Tajikistan II: Outreach and Cultural Diplomacy

I care deeply about creating connections. The artistic aspect of my career is wonderful and very satisfying, but for me, I need to make the art ‘count’. It is one thing to secure one’s immortality through one’s creation: it is the goal of the Humanistic artist (and I am a Humanist) and it is very self-oriented (how could it not be?). It is another thing to establish bridges to not only stimulate dialogue between disparate cultures, but to create paths of communication for the benefit of humanity; to bring the potential of peace through artistic dialogue.

I create these projects either in collaboration with local arts organizations, the US Embassies abroad, or a combination of both. It always works best when there are numerous international partners involved. This way, more people have an interest in the outcome.

The outreach part of my Tajikistan project, which was supported by the US Embassy in Dushanbe, actually started during the Dushanbe Jazz Festival. The idea was to connect with local schools, English language programs, American Corners (programs that promote American culture established through the US Embassies), and play concerts in both the main cities and in the regions.

The students are always very, very accepting and thankful for this kind of attention. It is really wonderful to see their excitement and joy at the fact that someone from as far away as the United States cares enough to make the effort to come all of this way and talk to their classroom or play a concert for them. I think that this is something that the US Embassies have been successful at; although, I think it would be far more successful if more attention and funding was allotted to this by the US Government. It’s this type of diplomacy that really matters. You go out, you say hello, you tell them why they matter, and then you prove it to them. This last part is essential–these people have dealt with much lies and corruption in their lifetimes. We have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. You want friends for the US? Go out and make them. It’s amazing, the power of a handshake…

…and, they love America. Or, at least they love the IDEA of America. I guess that’s where I am at, too. I am not political at all–I support whomever is president and hope to God that he (or eventually, she) doesn’t screw-up horribly, because any mistake is bad for the country–when our government fails, we all fail, because we have to live with the consequences. I never talk about US policy or politics; I do talk about American Idealism, and why it is so important. The idea of Individuality and personal freedom is of most importance, and this is what I focus on.

That, and of course, the music. The music is the means, the way to communicate. This is first and foremost.

I also talk about my heritage. I’m Greek-American; I discuss the importance of my heritage and how it has shaped me as an individual. This is very important in countries that have ethnic tensions. I talk about how everyone from the US is from somewhere else, that our heritage and ancestral culture influences us, but our ‘Americanism’ defines us.

The lion’s share of the outreach took place in the regions. The people throughout the country were just wonderful. Very kind, very hospitable. This is a theme that I have touched upon before: hospitality in Oriental cultures. Now, when I say ‘Oriental’, or ‘The Orient’, I am referring to the area that encompasses the Eastern Mediterranean (yes, Greece too) through the Middle East, Persia, India, through Central Asia. These cultures are connected in numerous ways. One main way is that they all have a tradition of wonderful hospitality. It’s important; it speaks to, and of, the soul of the people.

So…after Dushanbe, our first stop was the town of Khurog, way up in the Pamirs Mountains. Now, the Pamirs are one of the highest and grandest of the world’s mountain ranges. Travel is difficult–this is a grand understatement. Most especially, travel is difficult in a country that is 95% mountains, with no real working infrastructure to create and maintain safe methods of transportation…

So…we were booked to fly out of Dushanbe: first on a plane, then a helicopter. Both days’ flights were cancelled. The issue is that the flight path goes through a mountain corridor–meaning that you are surrounded by mountains. Any sort of variable weather condition–even clouds–cause the flights to be cancelled due to safety reasons: they have to be able to see the mountains. The helicopter is a modern European machine that is operated by an NGO that brings supplies to different regions everyday–if they have space, they take people for free. It’s nice, modern, clean, and relatively (VERY relatively) safe…the plane is not…not any of these things…but more on that later.

So…we (me and the Embassy delegation, lead by McKenzie Millanowski, the Cultural Affairs Officer) pilled into two US Embassy vehicles and unto the hazardous mountain trails. Now, I have to tell you about my ‘Sweet Ride‘. I was in an armored vehicle–it looked like an SUV, but it was really a posh tank. I felt pretty safe in it (well, other then on the treacherous roads…), but I also felt very distant from the people and villages I saw. The windows don’t open. I felt it was a little excessive, but I was happy for the fact that it could muscle through the washed-out and collapsed roads.

Tajikistan has to be the most beautiful country I have ever seen. The valleys, the mountains, the rivers…breathtaking. It was also the most disturbing road trip I have ever been on. The roads (if we can call them that) were practically non-existent. Mostly, they seemed to be overrun paths, many of which were full of unstable rocks or washed-out. The trip to Khurog was two days on of ‘white-knuckle’ travel. The paths went well up into the mountains–the roads became 7-foot wide mud paths winding up and down the mountain (going two ways, mind you; truck–in some cases–coming from the other direction) with no barrier between you and a thousands of feet drop–the higher we went, the more snow and less road. It got the point where you would just see another mountain in the distance and your stomach would drop when you realize you have to go over that one next…

…my only thought was that I was where Heaven and Hell met, and I wasn’t sure of which side I was on…

The first night, we stayed in Davos. This is important purely for the fact that Davos is directly across the Ponj River from Afghanistan. Coming around the bend and seeing that…it was awesome…we actually spent the entire next day of travel going along the Ponj River and the border. Tajikistan is to Afghanistan as New York City is to Tajikistan…there was nothing there…shacks, mud homes, no roads, nothing mechanical…

