Crosscurrents: Converging Jazz And Indian Classical Music

Virtuosity — of a dazzling, ebullient, yet altogether generous sort — might be the most obvious bridge between David Holland and Zakir Hussain. But there's also a deep cultural foundation behind their musical dialogue, which forms the beating heart of a project called Crosscurrents.

Hussain, a peerless master of the Indian tabla, and Holland, an English-born bassist of sterling jazz renown, were both shaped in some way by the 1960s, a decade of awakening and convergence. In this episode of Jazz Night in America, we'll explore the influence of Indian music on the jazz and rock scenes of that era — as well as the less familiar story of jazz's influence on the subcontinent, embodied by musicians like pianist and composer Louiz Banks.

We'll hear music from a recent Jazz at Lincoln Center concert led by Hussain and Holland. Crosscurrents also features Banks, his son, drummer Gino Banks, along with acclaimed American saxophonist and flutist Chris Potter, Bollywood vocal star Shankar Mahadevan and Mumbai-based jazz guitarist Sanjay Divecha. We'll also get some valuable outside perspective from percussionist Sameer Gupta and other musicians in Brooklyn Raga Massive, which pursues a similar form of thrumming exchange.

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