• Jazz ensemble En Route Founding Member Dr. Gananath Dasanayaka on how jazz defies explanation

With International Jazz Day being celebrated on 30 April, ‘Kaleidoscope’ delved into this unique musical genre which combines ragtime and blues and everything in between, with improvisation being the hallmark of every musician who ventures to play this ‘freedom’ music. Jazz has been around since the 1900s and runs in the lifeblood of Cities like New Orleans, United States (US). 

Originating in the African American communities of Louisiana, US, jazz roots lie in blues and ragtime, and since the Jazz Age, which was in the 1920s, was elevated as a major form of musical expression. The word ‘jazz’ was derived from the slang word ‘jism’, meaning energy, vitality, and spirit. 

More of its history and origins came up for discussion with jazz ensemble En Route Founding Member Dr. Gananath Dasanayaka. En Route, while representing the great American songbook, has a repertoire encompassing jazz standards from the 1930s through to the late 1960s. Dasanayaka, a medical doctor, showcased other talents when he was adjudged the Telshan Networks (TNL) Onstage Winner in the Solo Category in 2005, and he plays a mean saxophone with some keyboards in between, totally self taught.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

What is jazz?

In just one word, I would say that it’s ‘freedom’, freedom for the musician to express himself/herself through performance. But, that’s not all; it’s a collection of many elements. Blues notes, jazz swing, blues chords, call and response, and the freedom that must be improvised along with syncopation (the rhythm improvisation). It is where the performer gets to be himself/herself. In other forms of music, the performer must maintain a lot of fidelity to the music, the score and the composer; in jazz, there’s a lot more freedom to make the performance your own. 

How is jazz differentiated from other genres? 

On the one hand, I think that the musician should genuinely love the music and enjoy himself/herself improvising on a syncopated rhythm that is not strict. This is a key element. There are also technical aspects that come into play – blues scales and modes which are slightly different from the scales used in Western music, which are the major and minor chords. This gives the performer an edge over the pop musician. 

What instruments were originally used and how has that evolved now? 

Originally, the drums and gumbo boxes were used by the African slave communities in America during the harvest. They had celebrations, and during these celebrations, they would use gumbo boxes with sheepskin heads as drums, and triangles made from jawbones as rhythm instruments. The two rhythms together were called ‘cross rhythm’. They would dance to this music. Later on, European instruments were introduced, and that’s when harmony came into the mix – banjos playing the rhythm and brass instruments like the tuba playing the bass. The singing part originated from the blues. The blues were originally from the deep South. These were songs sung by slaves about the sorrows of working in the fields. Then came ‘call and response’ where you sing a line and there’s a response to it. In essence, it started with drums and dance, and then the melody, and after that the singing. All these came together and became jazz.

What is essential in jazz – instrument-wise, music-wise? 

Improvisation and syncopation are the two key elements. As the genre grew, there came the era where a drum kit was used, where the double bass was used for the bass and the piano eventually became an essential part of jazz. The all time jazz unit may be drums, piano, bass, and the saxophone. The saxophone is an important instrument, as most of the jazz of the ’1940s, ’1950s and ’1960s were dominated by saxophonists like John William Coltrane (US), Lester Willis Young (US), and Coleman Randolph Hawkins (US); then came Stan Getz (US). So, if it is a single instrument that we are looking for as the face of jazz, I believe that the saxophone has necessitated what jazz is. 

What is it about a voice that lends itself to jazz? What sort of a voice would complement jazz music?

In vocal jazz, Louis Daniel Armstrong (US) is the pioneer and if not one of the first, as he was the first person to scat. He came up with his own way of ending a song. That’s another element of the genre that has been taken to different levels by singers. Kurt Elling (US) is another fantastic jazz singer who is not very well known. He took scatting to another level. So vocally, apart from singing the song and improvising, scatting is a necessary element. Ella Jane Fitzgerald (US) was brilliant as well. These singers know how to improvise on melody and sound, in a way that appeals to the audience. Billie Holiday (US) was another who became the standard for jazz vocalists in her time. Tony Bennett (US) is definitely a super jazz performer with his own timing. Frank Albert Sinatra (US), although not ‘officially’ considered a jazz singer, had his way of singing songs that was very jazzy. So, all this is to say that being a jazz singer comes down to being able to improvise and to make a tune your own. And, some performers have their signature scatting that sets them apart from the rest.

How much of African-American history is entwined in jazz?

In the 16th Century, during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the estimate was that 400,000 slaves were brought from West Africa and the Congo Basin to the US. When they came to New Orleans, these slaves began dressing up in costumes that included horns and oxtails to celebrate harvest festivals, using their sheepskin drums to create rhythms and dance. That was the beginning of the African influence on jazz. The blues – where the slaves working in the cotton fields vocalised their sorrows – also got incorporated into the genre. Then came the European instruments, which is actually a mix of instruments. However, the credit for jazz is always given to the African Americans, but, I believe that the European influence on jazz was significant as the genre grew. Another influence is ragtime music. It’s all about rag rhythm – syncopated rhythm – that was incorporated especially by the jazz pianists of the 1920s into jazz music. So, the rhythm comes from the Africans and the harmony comes from the Europeans. 

Are there any misconceptions about jazz that you’d like to dispel?

Jazz music is not like a subject, such as mathematics; you can’t define it and there’s not one answer. If you ask musicians for a definition, they won’t be able to give one, exactly. Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (US) said: “After all, it’s all music.” Someone else defined jazz in four words: "Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker Junior (US)." So, everyone has their own way of defining jazz. If you love jazz, you know what it is; you feel it in your bones and in your soul because of the freedom that it brings. The improvisation by the musician and the performer is sometimes in the spur of the moment. Fidelity to the musical score is not important to the jazz musician; it’s more about respecting the performer than it is respecting the composer or the songwriter.

Is jazz relevant to the digital age of young people today?

It’s a matter of taste. What I realised about 15 years ago was that the market for jazz lies with the more mature folk. However, artists like the Canadian Michael Steven Buble must be credited for exposing the likes of jazz to a whole new demographic. Buble exposed the younger generations to the music of the great American songbook; he did covers similar to those of what Sinatra did and he did them with big band arrangements, including orchestras. Now, I see youngsters in their late 20s appreciating jazz more and wanting to sing jazz, so I guess it might make its way down as time goes on.

(The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media)