You have to wonder why the Soviet Union wanted to go into Afghanistan…I mean, the Ponj is practically impossible to cross, and even then, you come up against a wall of mountains. There’s no way to get there–plus, it’s an amazing natural barrier. Why go, there’s nothing there: no resources, industry, agriculture, nothing…bringing armored tanks and artillery through Tajikistan was bad enough. In fact, between that failed attempt and the Tajik Civil War, the landscape is littered with broken Soviet war equipment–most of it is being used now for living quarters…

But I digress…

Khurog is part of the Pamirs. The Pamiri are not ethnic Tajiks, and they speak a different language. Actually, every village has its own dialogue, and people from different villages can’t really communicate–during the Soviet times, Russian was the connecting language, but no one learns it really anymore. Legend has it that the Pamiri are descendants from Alexander the Great’s army. This area was the northeastern extent of the Hellenic world. The Pamiris are fair skinned and many are redheaded and have blue or green eyes–very European looking. In fact, the few times I heard Pamiri being spoken, I did a double-take…I thought it was Greek…wild, huh?

The most powerful experience on this trip was the day after we arrived in Khurog and traveled to Murghab. Murghab is a small town that is practically walking distance from Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. The town is a mix of cultures, and mainly populated by ethnic Kyrgyz. It is very poor, and in the bazaar, many people both worked and lived in shipping containers. Electricity and running water was at a minimum, and understand that this town is over 12,000 feet up. The air is thin and very, very cold.

We received a wonderful welcome. Local musicians, dressed in traditional garb, performed for us. It was wonderful–there were a couple dozen performers and probably six or seven groups, both Pamiri and Kyrgyz. In response, I had to play for them…solo saxophone…at 12,000 feet. Now, I spent the hour before the event practicing tai chi and yoga breathing to acclimate the best I could. So, after they finished, I went up, thanked them for sharing their traditional music with me, put on my traditional garb (a Boston Red Sox hat…it’s all I had…), and told them that I will play traditional American music: I played an improv on “Amazing Grace”. To be honest, it went over really nicely–to be completely honest, I thought that I would pass out after about 30 seconds, but I managed to figure out how to play and breathe and lasted for a good 25 minutes.

As an aside, on the ride back to Khurog, we stopped at these healing hot springs (they called it a Sanatorium)–I think I was in the water maybe 10 minutes tops, and man, did that save me…

After our few days in the Pamirs, we (half of us, anyways) were able to secure a flight back to Dushanbe–I really wanted to drive one way and fly the other. I also did not want to deal with another gut-wrenching two-day drive, which I think would’ve been much, much worse because in this direction, I knew what to expect…

So…the plane was…well…interesting. It was old…real old…and small, seats 16. Propellers, not pressurized. The pilot was this big, hefty Russian looking guy with a white moustache…I named him Boris…I could just picture Boris in the cockpit, gnawing on a yak leg, chugging a bottle of vodka, and being perfectly competent for the task at hand. They ended up loading a patient on the plane; his stretcher took up the first six seats, and his head was practically in my lap. I guess they figured that the plane flight was preferable to leaving him to be cared for in Khurog…

This flight path is considered one of the most hazardous in the world–the runway goes right into in the mountains, and then through them. We were able to fly because they could see the tops of the mountains–the later flight was cancelled because the clouds moved in while we were flying…it was amazing though…the mountains were a few dozen feet away, and the plane was struggling to maintain a straight path. All of the stress of the 20-hour car ride was compacted into that one hour flight.

But…we made it.

I wished that I could’ve done more–I always do. I am happy for the people that I connect with, but am always saddened by the numerous people who didn’t benefit from my visit. Bringing music as dialogue does work for large numbers because music can effect people en masse, as well as in an individual, personal way. But, seeing the effect on someone’s face is by far the most satisfying. Just bringing that moment of Joy is worth every hardship I may encounter–and I hope that never changes.

Next blog, Azerbaijan. Coming soon.

Peace,
Demetrius

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Tajikistan I: Dushanbe Jazz Festival

I was able to post a little about my experiences for the Jazz Festival, mainly because the first week or so of my stay I had access to a computer. But, I do want to revisit some of what I wrote and put it more into the context of the trip as a whole.

I guess the first point of business is to talk about the actual trip there. Now, Dushanbe is not a vacation hot-spot…it is one of those places that fall into the “can’t get there from here” category. There are only two reliable (read: safe) airlines that actually go to Dushanbe: Turkish Air and Baltic Air. Neither of these are cheap, and flights from the US are around $2,000. And when I say ‘flights from the US’, I really mean flights that begin in the US. It can actually take up to 5 flights to get there. The further East one goes, the less available flights are. So…I began in Boston, went through Frankfurt, through Riga (where I switched from Lufthansa to Baltic Air–mind you, Baltic Air charges for all baggage and meals; bring snacks!) and finally to Dushanbe. I left the evening of April 26, and arrived the morning of April 28.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics, and in many ways is the republic that everyone forgot. Other than it’s civil war back in the mid-90s, it has not grabbed the headlines like its more boisterous neighbors, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It’s just trying to survive as an independent entity. There is no industry to speak of, save aluminum production and cotton, and although it shares its entire southern boarder with Afghanistan, it doesn’t seem to be an area of military interest (NATO’s main base is in Kyrgyzstan).

