Eclectic. That would be the best way to describe Jaelem Bhate’s musical tastes.
And when you hear the 22-year-old, UBC music student and jazz band leader talk about how he approaches music, it’s no wonder.
When the Hugh Boyd grad sat down with the News at the Ackroyd Starbucks location this week, he said there was always music in his family home.
“My mom would always be singing around the house,” he said. “For my dad it would be CBC, almost religiously classical music. And my mom was a big rock and roll fan,” he said. “So, when I was younger, it would be Friday nights going to the Chan (Chan Centre for the Performing Arts) to listen to the VSO play Vivaldi. And Saturday nights would be for going to see John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen, and everything in between.”
Neither of his parents played instruments, but their love for music rubbed off on the Bhate and his older sister, Tahara, 28.
She studied piano and drew her brother’s interest.
“She was always playing and practising, and I’d lay on the floor beside her and listen,” Bhate said. “That was the inspiration to pick it up.”
While he did, percussion soon became his passion.
“I also tried trumpet, then clarinet, until someone finally put a drumstick in my hand and it kinda went from there.”
And where that leaves him right now is a busy run up to a Dec. 19 performance at Roy Barnett Hall at UBC where Bhate’s band — the 45th Ave Jazz Band — will be performing The Nutcracker Suitein a jazz style.
If that raises a few eyebrows and begs some questions, you’d be in the majority.
“Outside of the local jazz community, whenever I’ve advertised the show, I get back the glazed eyes and question, ‘What do you mean The Nutcracker jazz?’” Bhate said.
The idea was developed by jazz icons Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn — two of Bhate’s musical idols — who arranged the music and recorded it back in 1960.
But does it mesh?
“There’s so much material in classical music that jazz players can work with,” he said. “It’s very rich in its repertoire. So, it’s not a big stretch to take the basic harmonic and melodic concepts that Tchaikovsky explored and just rearrange it for a large jazz ensemble.
“The fundamental principles of each piece in the suite are not changed. It’s more about how they are presented with the instrumentation, the general feel and groove,” he said.
For example, The Arabian Dance, in the original Nutcrackeris re-imagined with a swing, alto saxophone in the middle, which reverts to a Calypso-Latin beat, Bhate explained.
Because of its complexity, the jazz version of The Nutcrackeris not usually taken on by community-sized jazz ensembles.
“It’s quite difficult in its scope as a full suite because it’s a lot of rehearsal and preparation.”
Music for the show arrived in September and rehearsals began in late October. Two to three dress rehearsals will precede the concert, and Bhate said he is looking forward to getting on stage and performing.
“It’s really special to bring the idiom of a large jazz ensemble to a larger population, because, in general media, you don’t hear a lot of big jazz bands. I think people will be intrigued and very surprised how well the two go together — that these familiar melodies in The Nutcrackercan be re-imagined.”
Bhate knows the concert is a pretty ambitious undertaking, due to both its difficulty, length, and need to recreate it as accurately as possible.
“I really ask a lot of the players and myself because the music is so dear to me, making sure all of the details are there,” he said. “But I think with every concert experience that I put on — this is my third year with the band — I grow, learn some stuff about running the band. But out of all the concerts and seasons I’ve spent with this ensemble, I feel particularly special about this one.”
As for what the future holds for him?
“Every day is an adventure,” he said. “And every musical experience I get to have, I am thankful for,” he said. “My life right now is very involved in different aspects of music.”
He is conductor of the Vancouver Pops Symphony Orchestra. He is working on a degree at UBC in classical orchestral performance. He directs the jazz band and still keeps a hand in piano.
“I can’t disconnect any part of my musical life. So, ideally, I’d like to keep all of this going as long as I can and see where the musical journey takes me,” he said, “and enjoy every second of it along the way.”
