Bredere invulling Jazz on the sofa spannend en vernieuwend

Excerpt:

“At the last of the three concerts, the question arose as to whether something similar could happen with Mark Lotz himself, who had perhaps set himself the greatest challenge with the Mandala Tribe. Would jazz also produce such a beautiful blend with the classical Indian singing of Shashwathi Jagadish?

Certainly not at first, when Heiko Dekker’s tablas and Jagadish’s singing in a raga showed the ultimate in improvisation, but jazz seemed to have disappeared far beyond the horizon. Until keyboardist Stefan Schmidt and flutist Lotz drew the Bollywood feeling evoked by the ragas into their domain. Schmidt made the ragas swing, while the tablas revealed their rhythmic richness in all their glory. Lotz, meanwhile, added a soft edge to the music.

Shashwathi Jagadish sang exactly the same, entirely in the classical Indian tradition. It seemed an anachronism that did not fit in with the free jazz interpretation of the raga, but the opposite was true. There was no mixing, but rather mutual support, with both coming out stronger. It seemed an impossible experiment, but Mark Lotz was proven right. It became a festival where the musical differences in style, however great, led to exciting and innovative music.”