Strangely, this is the one place I have been where the population as a whole reminisces about the better lives they had under the Soviet Union. In a way, you can’t blame them. The Soviet Union gave them protection, great education, roads, industry, infrastructure. All of these have collapsed under progressively corrupt “elected” (don’t buy this term for a second…) officials; basically, power is handed down from father to son, like a kingship. Like in most of the former Soviet republics (Russia included), people actually have LESS personal freedom as they did under the Soviet Union–not to mention again no protection and no education system.

Even under the Soviet Union, Tajikistan was marginalized. Being under the jurisdiction of “Turkistan”, the Persian Tajiks were bullied by their Turkic neighbors. All of the other Central Asian nations are Turkic; Tajikistan is the only Indo-European entity among them: they share their basic language with Afghanistan and Iran, and are part of the Indo-European language tree. During Soviet times, Tajikistan’s main cities–Samarqand and Bukhura–where taken from them and given to Uzbekistan. To this day, the population in these cities is almost entirely Tajik. This all goes back to the Stalinist idea of ‘separate and govern’. This is the main reason why in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc there is so much ethnic violence over land claims.

The Tajik language is also interesting. Unlike it’s Turkic neighbors, the Tajik language has a very long written history. Most of the Turkic languages were never written until the Soviet Union, and they were then written in Cyrillic, whether the alphabet worked or not (usually extra letters were added). Tajik, being part of Persian/Farsi, had been used by great poets and philosophers for centuries; in fact, most students (especially men) to this day write poetry. The language is written in three scripts: Latin, Cyrillic, and Persian. Cyrillic was the most common–when I saw something written in Cyrillic that I couldn’t understand, I knew it was Tajik…

…but people speak a mix of Tajik and Russian, which is kind of like Spanglish in the US. I could follow some of it, but not always. And once you get into the regions, there are multiple dialects that have really nothing to do with Tajik or each other–I will discuss more about this in the next blog about my outreach.

Onto the Festival:

So…I land in Dushanbe at the un-Godly hour of ‘sometime just before dawn’. I get picked up at the airport by the Music Coordinator of the Bactria Cultural Center, Sergey Chutkov. Now, Sergey is a great guy, and we had a very good time together during the period of the Festival–he was my guide, and we became good friends. Like all of the staff of the BCC, Sergey is under 30, with the average age around 25. Almost all of these people were linguistics majors at the University, and speak excellent English. Not uncommonly, they are mainly ethnic Russians. Ethnic Russians seem to be the driving force behind cultural initiatives in most of these countries. In Tajikistan, before the fall of the USSR, ethnic Russians numbered 40% of the population; since then, it is now down to under 5%. The BCC is trying to bridge the cultural and education gap between the former Soviet citizens and the current Tajik population. It is an uphill battle, to say the least.

Anyways, Sergey allowed me about 2 hours of post-travel downtime before he threw me into rehearsal with Mizrob, the band that I was to collaborate with for the Festival.

I found out that Mizrob was a creation of the Bactria Cultural Centre to promote Tajik music–it’s actually a ’super band’–kind of like ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’–of superstar Tajik musicians.

The first rehearsal was basically a meet and greet–the band, in various forms, play together–maybe not all at the same time, but here we had 2 multi-string players, saxophone (soprano, a shock), bass guitar (which was a major shock…) drums, and percussion. I didn’t expect any modern Western instruments, let alone a soprano saxophone and electric bass. The two things that got me more though were the electronic drum set and the recording studio with top equipment, an Apple computer with Logic–not Garage Band or even Pro Tools–Logic!, and Mackie speakers…those of you who are composers and recording engineers will understand the oddity of such equipment in the poorest of the former Soviet republics, in the middle of Central Asia…it’s like going to a neighborhood go-kart race, and some kid shows up with a Formula 1 racer…

Anyways, come to find out that the leader of Mizrob, Ikbol Zavkibecov, actually writes for films and does a great deal of ‘modernized’ traditional music, adding more pop/rock elements like distorted guitars that are contrasting traditional instruments. It’s interesting…I’ve noticed this kind of thing in a lot of Eastern countries: taking their traditional styles and making them more appealing by adding pop/dance/film-score type elements.

So…the first rehearsal was really a run through/clean up of their piece, which I’m playing on, and my piece which, let’s be honest, they hadn’t looked at yet.

Their piece falls into this Tajik/pop style…guitar riffs in an almost classic rock mode, with soprano sax playing the more traditional melody more, um, traditionally. The riffs are a good hook–the tune, albeit simple and really meant to appeal to an audience, works. There’s not much to it since it takes basic elements from each style, but it works, and the audience will leave singing it–I am adding a voice to the melody (playing alto sax), and taking an improvised solo in, well, more of my style, which if you’ve heard me live, sounds something like the love-child of Grover Washington Jr. and Eric Dolphy…I think I frightened them just a little…

Anyways, my piece (Open Letter to Dushanbe) was difficult for them. I was right to have rewritten everything before I sent it…they don’t really read music…or at least very little, and the ones who can didn’t bother to look at it. So, I basically had to teach them the piece orally, which was also super fun because my interpreter–a sweet guy name Cyril–didn’t know musical terms.

The hardest part was explaining a Samba rhythm…I actually thought that this would be easy, and explaining the chordal structure would be hard–wrong again–Ikbol understood perfectly well my chordal structure, but the Samba rhythm…the drummer kept trying to make it rock–I’ve learned that people here play two different styles, Tajik and rock…jazz is out of the loop, and Brazilian Samba, forget it! Eventually (by the show), I got him doing something close…I don’t know how he got there, but he started playing something akin to a Calypso…I was like “Great! Fine! Close enough! Do that!”.

