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| American Jazz Musicians Tour India Six American jazz musicians are performing concerts, holding musical master classes and visiting clinics and rehabilitation centers in Mumbai and Calcutta to heighten public awareness in India of HIV/AIDS and to raise money for victims of the South Asia earthquake. Alto saxophonist Kenny Jarret and the three other members of his quartet, in addition to trumpet player Nicholas Peyton and vocalist Lisa Henry are set to perform before sell-out audiences at the Gateway of India in Mumbai January 25 and at the Dalhousie Institute Club in Calcutta January 27. The proceeds from the Gateway of India concert will go to the Prime Minister's Fund for earthquake relief. The Gateway of India is a national monument, and an invitation to perform in front of it is a high honor. American jazz musicians are making their second good will tour of India to generate awareness of HIV/AIDS, as well as raise funds for victims of natural disasters. In January 2005, the U.S. State Department, in partnership with the BET-Jazz channel, MTV-India, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, launched the inaugural tour that began with the first Gateway of India concert on the Martin Luther King national holiday, which is observed in India as well as the United States. Martin Luther King, the leader of the U.S. civil rights movement and a recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, is revered in India as a follower of the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of modern India. Money raised during the 2005 tour was contributed to victims of the Asian tsunami. In 2006, a day after the Gateway of India gala, the musicians will visit the People's Health Organization, one of the oldest and most active nonprofit groups in Mumbai working to curb HIV/AIDS. The organization stages the AIDS marathon in Mumbai, distributes HIV/AIDS information at kiosks at major bus and railway stations and organizes other events that involve participation by the city's elite and celebrities. Later that day, the musicians visit the Unison Medical and Research Center and Mumbai's main red-light district to press home the importance of taking preventive steps to thwart the spread of the disease, which destroys the body's immune system. "It's a chance for them to reach out to the staff and the patients about AIDS awareness and embrace their challenges with a lot of what we have experienced here in our country [United States], " said Thomas Carter, the president of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Carter said that the jazz institute, named after the legendary American pianist, sent musicians on a previous good will tour of India in 1996 with backing from the U.S. government. "When we were in Calcutta in 1996, we had the wonderful blessing of spending part of a day with Mother Teresa, both in her convent and around her hospital. When we return to India we will have an opportunity to visit these medical facilities, which are such a real part of our mission to reach out to other parts of the world, especially here in India, to help people become more aware of this disease and to reach out to the families of the patients as well, " Carter added. In the late afternoon of January 26, the musicians will stage a master class for about 50 Indian musicians and students. Carter said he expects the class will draw some Indian musicians who participated in a master class that the Monk Institute staged in 1996. When the tour reaches Calcutta January 27, the musicians will participate in HIV/AIDS outreach events in coordination with the Bengal Network of Positive People and the Sonata Foundation. At a concert in the evening, musicians and dancers from Calcutta will perform in the local Bengali language from their repertoire on HIV/AIDS themes. Members of the Sonata Foundation have received grants from the U.S. government and have performed in Barcelona, Spain, and Bangkok, Thailand, at World AIDS Conferences. The American musicians will offer their expertise to local musicians and students at Calcutta's American Center on January 28 and participate in other outreach events before winding up their tour the next day. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |