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March 25, 2000

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Sorabjee strikes the right note with Clinton

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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

It was a brief meeting between two presidents at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 23.

No, it did not include President K R Narayanan. US President Bill Clinton met Attorney-general Soli J Sorabjee, president of Capital Jazz, Delhi.

The brief encounter was bereft of any reference to the Indian Constitution. Sorabjee had come to Rashtrapati Bhavan to share Clinton's love for jazz.

"I knew President Clinton plays the tenor sax and loves the music of jazz greats like Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, Dizzie Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holliday, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and others. So I went to present him a CD, an anthology of his favourite jazz musicians," Sorabjee said.

And boy, was the US president thrilled?

"President Clinton told me that he would listen to the anthology tonight itself in his hotel suite. I was glad. I had taken pains to compile it," Sorabjee pointed out.

Sorabjee spent more than eight hours deciding which numbers Clinton would appreciate. "It was worth the effort."

Sorabjee himself is a great jazz lover.

"I have been exposed to jazz since the age of 12. I played clarinet but did not go beyond some amateur performances at the college level and at the All India Radio. My favourite is Benny Goodman who is a leading clarinetist and a dominant figure in the world of jazz," he said.

He was a natural candidate to head Jazz India's Delhi chapter. He collected under his leadership a growing bunch of young jazz enthusiasts including former Indian diplomat Ratan Sehgal. Within half-a-dozen years of its inception, Jazz India, Delhi had hosted musical extravaganzas that wowed the initiates and aficianados alike.

Who can forget the mesmerising fiddle of Stephane Grapelli's electric violin with its strains coursing through the appreciative audience. Grapelli teamed up with his noted Indian counterpart L Subramaniam and the two whipped up sheer magic for the enraptured audience in Delhi.

Max Roach, the great jazz drummer, displayed some deft stick work to the delight of his fans and there was the Ann Whitehead band with its female bandleader and trombone player zapping everybody.

Numerous other big names in the jazz arena too performed in Delhi, swelling the number of new converts.

"When the protocol officer at Rashtrapati Bhavan introduced me as the attorney-general to President Clinton, he shook hands with me. I told him I wanted to discuss something about a common friend who is also a president. He looked perplexed. I mentioned the name of the great jazz musician Lester Young who was also nicknamed President. Clinton was delighted," Sorabjee recalled.

But before the brief meeting ended, the two had cemented a friendship which was already looking into the future.

"After talking for about five minutes, I told the president that we should have a jam session when he demits office as President and I do the same as the attorney-general. He said sure, just come over to the White House," Sorabjee said.

The attorney-general regretted that his suggestion of President Clinton listening to Indian jazz musicians like Braz Gonsalves (saxophone ) and a couple of others was turned down by the secret service agents.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA:The complete coverage

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