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Copyright (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune Haque's
a guitarist for all sonic seasons Andy Argyrakis January 31, 2003 Guitarist Fareed Haque's typical itinerary makes it hard to fathom how one man can cram so much onto his plate. Within 48 hours, it's not that uncommon for Haque to fly to a major city, perform and hop a late flight home and hours later, teach guitar courses at Northern Illinois University, then dash to another show or recording session. Haque is a seasoned session man in the most versatile sense--switching between classical, jazz, new age and occasionally incorporating ethnic influences from his Pakistani/Chilean upbringing. "It's a very marketable balance," Haque says, laughing. He adds that having hands in several pots can be quite lucrative: "Most artists specialize in one type of music but there aren't many guitarists that can read music and switch up so much. I'm a master of none, but a jack of all trades, a gun always for hire." That availability has paid off; Sting, Cassandra Wilson, Ramsey Lewis and Medeski, Martin, and Wood are among those who have called on Haque's services. Such stints, and the countless others along the way, have culminated in Haque's recurring appearances with Summit (George Brooks' experimental ensemble), his co-founding of jazzy instrumental jammers Garaj Mahal in 2001, and the new solo CD "Singh Song." "In the past five years I've realized some of my own convictions about music and wanted to become my own composing musician," he says. "It's a natural progression since I've seen how so many other groups operate." Haque's branching out "is always exciting because you never know what he's going to come up with next," says frequent collaborator Kai Eckhardt, Garaj Mahal's bassist. "It's rare that a guitarist can cross so many boundaries. He's one of the most well-rounded and flexible you'll ever meet." Haque doesn't let accolades inflate his ego. "I may have covered a lot of spectrums, but there's so much more to discover," he notes. "I don't even like students to call me `professor' because being called `all knowledgeable' means you can't learn anything else. "Every project, every band I play with--every day actually--provides a chance to learn something new." Chicago Tribune November 19, 2000 By Michael Parrish, Special to the Tribune MUSIC REVIEW Class session, Merit Music players join pros for a marvelous sound Since 1979, the Merit Music program has been providing world class training in jazz and classical music in Chicago's public schools. On Friday night at the Park West, the program was highlighted and supported by the Explore the World Music Benefit, featuring two of the area's most eclectic musicians, whose own work epitomizes the creativity and craft that the Merit Music program seeks to instill in its students. Guitarist Fareed Haque has equally impressive credentials as a jazz and classical performer, and a globe-trotting childhood made his incorporation of international influences an instinct rather than a gimmick Haque dug deep into his musical bag of skills Friday night, first by jamming with the Merit Honors Jazz Ensemble on a couple of big band numbers. The eight piece ensemble was a marvel in their own right, particularly Maria Eisen's astonishingly mature and assertive tenor sax work. Haque then set to work with his own trio, rounded out by keyboardist Eric Levy and tabla player Kalyan Pathak. Sitting on the floor with his red electric guitar in his lap, Haque demonstrated both a relentless drive and a seemingly endless talent for constructing vivid, single-note solos that retained a strong sense of melody as his fingers flew from one end of the fretboard to the other. On their second number, "Blues 14", Haque and Pathak executed deft, often dramatic shifts in tempo in perfect synchrony, while Levy anchored the beat and provided understated ornamentation. Later, Haque cast a spell with the soft, reflective "One Million Lines" primarily by alternating two short, pithy arpeggios. In the middle of his set, Haque brought out the Merit String Quartet and switched to classical guitar to run through a lively reading of the first movement of the Giuliani Concerto. Again, the level of musicianship of the Merit students was a dramatic testimony to the efficacy of the program. Rejoining his trio, Haque brought out his custom-made sitar guitar to finish with an up-tempo number that blended the Indian tonalities of that instrument into an up-tempo Latin groove... Chicago
Tribune Jazz review, All-Star ensemble at Athenaeum Theater The term 'Chicago jazz' carries a thousand meanings, but during a weekend show at the Athenaeum Theater it signified music at once sophisticated, passionate, experimental and steeped in tradition. The occasion was 'Chicago Now,' a Sunday evening program featuring some of the most accomplished improvisers in jazz, all based in this city. To behold percussionist-bandleader Kahil El'Zabar and his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, vocalist Kurt Elling and guitarist Fareed Haque sharing a stage was to savor Chicago jazz at its most viscerally exciting and innovative. At first glance, one might not think that the deeply spiritual improvisations of El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, the free- flying scat of wild-man Elling and the fusion-tinged riffs of Haque would mesh. Yet these artists clearly share an understanding of the traditions of Chicago jazz, specifically those developed over the past three decades by the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). El'Zabar and his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, in other words, established the hypnotic rhythmic backbeats and freely improvised instrumental lines that draw on AACM performance techniques. Haque and Elling, for their part, took pains to match the tone colors, rhythmic vocabulary and chant-like phrasings of El'Zabar's