American jazz group performs in Dhaka

(From left) Ari Roland, Keith Bella, Zaid Naseer and Chris Byars perform at National Theatre Hall. Photo: Golam Mahbub

American musical troupe 'The Ari Roland Jazz Quartet' performed at National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on December 10. The US Embassy in Dhaka, in cooperation with Nrityadhara, organised the programme featuring the jazz group.
The Ari Roland Jazz Quartet has been performing for over two decades. Members of the troupe are Ari Roland, playing the double bass; Chris Byars, on tenor saxophone; Zaid Naseer, alto saxophone and Keith Bella, on drums. The quartet continues to perform frequently in New York City. This is their first trip to Bangladesh.
The quartet played cool American jazz. They performed great masters' compositions -- Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Barry Harris, Betty Carter, Bizzy Gillespie etc. They also played two of their original compositions. A special treat for the audience was incorporation of a folk, Rabindra and Nazrul Sangeet into the group's repertoire for the evening.
They performed SD Burman's “Rangila Rangila”, Shah Abdul Karim's “Krishna Aila”, Kazi Nazrul Islam's “Karar Oi Louho Kopat” and the Bangladeshi national anthem.
Ari Roland said to The Daily Star, “For the last three years, we've been planning to come here but somehow it was very complicated for us. We're glad that it has worked out.
“My first exposure to Bengali culture was through the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. We've studied works of Tagore, Nazrul and Jasimuddin. I realise that Bangladesh has a cultural heritage to be proud of.
“I was raised in New York City. Music has been my passion since I was a child. When I was twelve years old, I had a chance to meet with a number of renowned jazz artistes. I've also had some as teachers.”
Since 1986, Roland has been performing regularly in the company of saxophonists Chris Byars and Zaid Nasser. Keith Balla is the only junior member in their team.
“In Jazz, senior artistes train and groom younger ones, and gradually the latter pass the baton to their successors. In Jazz, an artiste has ample opportunities to develop himself/herself. In the process, you can form your own style and technique,” said Roland.
“We feel that Jazz is very important in American culture. Jazz, however, is often characterised as the product of inner creativity, interaction and teamwork, placing equal value on the contributions of the composer and the performer. If you just play the way you feel, all that knowledge and all that technique and everything else are going to be apparent,” he added.