Zapin Blues: Collaboration Between Jazz and Zapin Music in Preservation of Zapin Music

Name Matric No. Course Code Course Name Instructor

: Jerald Choi Mun Jet : 169702 : MZK3008 : Music Writing Techniques : Ms. Julia Chieng

Zapin music is the music used in Zapina dance form that is popular among the Malay communities in the Malay Archipelago especially in Malaysia and in Indonesia. Matusky and Tan (2004, p. 127) mentioned that the Arab communities that settled in the state of Johore before the 14th century CE introduced Zapin to Peninsula Malaysia. Mohd. Anis Md. Nor (2013) acknowledged that the Zapin is brought in from Arab and is a hybrid of Zaffiin dance and music of the people of Wadi Hadhraumaut. Today, Zapin has spread throughout the Peninsula and also to Sabah and Sarawak and it is known as a national art form. Formerly, only males were allowed to perform Zapin as Zapin was intended for spreading religious teachings; Nowadays, women Zapin dancers are a common sight and Zapin is no longer performed exclusively for religious purpose (Fredericks, 2011, para. 34).

On the other hand, Jazz in Malaysia has been blooming in the 20th and 21st centuries. Jazz is believed to have been imported from different shores, such as from students who studied abroad in western countries and returned with a staunch passion for more progressive musical modalities (Music History and Asian Music, n.d.). Organisations, institutions and corporations such as Petronas and Sarawak Tourism Board played important roles in the development of a broader interest in jazz and at the same time cultured many homegrown Jazz musicians (Music History and Asian Music, n.d.). Many homegrown musicians have gained their fame in the local music industry, and some even achieved world-class stature as stated by Music History and Asian Music (n.d.): Malaysia has a handful of homegrown musicians who have achieved world class stature in jazz exposition e.g., keyboardists Michael Veerapan and David Gomes; freestyle bassist Zailan Razak; multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, The Solianos; and virtuoso drummer Lewis Pragasam. (Music History and Asian Music, n.d.)

Although Zapin is known as a national art form, it still faces problems of passing on the baton as younger generations1 nowadays are caught up in their sophisticated gadgets and world trending cultures. Jazz on the other hand, seems to capture more attention of the younger generations due to its frequent and rapid changes. Jazz and Zapin has some similarities in actual fact such as the structure, which is further discussed in the latter part of this study. However, there is not much collaboration that occurred between these two genres of music. Another issue is that musicians of respective genres remained in their field and not exploring other possibilities and outcome from such collaboration due to the lack of knowledge in the music genre of the other, especially Zapin music. Hence, this research is to identify the possibility of merging both Jazz and Zapin music in order to preserve the musical element of Zapin.

There are only a handful of examples for the collaboration of Zapin and Jazz, but collaborations of jazz and traditional or ethnic music can be seen in other countries. According to Pinckney (1989a) in his article Jazz in India: Perspectives on Historical Development and Musical Acculturation, there were two categories in where jazz is fused in with Northern Indian classical music: 1) Modern jazz enriched with borrowed North Indian classical music elements, and 2) Indo-Jazz Fusion. Pinckney (1989b) in his other article Puerto Rican Jazz and the Incorporation of Folk Music also mentioned Latin American Musicians incorporates Puerto Rican folk songs into Latin Jazz.

Younger generations mentioned here and thereafter refer to those who are born during 1980s and after.

A qualitative approach is used in the documentation of collaboration between Jazz and Zapin music in the aspect of preservation throughout the course of this study. Unstructured interviews and interactions or informal conversations were carried out to obtain information on the subject. The process of collecting data started off with unstructured interviews with lecturers and composers on their view of preserving Zapin music by merging it with Jazz. The process then continued with informal conversation with a lecturer/ethnomusicologist that has a vast knowledge in Malay cultural music and analysis of audiovisual recordings on such collaboration.