Ethnics. The result was an incredibly complex, rhythmically propulsive music with several lines unfolding all at once. No listener possibly could hear every note that was played, but the cumulative effect of El'Zabar, Elling, Haque and the rest could not help but seize the listener's attention. As if to link the past, present and future, the all-star ensemble opened with Charlie Parker's ``Now's the Time,'' but no one should have expected a straight-ahead version of the bebop anthem. The tune was utterly transformed, with El'Zabar and guest percussionist Atu Harold Murray providing richly textured, multi- layered rhythms, while trombonist Joseph Bowie and alto saxophonist Ernest Dawkins produced long, melismatic vocal and instrumental lines. Elling, whose ear is as keen as his vocals are nimble, added wordless sonic effects of his own. Yet for all the audacity of his high-register squeals and high-velocity riffs, Elling's vocal flights neatly matched the timbre of the instrumental sound resonating around him. During the past year or so, Haque has developed into a remarkably forceful improviser, and his rhythmically dynamic work throughout this concert underscored the point. Yet for all the forward motion and melodic ingenuity of his lines, not once did he suggest ostentatious display. On the contrary, Haque's searing guitar work represented but one glorious line in an avant-garde symphony of sound. Chicago
Tribune The inaugural season of Steppenwolf Theatre's Traffic series closed Monday evening in high style. With the main stage auditorium filled nearly to capacity and with an exceptional ensemble extending the boundaries of jazz improvisation, the season finale surely summed up Traffic's many virtues. Though Chicago does not lack for adventurous musicians or thriving clubs, Steppenwolf's Traffic has given performers and listeners something new: an acoustically top-notch forum for presenting new ideas in music and related arts. Perhaps it should have come as no surprise, then, that Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque achieved in this setting one of the most satisfying performances he has yet given his hometown. Haque may have been a hit at any number of local clubs over the years, but he never has approached the musical fervor and expressive range he attained on the Steppenwolf stage. Shrewdly taking advantage of Steppenwolf's space and its theatrical possibilities, Haque opened his show playing solo, his collaborators joining him one by one while the music was in progress. Before you knew it, a classically tinged guitar recital had erupted into a ferocious, cutting-edge band concert. Yet this was no feedback festival, with musicians indulging in shrill dissonance for its own sake. On the contrary, Haque and friends surveyed several musical idioms--from hard-hitting fusion to folk-like pop to soaring ``free jazz''--as befitted the tunes at hand. Remarkably, Haque proved equally persuasive exploring vintage music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (from their ``Deja Vu'' album) and the Spanish lyricism of excerpts from Isaac Albeniz's ``Iberia'' (in a transcription for guitar). That Haque was comparably effective in folk-like music of Manuel Ponce, a cadenza from a Villa-Lobos guitar concerto and pitch-bending arias of his own making underscored the man's musical versatility. It's important to note, however, that Haque wasn't always so striking or fluent a player. But during the past couple of seasons, his decidedly introspective approach has blossomed into something more forceful, committed and intense. Call it maturity, seasoning, experience, whatever, but Haque played with a sense of purpose and direction that has invigorated his art. More than that, Haque demonstrated that he's as much bandleader as soloist, drawing inspired performances from guitarist Dave Onderdonk, bass guitarist Jonathan Paul and drummer Joe Bianco. Whether they were producing utterly atonal riffs or forging unusually close harmony, the three guitarists functioned as a single unit. Add to that drummer Bianco's broad musical vocabulary--from turn-of-the-century march rhythms to unrepentant funk--and you had a rousing conclusion to Steppenwolf's Traffic. Guitar
Player Haque's approach to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1969 breakthrough is both lyrical and groove intensive. He shakes up "Carry On" into a chugging bitches' brew laced with auto-wah soloing, lends "Teach Your Children" al Latin feel graced by gentle nylon-string punctuation and cool counter-rhythms, and, against David Onderdonk's warm-toned acoustic rhythm guitar, adds fleshy Zippo lighter slide to a poignant "Helpless". Haque's flamencofied, rocked-out "Deja Vu" is a stunning translation. Jazziz Blue
Note continues its intriguing series of beginning-to-end jazz renditions
of influential '70's pop albums with Fareed Haque's masterful take on
the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic, Deja Vu. Haque draws upon
classical and jazz techniques, as well as the Latin and Middle Eastern
influences from his own background. Treating the original, folksy melodies
as blueprints, he takes a largely unplugged trip through these familiar
tunes, which appear built for improvisational invention. Guitar
Shop A fusion guitarist doing a full album of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young covers? You're kiddin', right? Nope and, better still, it cooks. Fareed takes these dated folk-rock chestnuts, and makes them swing 'n' groove like nobody's business. You can detect influences from Gabor Szabo and Pat Martino in the funky, Fender Rhodes-laced instrumentation, especially "Carry On" and "Woodstock". But his arrangements, beautiful fingerpicking, and contorted bop solos are truly singular. And for some fierce acoustic shred, witness Fareed's blistering leads on "Everybody I Love You"...executed on a Seagull acoustic 12-string!
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