The other issue had been trying to get these guys to go, well, a little nuts with their playing…their playing, even in the styles they know, are very controlled and exacting…granted, traditional music tends to be this way: very conservative. My piece is a stretch for them because there is a lot of group improvisation in it, which they are not used to, and my Russian isn’t good enough to explain–and I use the proper terminology here–‘going ape-s#!t’, which is what I wanted at the end of the piece.

Eventually they got it–or at least some of them did. The final outcome was fantastic. We were the last performance on the last night of the Festival. The Festival itself was failing due to the programming and logistical organization. Putting marathon concerts inside a concert hall is death to any festival, most especially a jazz festival where people should be able to come and go as they please–I was bored, everyone was bored, the setting made it boring. This was all part of the conservative nature in which jazz (and all arts) are approached in the former USSR.

Conservatism is a key idea here. In the USSR, jazz was considered degenerate music–I’ve had to defend it many-a-time–so it was played underground. Now, it is in fear of being institutionalized. Students copy, mimic, well known players and especially specific recordings. I heard some very talented musicians, but for the most part, there was little to no actual creative improvisation. They were copying licks–if not entire passages–from other people’s solos. As I had mentioned before, this is rampant in countries once (and some still) under communist regimes. Jazz has become a study, not unlike classical music. Great musician’s improvised solos are to be learned like etudes and memorized–mimicked. I heard this from all bands–regardless of the former Soviet country of origin–throughout the Festival.

I had to finally make a stand and say something about this…

So finally, at the end of the Festival, there was a round table discussion with all (or at least representatives) of the participants. The purpose of this was supposedly to discuss the good and bad of the Festival and how to improve it. Now, one of the most unique–and downright annoying–traditions in the former Soviet countries is that when having a discussion, even if it is to figure out what went wrong, there is tremendous (and very verbose) praise given to the director and organizers and participants. Everyone who speaks does this. A meeting that should take 30 minutes takes 2-½ hours because of this–and it’s downright silly…people go off on “the grand brilliance and vision of the Director”, or the “masterful performance of ‘such and such’”, or the “great philosophy of art that was upheld”…this last one is my favorite…it’s ALL about philosophy…nothing practical. They discuss their grand philosophies and pat each other on the back (I used a much vulgar terminology at the meeting in referring to this practice, but I won’t repeat it here–for the kid’s sake, you know…you never know who may be reading this…). It’s like high court practice, addressing the nobles…

So, then it was my turn…I let them have it…with both barrels.

I told them about the state of jazz tradition and education in the West and how it would benefit them to take this approach; I told them to disregard their ‘master class’ concept of being lectured at and turn them into workshops to actually benefit the students and not so that artists can hear themselves talk; I told them that they have to include more and more Western musicians because their students are learning in a vacuum through mimicry as opposed to through real experience with someone from the tradition; I told them that if they want to succeed, they have to approach jazz for what it is, and not stick it in a concert hall (like a museum) and force people to stay for 5 hours because it’s ‘educational’ for them; and finally, I told them to stop ‘patting themselves on the back’ (insert vulgar phrase here) because they are not doing anyone any good save stroking each other’s egos…

…whoa…who let the American into the room?…

Well…as it turned out, the members of the BCC and the Swiss Corporation who was the main funder of the Festival agreed with me fully…in fact, not only do the Swiss want me to help organize and produce the festival in 2011, the BCC wants me to be the Artistic Director…see, saying what you really think in a hostile environment has its benefits sometimes…

So, this ends my first week in Tajikistan. My next blog (coming very soon) will be discussing my outreach programs in collaboration with the US Embassy in Dushanbe.

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Video of Dushanbe Jazz Festival and interview on Stan.TV

http://www.stan.tv/news/15861/#

Джазмены импровизируют

Джазмены импровизируют

Ð’ Душанбе таджикские джазмены принимают коллег из Азербайджана, Кыргызстана и Казахстана. Здесь проходит джазовый фестиваль. Музыкальную эстафету начинают музыканты из группы “Авесто”. Синтез джазовых гармоний и восточных мотивов – изюминка их творчества. Продолжает программу джем-сейшен – свободное общение в музыке. Джазмены импровизируют в диалоге. На одной сцене музыканты из группы “Бакустик джаз”, казахская группа “Квартет” и “Соленые орешки” из Кыргызстана. К ним присоединился и специальный гость фестиваля – американский музыкант Деметриус Спанеас. Музыка Запада и Востока сливается в одну мелодию. Деметриус Спанеас – любитель синтеза музыкальных стилей. На этот раз его привлек таджикский фалак. “Музыкальное послание жителям Душанбе” он исполнил с музыкантами группы “Мизроб”.

Ð’ фестивале приняли участие и новички. Группе “ДАДЖ” нет еще и месяца. Но ребята уже смогли найти своего слушателя. Музыканты играют джаз-шашмаком. Организаторы надеются, что фестиваль станет традиционным. Это будет способствовать развитию джазовой культуры в Таджикистане.

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JAZZ MUSICIAN VISITS TAJIKISTAN

Dushanbe, May 26, 2010 – The United States Embassy introduced residents in the farthest districts of Tajikistan to the amazing sound of American saxophone musician Demetrius Spaneas. Demetrius travelled throughout Tajikistan for two weeks and played jazz to hundreds of people from different parts of the country, many of whom had never heard this unique American art form. Demetrius also met with local government officials to encourage the formation of more U.S.-Tajik cultural and educational programs. Jazz was something new for the people of the farthest districts of the country. After each performance, the audience asked questions about jazz music, learned about improvisation, and asked Demetrius to perform his favorite songs. In return, local Tajik musicians in Dushanbe, Khorog and Murgab played traditional music for Demetrius.