After a series of unstructured interviews with lecturers and composers on their opinion on the collaboration of Jazz and Zapin, most of the respondents agree that the merging both Jazz and Zapin is plausible. According to Made Hood, mergers are plausible; however, the basis for the merger needs to be scrutinized (personal communication, December 23, 2013). Loo Fung Ying also acknowledged the possibility of such hybridity and added that such hybridity may obtain negative feedbacks from purist (personal communication, December 24, 2013). Both respondents also commented that having a strong identity or knowledge of the genres might smoothen the process of such fusion.

In this study, an analysis on a Jazz-Zapin fusion by Farid Ali called Zapin Blues is carried outthis is the only known published music of such collaboration. Before Zapin Blues is being dissected, an analysis of the structure of a traditional Zapin and also a standard blues is done. The standard blues (or also known as 12-bar blues) has a structure of A-A-B-A-C-turnaround (see Table 1.1). It can be seen that each section revolves around a tonal center.

Section Chord Progression Tonal Centre

A I7 I IV7 I7

A v7 I7 I

B IV7 #ivdim7 IV

A I7 iii7 VI7 I ii7

C V7 V

Turnarounds I7 VI7 ii7 V7

Table 1.1 Description of the standard blues structure and the chord progression2 According to Jhnichen (2009), the structure of Zapin music is similar to that of a standard 12-bar blues. The basic structure of a traditional Zapin music can be seen in Table 1.2, which is used in both traditional Zapin Melayu and also Zapin Arab (Mohd Anis Md Nor, 2001). Tahtim or Taksim [Salutation] Main dance section Wainab section [ABC musical units [Variation of turns, low repeated. Movement plies, standing and motifs clustered within squatting positions.] each musical unit.] Table 1.2 Description of a traditional Zapin Structure

Table 1.3 is a more detailed structure of the traditional Zapin that is discussed in Jhnichens (2009) article, where she uses the example of a traditional zapin: Zapin Burung burung ayam. lagu distinct melodic part final level A a b c c' 2133 A a b c c' 2133 B defg 1511 C g' h I j 4155

A B A B' waenah+kopak akhir distinct melodic parts abab c c' d abab c c' d' final level 6565 2 2 5 6565 2 2 5 Table 1.3 Description of the Melodic Frame in the Zapin Burung burung ayam3

In Table 1.2, it is stated that the musical unit of the main dance section is being repeated, whereas Table 1.3 show us the detail flow of the main dance section, also

This table is based on the analysis of a standard 12-bar blues that is used in Walking Bass from Alfassys Jazz Hanon 3 From Renovation versus formalization in zapin music? Some remarks on the recent meaning of muqam in the Malay World, by Jhnichen, 2009, Proceedings of the 6th ICTM Study Group Meeting Muqam Urumqi 2006

known as the lagu. It can be seen that the musical frame of the Zapin is very similar of the structure of the Blues. Let us now look into the analysis of the Zapin Blues. Zapin Blues composed by Farid Ali, uses the basic frame of a Jazz Blues while incorporating musical elements of the Zapin music into the Blues structure. According to Jhnichen (personal communication, December 26, 2013), who knew Farid Ali personally, Farid Ali felt the familiarity of both genres of music when he was experimenting. She mentioned that Farid Ali saw the similarity of both Zapin and Blues, and tried to merge it together to form the piece we now known as Zapin Blues. In her article (Jhnichen, 2009), she compared the melodic frame in the Zapin Blues to the standard Blues Scheme, which can be seen in Table 1.4.

Table 1.4 Description of comparison between the structure of Zapin Blues and standard blues4.

Besides looking at the structure of the traditional Zapin, the standard 12-bar blues and also Zapin Blues, another musical element that is used in the Zapin Blues, is the musical instrument itself. In Zapin Blues, Farid Ali chose to play the Gambus, a handle lute from the Alam Melayu, the Malay World5. The Gambus is also one of the traditional musical instruments that is used in the Zapin. In Zapin Blues, the

From Renovation versus formalization in zapin music? Some remarks on the recent meaning of muqam in the Malay World, by Jhnichen, 2009, Proceedings of the 6th ICTM Study Group Meeting Muqam Urumqi 2006 5 Alam Melayu or the Malay World refers to the Malay Archipelago mentioned in paragraph 1 of this study and it consists of a huge territory on the South East Asian islands and the Malay Peninsula as stated by Jhnichen(2009).

