Africa: American Jazz Musicians Achieve Harmony With Their Music

Africa: American Jazz Musicians Achieve Harmony With Their Music

America.gov (Washington, DC)

29 January 2008
Posted to the web 11 February 2008

Charles W. Corey
Washington, DC

American jazz musicians from the Ryan Cohan Quartet view their upcoming tour of Africa and the Middle East as a musical homecoming of sorts that will allow them to bridge cultural divides and communicate with their audiences through the universal language of jazz.

The Chicago-based group -- composer and pianist Ryan Cohan, Geof Bradfield on saxophone, Lorin Cohen on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums -- will visit Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Jordan beginning January 31.

The tour is part of The Rhythm Road - American Music Abroad program, co-sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the Jazz at Lincoln Center program, which offers professional American jazz and urban music performers the chance to perform their music in countries with limited exposure to American culture.

The Ryan Cohan Quartet spoke with America.gov before leaving on tour.

"One of the great features of jazz is its ability to incorporate music from all over the world and the communication that goes on among the musicians that get together" to play, said Cohan, the group's leader. He said he hopes, while on tour, "to introduce our music within the context of the great repertoire of jazz and open up dialogue, meet the musicians, interact with them and play with them."

The musicians are not sure what to expect on the tour, but they are eager to hear local jazz in the countries they visit. None of the group ever has traveled to Africa before. Saxophonist Bradfield said the prospect of hearing local musicians is exciting. "We would not necessarily be able to hear a jazz band from Rwanda in the United States. A lot of people are saying they do not have the opportunity to hear jazz from the United States very often. Well we -- to a much greater degree -- do not have the opportunity to hear them. So I am excited to hear what it will be like. Many times when you go to a different country, you hear a different flavor of jazz in each country," he said.

Throughout the tour, Cohan said, the group will be holding workshops and educational sessions with students and musicians that he called an "important component" of the tour -- which will also feature many concerts by the quartet. "So whenever there is an opportunity, we definitely look forward to playing with musicians that will sit in with our group .... to get that communication ... to get that exchange going. We can offer another perspective of this country just from playing [jazz music] and let that speak for itself," he added.

Bassist Lorin Cohen added: "For any musician, it is a musical homecoming of sorts because so many roots of jazz come from Africa. We are all looking forward to learning from musicians there ... in terms of a cultural and musical exchange. Hopefully, we will be able to learn from local musicians about their native music" as well, he said.

Picking up on that point, Bradfield said, "We are really excited to see that we will have some local bands scheduled to open for us -- to get a chance to hear some musicians there and have the opportunity to do workshops at the local universities and art centers outside the major cities."

Drummer Kobie Watkins, lauded as the "Swing Master of Chicago," said jazz can be a universal language. "Everyone seems to respect and feel joyous about jazz. They receive it very well," he said. "Jazz is definitely an eclectic art and definitely for an eclectic crowd," all of whom find a lot in common in the music.

Reinforcing that point, Cohan said: "Jazz is difficult to define but easy to recognize. There are so many different definitions of what jazz is -- depending on what part of the history you focus on."

Cohan said he and the group are really interested to see what types of jazz are being played in both Africa and the Middle East. "Are they listening to jazz recordings from the '30s? Are they listening to Miles Davis, John Coltrane?" he asked rhetorically. With the band going to both Africa and the Middle East, it could find that tastes differ in each region, he said.

Jazz -- which is believed to have taken form in New Orleans in the late 19th century -- is an art form with universal appeal. "Jazz at its best is when you see the spontaneity, you see the communication and the music developing in the moment," Cohan said. "Besides just the musical component -- which is exciting and awesome -- you have the communication component of just being in the moment that can just relate to an audience.

"That ... I hope, is a main feature that we are going to get across -- the fact that even though jazz is an American art form, it is helping to bridge the gap between the cultures worldwide.

"We need this type of human connection. That is what jazz could bring. There are all kinds of perceptions of what America is, but I am hoping that when we play ... we can get an instant connection" with the audience and with its spontaneity and inclusiveness. "That is what this music is at its best."

"Jazz is communication," said drummer Watkins. "It is taking our verbal exchange and putting it in musical form. That was a huge step in the history in which jazz developed -- to be able to improvise and say things to one another through our instruments and for the audience to be able to understand ... that there is a message involved through their instrument -- that is worldwide."

Jazz music also has the ability, often, to make a bad situation better, the group agreed. "Jazz at its best has human values working together -- empathy, listening, respect and honor of its history and a good feeling of swing," said Cohan. "We are going there to present our music, and to listen to the cultures too, and I think going there with that mission in mind and having that give-and-take ... is a positive way to reach out," he added.

"Jazz is emblematic of harmonious relationships," said Cohan. "We have all had the experience of asking, 'Why can't life be more like this?'" -- referring to the harmony that exists when jazz musicians gather to improvise and make music. "Hopefully," he said, "the audience will grasp that point with our [jazz] conversation that will inspire them to do the same."