Just a few hours later a friend announced that he was taking me to a Jazz Club. If I've learned anything in living cross culturally, it's that terms constantly need to be defined or clarified. I tried to dismiss any familiar concepts of Jazz Club from my mind; I would walk into this place ready to accept whatever reality went with the term here.
Jazz Club simply meant 'bar' in this instance. It was below-ground bar that was designed to resemble descending into a cave. Once below, it was dark, and smokey with a rustic, wooden sort of feel. Coming into the seating area in front of the stage, I turned to find an old friend I hadn't seen in six years. Small world. As we were catching up, the band came up. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical about what would come out of the speakers in front of us. I expected bad pop and probably a few covers of Hotel California and the Titanic theme song. I sat back with smug skepticism as they tuned up.
Their first song was decent. It was a basic set. Electric. Bass. Drums. Two vocals. The second song was in Spanish. It dawned on me that I was having another surreal moment. Bar in China. Uyghur singers. Spanish lyrics. Crazy! Their style was basic rock, and refreshingly, not bad pop. Then a nod from the female vocalist signaled someone sitting behind us. The man walked past with a dutar. Taking the stage, he plugged it in and began tuning. Electric dutar? This was a first for me. Words will fail to convey what happened musically. East met West on the stage. Guitar. Dutar. Drums. It was stunning. Pulling from hundreds (maybe thousands?) of years of Central Asian musical history, this band was taking old texts and folk tunes and repackaging them with a fused modern/traditional style. Practically, I could understand none of the words yet could see the effects of these songs on the faces of my friends, looks of deep understanding and delight in the rich history of their shared culture being expressed in song. This music was conveying something that words can't express.
"Music is not a universal language, but it is universal", said my college music history professor. He was right. I missed the layers of meaning conveyed in the text. Still, there was something compelling contained in this music that drew me in as I listened. The only down side? Bars are not smoke free in China. Michigan? South Carolina? You can have your smoke free bars. I'll keep my Jazz/Central Asian/Rock Fusion Club.