From May 4–13, Demetrius gave more than ten performances in Khorog, Murgab and Dushanbe, reaching widely varied audiences. He performed at a jazz festival in Dushanbe, at the American Corners in Dushanbe and Kurgan-Teppa, and at the Bactria Cultural Center, and he also talked about and played jazz music for schoolchildren in Dushanbe and Sarband.

Since 1991, The United States Government has worked to strengthen the relationship between the people of the Unites States and Tajikistan The U.S. Embassy’s educational and cultural programs promote cross-cultural understanding through music, art, education and cultural exchange.

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I wanted to give a little insight to my musical experiences here thus far, which have been interesting…

I’ve had two days of rehearsals now with the band Mizrob. What I didn’t realize–in fact found out today, before the second rehearsal–was that Mizrob was a creation of the Bactria Cultural Centre to promote Tajiki music–it’s actually a ‘super band’–kind of like ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’–of superstar Tajik musicians.

The first rehearsal was basically a meet and greet–the band, in various forms, play together–maybe not all at the same time, but here we had 2 multi-string players, saxophone (soprano, a shock), bass guitar (which was a major shock…) drums, and percussion. I didn’t expect any modern Western instruments, let alone a soprano saxophone and electric bass. The two things that got me more though were the electronic drum set and the recording studio with top equipment, an Apple computer with Logic–not Garage Band or even Pro Tools–Logic!, and Mackie speakers…those of you who are composers and recording engineers will understand the oddity of such equipment in the poorest of the former Soviet republics, in the middle of Central Asia…it’s like going to a neighborhood go-kart race, and some kid shows up with a Formula 1 racer…

Anyways, come to find out that the leader of Mizrob actually writes for films and does a great deal of ‘modernized’ traditional music, actually adding more pop/rock elements like distorted guitars that are contrasting traditional instruments. It’s interesting…I’ve noticed this kind of thing in a lot of Eastern countries: taking their traditional styles and making them more appealing by adding pop/dance/film-score type elements. The results in general have been, oh, less-than-successful in my opinion…I haven’t really heard the work that the Tajik musicians are doing save one song that we are doing together, which I’ll get to.

So…the first rehearsal was really a run through/clean up of their piece, which I’m playing on, and my piece which, let’s be honest, they hadn’t looked at yet.

Their piece falls into this Tajik/pop style…guitar riffs in an almost classic rock mode, with soprano sax playing the more traditional melody more, um, traditionally. The riffs are a good hook–the tune, albeit simple and really meant to appeal to an audience, works. There’s not much to it since it takes basic elements from each style, but it works, and the audience will leave singing it–I am adding a voice to the melody (playing alto sax), and taking an improvised solo in, well, more of my style, which if you’ve heard me live, sounds something like the love-child of Grover Washington Jr. and Eric Dolphy…I think I frightened them just a little…

Anyways, my piece was difficult for them. I was right to have rewritten everything before I sent it…they don’t really read music…or at least very little, and the one’s who can didn’t bother to look at it. So, I basically am teaching them the piece orally, which is also super fun because my interpreter doesn’t know musical terms. My Russian amazingly has come back better than expected, but I have come to find out that although most people here speak some Russian because it was part of the USSR, they don’t really speak it well…they don’t really speak proper Tajik, which is a Persian language, well either, from what I have been told. This is a challenge.

The hardest part has been with explaining a Samba rhythm…I actually thought that this would be easy, and explaining the chordal structure would be hard–wrong again–the leader of Mizrob was able to understand (mostly) my chordal structure and explain it (he even got the C+7 and the Bsus4, which are way out of any traditional music style), but the Samba rhythm…the drummer kept trying to make it rock–I’ve learned that people here play two different styles, Tajik and rock…jazz is out of the loop, and Brazillian Samba, forget it! By the end of today, I got him doing something close…I don’t know how he got there, but he started playing something akin to a Calypso…I was like ‘Great! Fine! Close enough! Do that!’.

The other issue has been trying to get these guys to go, well, a little nuts with their playing…their playing, even in the styles they know, are very controlled and exacting…granted, traditional music tends to be this way: very conservative. My piece is a stretch for them because there is a lot of group improvisation in it, which they are not used to, and my Russian isn’t good enough to explain–and I use the proper terminology here–’going ape-s#!t’, which is what I want at the end of the piece.

We have another rehearsal tomorrow, and one last one before the show–it should be OK.

I did meet some Kyrgyz jazz musicians today–these guys speak English, know their jazz history, and a couple of them have been to NYC (the bass player actually studied with Ron Carter). There is also an open jam session tomorrow evening with all of the musicians in the festival, which should be an experience…

…I hope I don’t scare them…I have to find the Russian phrase for ‘going ape-s#!t’…

More soon!

And remember, it’s not too late to lend your support!

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Dear All,

Greetings from Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Here is a posting on the Dushanbe Jazz Festival (in English and Russian):

Press-release

Dushanbe: 27 April, 2010

Jazz is back in Dushanbe

From April 30 through May 3 Dushanbe will host the Second Dushanbe Jazz Festival. The Festival is initiated and financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through its Regional Art and Culture Programme, and implemented in cooperation with Bactria Cultural Centre and the Sattorov Tajik National Conservatory.

