anurag Shanker
For its role of uniting people in all corners of the globe, jazz is celebrated on April 30 every year. Even as we stay locked down, Mid-Day.com asked two Mumbai-based musicians and vinyl enthusiasts to offer a tour of their favourite jazz records, acquired during their journeys to all corners of the country and world. The choices span historical, contemporary, typical, and experimental acts of the magical improvisational genre.
ANURAG SHANKER, music composer and guitar player
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The Mumbai-based composer, producer and guitar player defines the term “jazz”, beyond its typical association with piano and saxophone sounds, to include any music with improvisation. Still, he has more core jazz in his collection than even he anticipated. Shanker listens to these on a Rega Rp1 turntable with a Telefunken Preamp and vintage 'Woodstock' New Delhi made floor-standing speakers.
Somethin’ Else - Cannonball Adderley (1958): “It has an all-star band—Miles Davis on trumpet, Art Blakey on drums. It is completely up there in the holy tradition of jazz. What’s also amazing is the sound, the way it has been recorded even today, in this day and age, the sax and the trumpet is unbelievable and it feels so intimate. The standout song is Autumn Leaves, one of the most common and popular jazz standards. But the way they have twisted the arrangement, it has such a good, slightly darker texture. The other songs, ‘Love for Sale’, ‘Something Else’ are also outstanding.”
Glenn Miller - The Swinging Big Bands (1939/1942): “My wife and I picked this up just by looking at it. We knew it was going to be something interesting. It is a really old record we found in a second hand store in Vienna, something that you won’t find somewhere else. Glen Miller’s orchestra, I later found, was one of the most successful recording artists. They did a lot of tours and it has got that typical ballroom jazz, big band-vibe that people would dance to so it is that record which you put on and it immediately makes everything light and celebratory. ‘In the Mood’, ‘Georgia on my Mind’, ‘At Last’ have all been done in that swing jazz, big band style which is so unique. It was an era of sound, people still do it, but you don’t get that sound. It’s a piece of history that we have with us.”
Benny Goodman 1945 (1945): “This is, again, a piece of history which we picked up in Marseille. A brilliant record by the legend Benny Goodman who is a clarinet player. Frankly the first time I played this record the kind of prowess and speed and command with which he performs his instrument was so stunning, I thought it was playing at the wrong speed because it was so smoothly and unnaturally quick. Then I realised that that’s his expertise. These are really high-tempo, fast pieces. Cafe or bar jazz, you know, which is sit-down, easy to listen to. ‘Ain’t Misbehaving’ is one of my favourite songs from the original jazz traditional standard list. One of the amazing things about this record is the liner notes, which LPs used to have which are gone from our vocabulary now. People used to write a mini review of the album and an introduction to the artist and their contribution to music.”
Harmony of Difference - Kamasi Washington (2017): “This is a concept album. Then again, it is not an album, it is more of a piece. They play five songs but the beauty is that it is actually the same song, only presented to you one layer at a time. And finally, the fifth song has all those layers played together and it sounds like a celebration. I had heard this artist before but it was only when I listened to ‘Harmony of Difference’, where they celebrate different layers and finally play them together in harmony, that I understood his message and what he is trying to do. He is playing his culture and roots, rather than showing off a style. It is a cultural experience listening to him.”
Record of the album To Know Without Knowing. Pic Courtesy: Anurag Shanker
To Know Without Knowing - Mulatu Astatke (2020): “This is one of the new records I got last year, it came out in 2020. I did not know the artist before that. Somebody sent me a link to his work and I found this album and the singles coming out. I found out later that he is called the godfather of Ethiopian jazz, he learnt jazz and Latin music in Europe and London, and combined it with his Ethiopian roots. This is a beautiful cultural experience—rituals, family, festivals— that you can be a part of. It is amazing that music can do that, even recorded music. Astatke is a vibraphonist. He is writing the arrangements and playing it with a young ensemble from Australia, which is cool because a lot of international jazz tends to be centred in America and Europe.”
SHANKAR LAKSHMANAN, musician and advertising professional
Having grown up listening to his father’s records on a Murphy or Philips player, Carnatic classical musician Shankar Lakshmanan began collecting vinyls from shops like Razzak’s, a haunt in CST for music lovers, during his college years. This was long before he could afford his own Pro-Ject audiophile record player and a customised music set-up. Currently “divorced” from his collection thanks to lockdown—which he has been spending at his parents’ home—Lakshmanan is happy to reminisce about it. “It is a welcome distraction from Covid.”
Natural Elements - Shakti (1977): “I regard 'Get Down and Shruti' as a sign and prototype of the Indo-Western 'fusion' that has followed ever since. I first heard this track as a child long before I had heard of Shakti or jazz or fusion. After a recurring theme is established: solos on guitar and violin, followed by solos on ghatam and tabla, followed by a Mohra-Korvai format including Konnakol and then returning to the main theme. Legend John Mclaughlin plays some mind-bending chords here. In the pause between the two melodic solos, Ustadji (Zakir Hussain) plays the most subtle but effective pick-ups imaginable. This is also one of the finest early sound recordings of Ustadji's Tabla. ‘Peace of Mind’ has too much beauty packed in a couple of minutes. It is a heart-breaking conversation between L Shankarji's violin and McLaughlin's guitar. Not only the finale of this landmark album, but usually the finale of my music listening in this genre.”
In a Silent Way - Miles Davis (1969): “The album plays out like one extended piece. The title track is a stripped down arrangement of Joe Zawinul's beauty. Hypnotic, repetitive chords on 'It's about that time", over which Mr Wayne Shorter plays a breathtaking solo. This is the album where a young Mclaughlin was instructed by Miles to 'play the guitar like you don't know how to play the guitar’.”
Heavy Weather - Weather Report (1977): “It’s the first jazz-fusion album I ever heard, thanks to a neighbour. I’ve got two pressings of it. ‘Birdland’ may be the most popular ‘hit’ but my favourite tracks are Zawinul's ‘A Remark you Made’, Shorter's ‘Harlequin’, and Pastorius's ‘Teen Town’ and ‘Havona’. The best way to sum up this band's music is in the band-leader's words: We always solo. We never solo.”
Thrust - Herbie Hancock (1974): “I first heard the tricky rhythm statement of ‘Palm Grease’ when I was part of a ‘fusion band’ as a teenager. Mike Clark’s drumming on ‘Actual Proof’ is still mind-numbing after decades of listening. It is difficult to pick one album from Herbie Hancock’s vast body of work. My favourite tracks from his other albums include ‘Spiralling Prism’, ‘Sly’, and ‘Textures’.”
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