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Jazz Articles about Rudresh Mahanthappa
About Rudresh Mahanthappa
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Rudresh Mahanthappa: Hero Trio
by Dan McClenaghan
In the chordless trio tradition of tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins on A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1957) and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz with his Motion (Verve, 1961), alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa offers up his Hero Trio, a saxophone, bass and drums outing nodding to his influential musical heros. Mahanthappa began his career in the shadow of Vijay Iyer, playing on the pianist's Panoptic Modes (Red Giant, 2001), Blood Sutra (Pi Recordings, 2003), and Reimagining (Savoy ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition & Rez Abbasi’s Invocation
by Mark Sullivan
Two nearly simultaneous releases that shine an especially interesting light on the three players they have in common. In addition to leading the two dates, alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and guitarist Rez Abbasi play prominent performance roles in both, and Dan Weiss provides drums (and tabla). Both projects mark the return of their respective bands: the second time for the Indo-Pak Coalition, the third for Invocation. Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition Agrima Self Produced 2017
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Agrima
by Jerome Wilson
Two years after the release of his acclaimed Charlie Parker project Bird Calls (ACT), saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa returns with his longstanding Indo-Pak Coalition for Agrima, a vinyl and download-only release that is a dazzling hybrid of Indian music and furious jazz-rock. Besides Mahanthappa the group consists of guitarist Rez Abbasi and drummer/tablaist Dan Weiss, with the occasional bit of electronic enhancement floating in the background. Overall, the music is very tight and forceful. “Snap" best displays its general ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Agrima
by Dan McClenaghan
The music of India is ancient, centuries old. The saxophone is new, with a history of less than a hundred years. Ditto for the “electric" guitar. First generation Indian-American alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa marries the old and new in his music, on his most compelling recording to date, Agrima, featuring his Indo-Pak Coalition, featuring “electric" guitarist Rez Abbasi and tabla-ist/drummer Dan Weiss. Mahanthappa--who now chairs the jazz department at Princeton University--rode to a higher profile via pianist Vijay ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Agrima
by Angelo Leonardi
Lungamente atteso, viene pubblicato in questi giorni Agrima dell'Indo-Pak Coalition di Rudresh Mahanthappa, un album dove tradizione orientale e contemporaneità si fondono in percorsi articolati e avvincenti. A nove anni dall'unico lavoro discografico (Apti Innova, 2008) il trio raccoglie i tratti fondanti di quel progetto aggiungendo nuove soluzioni, in un quadro esaltante per inventiva personale e collettiva. Com'è noto il sassofonista ha sviluppato la propria identità di musicista e compositore coniugando la formazione jazzistica statunitense (dall'amore per Charlie ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Agrima
by Karl Ackermann
Ancestral influences have long occupied second-generation Indian-American saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa's thinking and have strongly influenced his music. That was especially true in the case of his 2008 Indo-Pak Coalition album Apti (Innova Recordings) and now with Agrima. But there is an obvious evolutionary leap in the near decade between releases; a measure of the progression is owed to technology and another to continuously developing instincts around the marriage of Western and non-western music. Mahanthappa is the Director of ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls at The Wexner Center for The Arts
by Mark Corroto
Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa brought his quintet to the Wexner Center at The Ohio State University February 27, 2016, to play his book of original compositions precipitated by the music of Charlie Parker. The audience to this sold out show was left with the proverbial question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did they come to hear the music of alto saxophonist and originator of bebop, Charlie “Yardbird" Parker's music? Or, were they in the audience ...
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