India, Oct. 9 -- When writing about protest music, it is customary to refer to names that are nearly cliches.

Singers such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Nina Simone; or, more recently, The Clash, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, or Kneecap. All these names have one thing in common: lyrics. Protest music, generally, centres around words of protest. That is probably why jazz is not a genre that springs to mind when talking about protest music because jazz is often instrumental.

There is an unambiguous clarity in the spoken word. It tells us exactly where to stand, whom to blame, and what to march for. Because of this, mainstream music criticism has had a blind spot. It routinely skips past jazz, treating ...