The program of the Festival consists of three gala concerts that will take place in the Mayakovsky State Russian Drama Theatre and in the Aini Tajik State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The Tajik National Conservatory will accommodate a Jam-session of the Festival participants, a series of workshops and a round table.

Besides Tajik musicians, the Festival will also bring together musicians from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, among which are both beginners and distinguished masters of jazz, and the guest of the festival Demetrius Spaneas from USA.

The Second Dushanbe Jazz Festival with aspirations of the First Jazz Festival held in Dushanbe last year, aims at promoting jazz music in Tajikistan in its ethno-jazz national form, through searching for original ideas, trends and styles of ethno-jazz compositions, as well as disclosing new talents who are willing to demonstrate their abilities in jazz music, which is yet to be developed in Tajikistan. The primary artistic goal of the festival to be attained by Tajik musicians lies in exploring national forms of jazz based on musical traditions of makom and falak. Other participants of the festival have also been offered to include two compositions based on Tajik makom and falak into their concert program.

Apart from the concert component the festival includes several sub-projects like contests, creative laboratory, master-class, film demonstration, round table, and production of the CD.

The organizers regard the Festival as a platform for the Central Asian regional cooperation from another angle – through music. It is also hoped that organization of the festival will eventually become a tradition that will promote the development of jazz and impromptu music in Tajikistan, foster exchange of creative experience and facilitate integration of Central Asian music cultures with those of other countries.

Tickets can be obtained at the box offices of the Mayakovsky Theater and the Opera and Ballet Theater. Price per ticket – 10 Somoni

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Program of the Second Dushanbe Jazz Festival

30^th of April

11:00 – 13:00             Master-class in the Tajik National Conservatory

-          Bakustic Jazz (Azerbaijan)

30^th of April

18:00 – 21:00             Jam session

1^st   of May

9:00 – 11:00               Master-class in the Tajik National Conservatory

-          Quartet of Khomenkov-Osipov (Kazakhstan)

1^st of May

17:00                           Gala concert in the Opera and Ballet Theater

-          Bakustic Jazz (Azerbaijan)

-          Akhmad  Bakaev (Tajikistan)

-          Khomenkov-Osipov Quartet (Kazakhstan)

-          Jasur Khalilov (Tajikistan)

2^nd of May

10:00 – 12:00             Master-class in the Tajik National Conservatory

-          Akhmad Bakaev (Tajikistan)

-          Salman Gambarov (Azerbaijan)

-          Abduvali Abdurashitov (Tajikistan)

2^nd of May

16:00                           Gala concert in the Mayakovsky Theatre

-          Saulty Peanuts (Kyrgyzstan)

-          Avesto (Tajikistan)

3^rd of May

10:00-13:00                Round table in the Tajik National Conservatory

3^rd of May

18:00                          Gala-concert in the Mayakovsky Theatre

-          Dajesh (Tajikistan)

-          Payvand (Tajikistan)

-          JAM FIVE (Uzbekistan)

-          Mizrob (Tajikistan)

-          Demetrius Spanias (USA)

*****

Пресс-релиз

Душанбе: 27 апреля, 2010

Джаз возвращается в Душанбе

С 30 апреля по 3 мая 2010 года, в Душанбе пройдет Второй Душанбинский Джаз Фестиваль. Инициатором и спонсором Фестиваля выступает Швейцарское Управление по Развитию и Сотрудничеству через региональную программу искусства и культуры. Организаторами Фестиваля являются Швейцарский Офис по Сотрудничеству в Таджикистане совместно с Культурным Центром Бактрия и Таджикской Национальной Консерваторией им. Сатторова. 

Программа Фестиваля состоит из трех гала-концертов, которые пройдут в Государственном Русском Драматическом театре им. Маяковского и в Таджикском Государственном Академическом театре оперы и балета им. Айни. В Таджикской Национальной Консерватории пройдет джем-сессия участников Фестиваля, серия семинаров и круглый стол. 

Помимо таджикских музыкантов Фестиваль соберет музыкантов из Азербайджана, Казахстана, Узбекистана и Кыргызстана, среди которых есть как новички, так и признанные мастера этого жанра. Гостем Фестиваля будет Деметриус Спанеас из США. 

Второй Душанбинский Джаз Фестиваль, в поддержку стремлений Первого Джаз Фестиваля, который прошел в Душанбе в прошлом году, ставит перед собой цель продвижения джазовой музыки в Таджикистане в его этно-джазовой национальной форме, посредством поиска оригинальных идей, направлений и стилей этно-джазовых композиций, а также путем раскрытия новых талантов, желающих продемонстрировать свои способности в джазе, которому еще предстоит развиваться в Таджикистане. Первостепенная художественная задача, поставленная перед таджикскими музыкантами, заключается в исследовании национальных форм джаза, основанных на музыкальных традициях макома и фалака. Остальным участникам Фестиваля было также предложено включить в свою концертную программу две композиции, основанные на таджикском макоме и фалаке. 

Помимо концертной программы, Фестиваль также включает несколько подкомпонентов как, например, конкурсы, творческая лаборатория, мастер-класс, демонстрация фильмов, кру4глый стол и производство CD.

Организаторы Фестиваля рассматривают его в качестве платформы для регионального среднеазиатского сотрудничества с другого угла – через музыку. Они также надеются, что организация фестиваля превратится в традицию, которая будет продвигать развитие джазовой и экспериментальной музыки в Таджикистане, содействовать обмену творческим опытом и ускорит интеграцию центрально-азиатской музыкальной культуры с культурой других стран. 

