Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan - Farewell from a Devoted Disciple
The
last time I saw Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was May 2016 at his home, amidst
a formidable chess match with this 6-year-old grandson, Khaleel. This time, I
noticed how frail Guruji had become, but his mind: the recollections, the
quoting from Shaw, the Vedas and Sufi
texts, were all pristine. The precocious little tyke was mercilessly beating
his legend of a grandfather at the game as the rest of us stood in silence,
unable to take our eyes off the chessboard. But Guruji always had that magical
relationship with children, and was perhaps playing his part perfectly. We’ll never
know the truth about who really won
that game.
It
was in that pure bond of faith that I was initiated as a disciple at age 9 when
this iconic sitarist became our neighbor in a new apartment complex in Mumbai’s
suburb of Bandra. Khansahab’s charisma radiating, wild hair emanating his
mythic eccentricity, he challenged me to pick up the instrument and play that
very first day I nervously interrupted one of his riyaaz sessions with his son
Zunain. Many tributes have poured in since Guruji passed away on Wednesday,
January 4th 2017, by disciples who have rightly recognized him as a
gifted teacher. He gave you the permission to feel unique in your relationship
to the sound, reiterating the idea that with the right technique and riyaaz anyone
could overcome the universal challenges of the ability to play. But it was your attitude toward the repertoire
that was crucial in developing agency as an artist. There could be no
hesitation, a total surrender to the craft was essential. He demanded total
confidence, even in my momentary failures, which were many, “Just don’t stop…
transition, and make your way through the mistakes.” As we prepared for my
recitals, he offered many ways to keep the routine fresh through the daily 6-hour
rehearsals leading to the competitions. I brought home the medals every year I
competed, but with a sense of having vanquished my own fears, I didn’t stop, Guruji!
It
was Guruji too who led me on an unexpected path towards jazz, not in the least
due to his collaboration with Dave Brubeck in 1958. Defying an oxymoron as it
were, as an avant-garde Hindustani musician, Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was
a master improviser, borrowing from both Indian and Western music traditions
with chordal metaphors explored in his sitar quintet. His sheer brilliance in
improvisational technique has escaped even the most seasoned Indian classical musicians.
A few provincialist gate-keepers of “tradition” have even analogized listening
to his work as, “eating pizza…you may want to indulge occasionally, but not
every day.” I paraphrase, of course.
To
a culture that prides on preserving tradition, Khansahab’s contribution in the
rendering of ragas such as Pahadi, Pilu, Kirwani is sublime. As an innovator of
style, he has created new possibilities for sitar playing by subverting a
servile adherence to the Gharana system.
Never the reckless non-conformist, he won the hearts of lay audiences throughout
India with his compositions and performances immortalized by classic Hindi
cinema; Khansahab’s inimitable style displayed in Mughal-e-azam, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Goonj
Uthi Shehnai, and more. For
fans of the Jafferkhani Baaj, within a span of a phrase he could at once evoke
cries of wonderment as he illuminated well-worn ragas such as Tilak Kamod or
Zila Kafi, and rescue the listener back into the melodic line. Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, maestros of their own traditions, recognized
and applauded the transformation Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was bringing to
a centuries-old art form.
It
is his audacious improvisational phrases, the unexpected approaches to
transitions, and an artistry for rhythm (it was Guriji also, who would keep theka on the tabla while we practiced) that
have been for me the bridge between two formidable music traditions – the
Jafferkhani Baaj in Sitar and America’s most sublime gift to the world - jazz
music. Steeped in an avant-garde tradition themselves, these amazing jazz
musicians who encounter Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan’s music for the very first
time, consistently declare with humble assurance, “I get it.” Dave Brubeck famously
remarked that working with the sitar icon led the jazz master himself to play
in a different way.
To those who want an equivalent
of gastronomic comfort in the work of a genius, I say refer back to the Natyashastra, and if in Khansahab’s legacy
you do not find a true manifestation of the theory of Rasa, ask yourselves, what is the function of art? If the
brilliance surpasses you the first time, listen again. So, it occurred to me as
the great bassist, jazz philanthropist and educator Christian McBride accepted
his Visionary Award at the Jazz Connect conference this afternoon stating,
“Respect the elders, respect the tradition, find something new,” that this was exactly
what Guruji’s spirit embodied. His transformative goal for us was to play as if
the materiality of the sitar had ceased to exist. I could never reach that goal,
but I know someone who has come quite close. Zunain Khan, brilliant
sitarist and Guruji’s son and protégé carries forth the tradition of the Jafferkhani
Baaj – Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan’s sublime gift to
the world. – www.jafferkhanibaaj.com
Gargi Shindé
Director of Jazz Programs –
Chamber Music America
January 5th, 2017
Photos Credit @ Gargi Shindé
Photos Credit @ Gargi Shindé
