It’s International Jazz Day today, 30 April, and there will be gigs, concerts, workshops and more in 200 cities around the world – including of course Abu Dhabi, which has the Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert this evening in Etihad Arena.
But the big-ticket big-name events aren’t the only manifestation of jazz. No one has a comprehensive definition of what exactly ‘jazz’ is – as Pat Metheny put it, the beauty of jazz is that it’s malleable – people are addressing it to suit their own personalities” – but perhaps another quote, this one by Gershwin, sums it up best: “Life is a lot like jazz: it’s best when you improvise”.
Improvisation is key to jazz, and while some of the greatest jazz has been scored it’s the ability to choose the notes, change the rhythms, switch keys that is at the heart of the music. Which is why ‘jazz’ is such a broad umbrella – there’s jazz in beatbox, in hip-hop, in EDM, in rock guitar solos.
And that too is why it’s a pleasure to flag up the NYUAD Arts Center’s 17 May gig under the name The Temple: it brings an eclectic group of artists to The Black Box, most associated with the largely unknown Al Quoz music venue of the same name – “Dubai’s hidden gem and a cornerstone of the UAE’s closely knit music community”, as the promo puts it.
The evening is curated by Ratish Chadha, a mainstay of the more avant-garde / jazzy end of the Dubai music scene (he’s also the drummer with two of the best bands in this field, NOON and ABRI and The Everlasting). Though he says he doesn’t know what his role truly is – “I just know the profound importance of good live music and how many world-class musicians reside in the UAE. I knew I couldn’t let all of this amazing talent go unrecognised, so I did something about it.”
The idea for an Abu Dhabi incarnation of The Temple came from the Arts Center’s Bill Bragin. “Some of my favourite musical nights in the UAE have been at private parties of Ratish’s and various versions of The Temple,” he says. “They have highlighted both the level of musicianship and the spirit of community. But they are usually super late at night and you need to be in the know.
“I love the idea of events that focus on the idea of the larger UAE scene alongside the individual talents. With International Jazz Day in Abu Dhabi, I wanted the broader public to have a chance to experience this events with the creativity and energy of the musicians who are living and working here.”
Ratish is on the same page: “I’m hoping for everyone attending this event to gain inspiration from the creatives residing in the same country as them – and to be able to use that inspiration to express themselves so that the music and arts culture in the UAE can grow even more.
“All the musicians on the lineup have either collaborated with me, each other, or come to several jams at the Temple in Dubai, so the lineup is essentially one big musical family …”
On the bill (in alphabetical order, but probably not in performance sequence) are …
So is The Temple going to become a regular night at The Arts Center? Ratish sounds too busy to take it on: “NOON has slowly been making our dreams come true. We’re carrying the flag high for music coming out of the UAE – Jazzfest in New Orleans, recent performances in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, India, Hong Kong, a small European tour, and two legendary shows in Dubai: With a multitude of things always on my plate with the several projects/bands I’m involved with, it would be tough to make the Temple a permanent occurrence. Although, the ultimate goal is to create the UAE’s first real live music venue, inshallah!”
The Arts Center doesn’t currently have any plans for a second edition of the Temple, either, though Bragin says the next season’s programme will feature another show in a similar spirit – one “which helps bring the shine to a community of artists who are part of the creative engine of the country”.
The Temple is at The Arts Center at NYUAD on 17 May, with tickets on sale now at AED 105 – which looks like an absolute bargain to us. Details are here.
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