“What draws me to jazz is its limitless nature — the ability to take a melody and transform it into something entirely new each time I play it,” George Hull tells us a couple of weeks ahead of Hyderabad International Jazz Festival. A George Hull Collective jazz performance is a free-form excursion and a motley of virtuosity. Sometimes, he tosses the show away, smiling and playing his saxophone.
Sometimes, he displays the presence that makes him one of the city’s greatest artistes. Jointly hosted by the US Consulate General, and Goethe-Zentrum (GZ) — its impending fifth edition will highlight the finest national and international bands. Besides George, the lineup will feature the Ari Roland Collective from America, Germany-based sitarist Hindol Deb with quartet, and Mystik Vibes from Bengaluru.
For everyone, jazz has kept them going through the toughest of times and most unimaginable personal tragedies. To George, jazz, despite being a specialised art form that demands cultivated appreciation, the ability to take a melody and transform it into something entirely new each time he performs, feels exquisite. “We do struggle to find venues and audiences to perform jazz regularly. But I believe playing more jazz is the only answer to this problem,” he shares.
Likewise, Hindol’s album, The Essence of Duality blurs the lines between jazz and Indian classical music, while threading ornate ties between the two. The sitar becomes a focal point, and Hindol’s background in jazz and Indian classical music reconciles both genres on an identical podium. While New York’s jazz pianist Clemens Orth adds rich themes and arrangements to the pieces, Jens Düppe (drums) and Christian Ramond (contrabass), both highly regarded musicians from his troupe, offer relatable tunes.
The real vibe of a festival in a city is its audience, stresses Amita Desai, director of GZ. “The groups we invite, including the German group featuring Hindol and his quartet, are also travelling to Mumbai, Delhi and Pune to perform there. What makes the mark of how this festival in Hyderabad will be different from any other is that, this city has soaked in every band that we brought,” she tells us.
Free entry. December 2. 5 pm. At Amphitheatre, Sattva Knowledge City.