May 2, 2004

Glancing over the wordy invitation, one expected a swinging evening of cool jazz on an uncharacteristic, stiflingly hot Karachi evening. This was so because Touve Ratovondrahety, the Malagasy French pianist who was the featured artist of the evening, was a jazz player by description. But seeing a name like Claude Debussy on the set-list, one was a bit confused, as that composer was a leading light of the modern French classical movement, purveyor of a style called ‘musical impressionism.’ How the buoyant sound of Dixieland was going to intertwine with the slow, graceful flow of the Seine was an interesting auditory proposition by all standards.

It seems that the French have picked up on some of our bad habits, as the card stated 8:00pm as the starting time of the programme, things didn’t get underway till about 8:45. Actress Ayesha Alam served as half-hearted compere and translator-by-default, as the artists spoke little English. Before the music began, Ayesha explained that ‘Free classical French music,’ (that was what was printed on the top of the invitation) didn’t refer to the ticket price, rather, it was the style of music that was to be played.

The musical segment of the evening began innovatively enough, as the flautist, Bianca Carbonell, began playing a meandering melody perched atop the low roof of the building, as heads turned to try and make out where the sound was emanating from. Soon enough, the trio – Touve, Carbonell and cellist Claire Gillet – made their way on to the stage. Flute melded seamlessly with piano, as the stylish pianist put on a little show of force, which included a few lightning fast runs from the bottom of the low octave to the top of the highest.
 

Cello, piano and flute made for an unusual blend, replicating the atmosphere not unlike that of an arty Parisian sidewalk. For a brief while, glitzy Paris was brought down to bustling, dusty Karachi
 

Cello, piano and flute made for an unusual blend, replicating the atmosphere not unlike that of an artsy Parisian sidewalk. For a brief while, gay Paris was brought down to bustling, dusty Karachi. After the introduction, Touve ventured off into solo territory, but the flautist joined in soon after. Something effervescent followed, but it was difficult to ascertain when, what was being played, as this writer is no musicologist. It would have been a good idea if brief introductions about what was being played had been given before every piece.

The pianist did not hog the limelight for himself, as he let both the flute and cello have their moment in the sun. Touve took five and started explaining something, but in French! Mind you, some of us haven’t dusted our French textbooks since primary school. A loose, extremely brief translation in English was furnished, but one felt it didn’t do justice to what the pianist was trying to convey. From what one did manage to catch, he was going to do something in the vein of J. S. Bach – but all improvised. What came to be was a swirling mix of the three instruments that created a unique brew of Paris, St. Louis and New Orleans – those hallowed names in the world of jazz. One even heard shades of the great Louis Armstrong.

Fluent and frequent tempo shifts kept things from getting stale, as the cellist did an interesting thing when she started making her instrument screech, then started bowing it, instead of plucking it, as she was doing previously. Though the proceedings did start to drag a little, mainly because of the more morose nature of what was being played, things picked up soon enough with the trio launching into something with a little more chutzpah.

On the request of the organizers, Touve obliged by playing a French standard reinterpreted in Malagasy style. This saw the pianist the most animated he had been all evening, as he was visibly into what he was playing. Thus a spirited evening, hosted by the Alliance Francaise, drew to a close. The only visible drawback was the fact that at times, there seemed to be a breakdown in communication between the players.