Билеты можно приобрести в кассах театра им. Маяковского и театра Оперы и Балета им. Айни. Стоимость билета – 10 Сомони 

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Программа Второго Душанбинского Джаз Фестиваля

30 апреля

11:00-13:00            Мастер-класс в Таджикской Национальной Консерватории

-          Bakustic Jazz (Азербайджан) 

30 апреля

18:00-21:00             Джем-сессия

1 мая  

10:00 – 12:00             Мастер-класс в Таджикской Национальной Консерватории

-          Квартет Хоменкова-Осипова (Казахстан) 

1 мая

17:00                     Гала Концерт в Театре Оперы и Балета

-          Bakustic Jazz (Азербайджан)

-          Ахмад Бакаев (Таджикистан)

-          Квартет Хоменкова-Осипова (Казахстан)

-          Джасур Халилов (Таджикистан)

2 мая

10:00 – 12:00             Мастер-класс в Таджикской Национальной Консерватории

-          Ахмад Бакаев (Таджикистан)

-          Салман Гамбаров (Азербайджан)

-          Абдували Абдурашитов (Таджикистан)

2 мая

16:00                           Гала концерт в театре им. Маяковского

-          Соленые орешки (Кыргызстан)

-          Авесто (Таджикистан)

3 мая 

10:00-13:00                Круглый стол в Таджикской Национальной Консерватории

3 мая 

18:00                           Гала концерт в театре им. Маяковского

-          Даджеш (Таджикистан) 

-          Пайванд (Таджикистан)

-          JAM FIVE (Узбекистан)

-          Мизроб (Таджикистан)

-          Деметриус Спаниас (США)

http://heredushanbe.canalblog.com/archives/2010/04/27/17707500.html

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As I frantically pack and organize for my travel tomorrow, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported this project. I am both honored and humbled by your support. I will do what I can to honor your faith in me–and I will do all I can to create peace through dialogue. Music may be the means, the method, but the Spirit of Peace transcends all methods…it is the message that counts most.

I also want you to know that I will be posting updates when possible on both facebook and twitter; for some reason, there are application issues that are making this cluncky (said almost as eloquently on both twitter’s and facebook’s homepages), so I’ll do what I can. I may also try to post here when I have access to my host’s computer–I haven’t attempted posting here via Blackberry yet, and I have enough difficulty using a full-size keyboard…

The next time you hear from me will be from 11 time-zones away (at least from Boston).

Best wishes to All,
Demetrius

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One of the most interesting aspects of these projects is actually the means and methods of getting to my destinations. The funny thing about Central Asia in general is that there is no direct way to get to any of these countries…granted, airlines in the recent decade or two have started centering around ‘hubs’, but even with that in mind, travel to the more undesirable locations is become less and less direct.

I got lucky with my tickets. Usually to get to the ‘Stans, you need at least 4 or 5 different flights that crisscross Eurasia in every which direction…and with that, many times you need travel/transit visas just to change planes in a country’s airport…a royal pain in the neck that adds to costs and time.

So, not counting domestic flights within Tajikistan (plane and helicopter) and Azerbaijan (who knows here?) my itinerary looks like this:
Boston-Frankfurt-Riga-Dushanbe-Riga-Moscow-Baku-Riga-Frankfurt-Boston

Everything goes through Riga…I didn’t realize that Riga was such a hub of Central Asian travel. My final route through Riga actually keeps me there overnight (29 hour layover), but considering the fact that this is the only extended layover, that’s not bad. Heck, Boston-Frankfurt-Riga-Dushanbe will take two days alone…

Moscow always bothers me…I hate traveling through Moscow…they always find a way to make it uncomfortable for you. The biggest problem is the transfer of terminals. One has to be extremely careful here; there are not only different international airports, but depending on what direction you are going in, you have to switch terminals at the big airport (Sheremetyevo), as well…the terminals, however, are on opposite sides of Moscow…they don’t tell you this, and they don’t tell you the fact that you have to get a transit visa (at least $200) to take the minibus (that ONLY goes between the terminals, mind you) because you have to step foot on Russian soil.

It gets worse…

Then, what they don’t tell you is that if you have less than 4 hours between flights, you have to pick up your baggage (they only transfer it for you if you have more than 4 hours), go through passport control, customs, and recheck-in at the other terminal…you will NEVER make it…I missed flights there, and it’s so frustrating…

Luckily, I’m in one terminal only this time. My only concern is that I am getting my Azerbaijan visa at the border–there was no time to get it beforehand since the Azerbaijan leg came about so recently. Now, the US Embassy in Baku and the Ministry of Culture in Azerbaijan are taking care of me…it will be no problem getting in once I pay the $131 visa fee at the border. My concern is that when I transfer in Moscow, will the Russians give me difficulty about not actually having a physical Azeri visa and not let me board the plane unless I pay some fee (probably unofficially, if you get my drift…). They cause problems for travelers because, well, they can…

I’ll probably have the US Government and the Azeri Ministry call the Moscow people to ensure this doesn’t happen…what I really need is a letter, in Russian, with a big stamp on it…Russians are all about the official stamp…it’s like Pavlov’s Dogs, they see an official stamp (or unofficial, it’s really just the stamp’s physical presence…) and they must obey…I was thinking about getting my own stamp for my travel documents…it doesn’t matter what it says…I could walk into Russian passport control and say “the power of the Stamp compels thee!!!”, and they would let me in…:)

The other travel issue that I wanted to bring up is the problem traveling with instruments, again most especially to this region.

