FABLES

"When I was a child, my mother gave me as many storybooks as she could find. I remember having read Russian children’s stories, Sri Lankan Buddhist tales, old Indian parables and of course, Aesop’s Fables. My mother was keen about the way I told these stories, whether on stage at elocutions, or to friends.

 

The hero’s journey, the allegory, the imagery: I look back on how much that influenced my creativity. I have always found the magic of storytelling within the way I talk, I find it within my teaching and in the way I write music.

 

Fables is my first original jazz quintet through which I present my original compositions I’ve been harboring. This project is 7 or more years in the making, and my desire to tell original stories through music is finally fulfilled. Every song in this concert is like a fable; every song is a story, and every story has a moral.

 

I’ve woven these songs in my own musical language, in the way that I’ve discovered that music meets my life’s stories. I write about my experiences as an immigrant, about not knowing where to call home, about our collective humanity and our ability to do good.

 

Often I realize when I discover a musical idea, the notes and the chords are already portraying a story of mine through song. I’ve discovered a great joy in translating fables into music, I hope you feel my joy in them too."

- Kavyesh Kaviraj