Each has gone a long way toward infusing the music with elements of South Indian culture. Together, they have pointed jazz in a new direction—or at least developed Eastern elements that long have been dormant in the music.
Yet each has a perspective of his own, as Mahanthappa made clear Saturday night at the Green Mill, where an overflow crowd heard him lead his quartet with Iyer on piano. If Iyer has been the dominant figure in previous Chicago outings, this time Mahanthappa sounded more imposing than ever, with Iyer tamping down his volcanic approach to the keyboard.
For Mahanthappa, the performance represented a homecoming, for he honed his art in Chicago clubs when he lived here, in the early 1990s. He has developed considerably since then.
If before Mahanthappa produced torrents of sound every set, now he stands as a more disciplined musician presiding over meticulously crafted scores. The tension between the intricate structure of his compositions and the innate extravagance of his performance manner made this music extraordinarily gripping. Virtually every piece expressed a barely controlled frenzy.
Much of Mahanthappa's appeal rests on his tone on alto saxophone, a palpably charismatic sound that resembles no one else's. What's more, Mahanthappa over the years has developed the ability to articulate ferocious rhythmic energy. His lines don't merely push forward, they spring buoyantly from one nearly manic phrase to the next.
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