If we want to truly understand what democracy is all about, let's not waste time studying any of the socio-political systems trying to pass themselves off as democratic institutions. The real action is happening on the bandstand of your local jazz club.The venue is most likely a run down dive where nicotine, stale beer and piss hang heavy in a room cramped with college students, couples out on a cheap date and alcoholics and hookers arguing at the bar. The sound system probably sucks, and the stage always seems to be located next to the fetid men's room or some nasty video game or wide screen TV.Let's not even discuss the club owner - usually a small time hoodlum who hates music and musicians and disappears forever when it's time to pay up. When jazz musicians take the stage though, as if by alchemy, the club's decadence is transformed into a sacred space, where some of humanity's noblest aspirations are realised.Marvel at a true democracy unfolding. Watch the musicians take turns sharingcentrestage. Each member gets a chance to hold forth, improving a solo, while the rest of the group supports, highlights and generally brings out the best in each other's artistry. It's purely a team effect, and each player has his moments. A successful performance requires intense co-operation, listening, knowing when to play soft, loud, slow, fast and most importantly when to shut up altogether. A mature jazz musician plays first to make the music sound great and subordinates the ego to a supporting role.A jazz attitude also demands innovation and constant re-examination of one's musical roots, remaining ever alert to new influences and artistic possibilities. The best artists sound like themselves.The listener hears a curious blend of the common jazz voacabulary and reportoire, along with idiosyncratic personalised musical gestures assimilated, say, from the artist's hometown, travels and own inspiration. After all, who wants to hear a musician from Bulgaria trying to sound like he's from LosAngeles?So we're in this dumpy club listening to great music and bearing witness to this magnificent egalitarianism and democratic principles in play, when suddenly we notice this nervous skinny young guy with a saxophone case waiting for a signal from stage to come up and jam with the pros. It's yet another noble jazz tradition called sitting in, where the musicians give you a chance to play with the band. Who knows, if you sound great, you might not leave the stage until closing time. Alternatively, you may be sent off to practice until further notice.Either way, if the stage is the ultimate laboratory of music, then a jazz club is the university. That's where musicians perfect their presentation, learn how the business works, make contacts and figure out how to transmute humiliation into perfection. It's also an essential stepping stone to the concert stage.What I love about jazz is its open-ended format. If it sounds good, use it. Jazz has always been fusion music. Its essence and spirit haveremained intact since the days in the early century when African-American rhythms and intonations came together with European instruments and church music, marching band processionel work songs and the industrial strength party atmosphere that prevailed in New Orleans.Jazz has always been constantly evolving. The tradition has been greatly enriched by inputs from Cuba, Brazil, Europe and the Balkan states, Africa, and now increasingly from India. Over the past 25 years, Indian classical artists including L Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Badal Roy have collaborated with jazz greats like Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, John McLaughlin and Dave Leibman to bring new forms and textures, essentially classical, to jazz.Enough has been said. now it's time to let the music do the talking.
