Making waves through Jazz

Jazz lovers from all over Lahore enjoy scintillating take on modern jazz music during German jazz festival.

It was a jazzy night by all accounts. Jazz lovers from all over the city enjoyed a scintillating take on modern jazz music during the last day of the German jazz festival, held at Peeru’s Cafe in Lahore.

There was even a bit of modified head-banging, as people in the audience showed their appreciation for the eclectic beats of the Jonas Schoen Quartet band.

The Jonas Schoen Quartet, which has developed a unique reputation for its methodically organised music, touched into that gray area of emotion that everyone can relate to. They used instrumental solos to control and create a melodic atmosphere that lent the performance a surreal aspect.

“I like to play with melancholic moods that can be a bit sad, but can be turned into something positive” explained Jonas Schoen, the band’s lead composer and a multi-instrumentalist, who plays saxophone, clarinet and the flute. “It’s like when you watch a romantic comedy — you laugh, you cry, it’s something that everyone can relate to.”

The set included several unreleased songs such as “Let Me See the Way” or a rendition of an old German folk song called “Haunted Hunters”. Schoen explained that the song has a recognisable melody about hunters on the prowl, but his interpretation is performed with a lighthearted feel.

“There are many different ways of playing around with music. You change the tempo that goes around the melody so it has different mood,” he said. “You change the harmony that goes around the melody, so it has a completely different trajectory than before.”

Schoen, who founded the band in 1999 with Jonas Schoen, Buggy Braune, Pepe Bernsbass and Heinz Lichius, has released over five records and has become a staple of Germany’s jazz scene.

This was Schoen’s first trip to the subcontinent in nearly 20 years. He explained that any apprehensions that he had about performing in Pakistan disappeared when he missed his flight due to a malfunctioning train from Berlin.

Bassist Pepe Berns said that the mood of the concert was enjoyable and he saw potential in fusing jazz melodies with classical music of the subcontinent. He said that in Berlin’s jazz scene, he had interacted with several Indian musicians regarding such possibilities.

“It’s a little different because the classical subcontinent music has more sounds, so the tuning is sometimes hard,” said Berns. “We have a few Indian guys in Hamburg who have experimented, but it would be really interesting.”

Jazz aficionado Junaid Ahmed explained that the possibilities of these collaborations with eastern music were worth pursuing. In his opinion, both jazz music and eastern music have rich histories. According to Ahmed, the German jazz scene has evolved over the years and brought about an aesthetic aspect which incorporates some aspects of folk music.

Nadia Riaz, the Annemarie-Schimmel-Haus director who helped organised the event, said, “Jazz isn’t the music of the masses, but we know a lot of people are interested in good live performances. Germany has really evolved in the world of jazz, so we thought it would be a nice thing to invite jazz musicians.”



Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2011.