Gambus is tuned with standard classical guitar tuning, but the melody of the lagu or the kopak6 can clearly be heard over the modern blues rhythm by his jazz band.

The respondents have different opinion when asked whether such collaboration can be a form of preservation of Zapin music. According to Jhnichen (personal communication, December 26, 2013), she also think that it is plausible for Zapin and Jazz to merge; such collaboration is also able to preserve musical elements of the Zapin music. She mentioned, however, that one has to be familiar with both genres in terms of knowledge and having the awareness of its history. Prof. Jhnichen (2009, p.222) also mentioned in an article she wrote that the identification modus with traditional Zapin could not be destroyed due to the changes that occur during the fusion process, such as rhythmic patternsEven these changes cannot destroy the identification modus with traditional Zapin. Hood mentioned that hybrids between Jazz and Zapin might be rejected by social groupings that have preservation already on their agenda and intend it to be performed exclusively in a sacred context (personal communication, December 23, 2013). However, he also stated that innovative Zapin musicians who are inclined to explore new musical structures and include Jazz elements may see fusion as a means of preservation through innovation.

Throughout the study, there are clear signs that collaboration between Jazz and Zapin music can be another innovative approach of preserving Zapin besides the conventional method. Besides preserving Zapin as a heritage or in the traditional form, the fusion of Jazz and Zapin music is a creative and innovative ways to preserve the musical elements of Zapin. At the same time, such creativity and innovation is
6

Kopak in Zapin means the rhythm and it interlocks with the lagu of Zapin. There are three sections of the KopakKopak awal, kopak tengah, and kopak akhir (Jhnichen, 2009, p. 226227)

able to attract the attention of the younger generations to be aware of the need for preservation of Zapin. The fusion done by Farid AliZapin Bluesis a good example for such collaboration, where the musical element of zapin is preserved while incorporating the style of other genre of music.

References Fredericks, M. A. (2011). Discover Malaysia: Zapin. Retrieved December 27, 2013, from http://www.thestar.com.my/Travel/Malaysia/2011/06/24/Zapin/ Jhnichen, G. (2009). Renovation versus formalization in zapin music? Some remarks on the recent meaning of muqam in the Malay World. In J. Elsner & G. Jaehnichen (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th ICTM Study Group Meeting Muqam Urumqi 2006 (pp. 209228). Xinjiang, China: Chinese Uyghur Classical Literature & Muqam Institute Matusky, P. A. & Tan, S. B., (2004). The music of Malaysia: The classical, folk and syncretic traditions. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing. Mohd Anis Md Nor (2001). Blurring images, glowing likenesses: Old and new styles in traditional dances of Malaysia. Yearbook for Traditional Music, 33, pp. 65 71 Mohd Anis Md Nor (2013). Zapin-Melayu in Johor: Constructing Malay-ness from t he body, music and dance of Hadhramaut. In Mohd Anis Md Nor, P. Matusky, P., Tan S. B., J. Pugh-Kitingan, J. & Felicidad Predente (Eds.). Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia (pp. 149154). Philippines: ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia. Music History and Asian Music (n.d.). Music of Malaysia [Web log post]. Retrieved f rom http://musichistoryasianmusic.blogspot.com/p/woodwind-instrumentflute-player-brass.html Pinckney, W. R. Jr. (1989a). Jazz in India: Perspectives on historical development and musical acculturation. Asian music, 21(1), pp. 3577. Pinckney, W. R. Jr. (1989b). Puerto Rican jazz and the incorporation of folk song: An analysis of new musical directions. Latin American Music Review/Revista de Msica Latinoamericana, 10(2), 236266.