Personally, I hate to travel with instruments–but this is what I do, so I’m not complaining–one smallish one is OK, but when I need to take more or larger instruments, travel can become a nightmare…

Luckily, as my career progressed from freelancer/ensemble member to soloist, my instruments got smaller…gone were the many days of traveling with a baritone sax. You have never experienced real luggage issues until you’ve fought to get a baritone sax as carry-on luggage…I once stood in the entrance of the jet, not allowing anyone else on until they let me bring the baritone on…that was 20 years ago; you can’t do that now.

When I was on the road with The Funk Brothers, I had to travel with soprano, tenor, and baritone saxes…not to mention instrument stands. For this, I had (have still) an item that I lovingly dubbed “The Coffin”…a double hard shell golf bag case. I put the baritone and soprano and the other equipment, including clothing, and put the whole thing under–carry my tenor on. This thing was over 5-1/2 feet tall and weighed like 150 lbs., and you had to move it upright on it’s hind wheels…it doesn’t fit in a cab, so I had to take the subway with it…good times, let me tell you…

When I toured Eurasia for a year, I brought 4 smallish instruments: alto sax, clarinet, flute, and alto flute. For the first three, I bought a vintage tri-pack case so that all three could travel together. My thinking was that I could compact them in a small area–I didn’t bring the tenor because i knew that it wouldn’t fit on most plane’s overhead compartments, but this would.

What I didn’t realize was that European flights started restricting for weight as well as size…this was a big issue. I had a 5 kilo restriction, and this case with all the instruments in it was pushing 20kilos. For the most part, I managed to get away with it by swinging it around and pretending that it was far lighter than it was–this not only worked in getting me on the plane, but also in causing tremendous damage to my arm and shoulder…

I only got caught once…where, you may ask…yes, MOSCOW! They weighed it…caught, like a rat I was…I did what every seasoned traveler to those countries did–I offered money. Maybe it was because the person’s superior was standing there, but I was waved along with disgust.

I did have an experience where my case was too big for the cabin. The flight was a 1970s (maybe…) propeller plane, unpressurized, that sat like 15….Kyrgyz Air…from Tashkent to Bishkek over the mountains, barely…THAT was an adventure…

The other issue I had was, if you can believe it, also in Moscow. They tried to tell me that I bought my instrument there, that it was a Russian antique, and that I was trying to smuggle it out of the country…now, my instrument was made in the late 1980s, was stamped “Made in Paris”, and I had travel customs documents for it from Port of Exit, NYC. I won this one, but was almost arrested–always travel with documentation.

This trying to get money for instruments is prevalent in the former Soviet Union. Even though it is absolutely obvious that the instrument couldn’t possibly be from there, they will still try. Of course, I have smuggled music and equipment INTO Central Asia–Uzbekistan to be honest–and through customs…they needed stuff, I had access, I supplied them with items that they couldn’t get, like clarinet and saxophone reeds, mouthpieces, electronic items, and other important things.

But that’s another story.

For this trip, I have decided to take the alto sax, only. I wanted to take the flute, but again, that would add a second bag beyond the regular carry-on. I also think I want to only play one horn for this month and be intimate with it–I’m keeping it simple this time. I did get a super new alto case, though. It’s streamlined to fit under the seat in front on a plane, can withstand 1,500 lbs of weight, and yes, is bullet-proof…but it is pretty sexy looking.

Please check out my current project here:

http://kck.st/caG86z

‘Till soon,
Demetrius

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After a very, very stressful week of not having my computer and limited access to not only the Internet, but to any music files, I’m delighted to announce that I have finished the new composition for the Central Asian Jazz Festival, “Open Letter to Dushanbe”.

This will be the featured work at the Festival; I just sent it via email to Bactria Cultural Centre.

This is actually a newer, leaner version. I started with something far more ‘through-composed’: writing counterpoint and harmonies and exact parts almost more in a ‘classical’ style that many modern jazz composers seem to prefer. This week in an email I decided to ask whether or not the traditional musicians could read Western notation…they said they could, somewhat…

…my experiences have taught me that in such situations, adapt to them…

So, I rewrote everything last night in an expanded lead-sheet form, which really makes more sense. That way, the traditional musicians can improvise and embellish around the basic melody and chords that I wrote. As long as the form is followed, it should be quite a unique–and fun–experience!

If you’re interested in supporting this project, please visit: http://kck.st/caG86z

More soon!
Demetrius

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Greetings,

I am pleased to announce that I have been invited to collaborate on projects in Azerbaijan with the Azeri Ministry of Culture, the U.S. Embassy in Baku, and the Peace Corps. This will continue the work that I have been doing for years in the former Soviet Union–bringing American music and stimulating cultural dialogue–as well as connecting to my current project in Tajikistan.

I am also pleased to announce that adding these Azeri projects will not add to my costs, even though I will be traveling and giving concerts and lectures for an extra 10 days; the US Embassy in Baku will cover all expenses, which for an independent artist means a great deal.

And it was actually through my publicizing and promoting this project both through Kickstarter and other on-line sources that the US Embassy in Baku found out about what I was doing–fantastic!!!

Of course, finding ways to get from location to location will be the interesting part…flights are rare, and there will be nothing short of 3 to 4 legs between destinations…I may be traveling via yak and lodging in a yurt, but that’s the fun of it!!!

Again, if you or anyone you know may be interested in supporting my project in creating cultural dialogue and presenting American music to Central Asia, please visit:

http://kck.st/caG86z

More soon!
Demetrius

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