Continued from Part 1 here, featuring an extended transcribing of his interview with NPR’s Fresh Air.
Favorite Tracks
Album: Kinsmen
They place a piece named Ganesha towards the end of the interview. I have included the snippet below.
Mahanthappa describes this piece as a blues piece based on a 21-beat (3×7) pattern, and with the “simultaneity of eastern and western, Indian and jazz happening at the same time”. Mahanthappa plays what he describes as a blues riff, while Gopalnath plays a more traditional raaga-based piece. I think I can identify what Gopalnath is playing as ‘Maha Ganapatim’ or a variation thereof, but I may be wrong. It is a strong confluence that works well, and while individually the tunes are well enough, the tracks add to each other.
Other tracks I like from various previews heard on the net are Kalyani (iTunes link), Convergence (Kinsmen) and Snake! (Click on the NPR Article Link to listen to full versions of both songs) as all three have a strong Karnatik flavor and a faster bebop-like style that I prefer over smooth jazz. Snake! begins with a nice Karnatik riff, but gets pretty intense as the track moves along, and I thought it evoked the feelings of a frenzied snake-dance really well. Not for the faint-hearted, and certainly not for your date evening.
Album: Apti
They feature the title track from his other album, Apti where he works with Pakistani guitarist Rez Abbasi, and tabla-player Dan Weiss (nice job!), at the beginning of the NPR interview mentioned in part 1 of this post. Snippet of the track titled Apti below.
I thought this track was a brilliant bebop-themed fusion of saxophone with tabla. Hearing the previews on iTunes, I liked this album overall better than Kinsmen as one, the tabla adds another layer of fusion, two, there are fewer smooth jazz tracks and three, the Delhi-ish theme evokes a kind of Indian Ocean + Jazz feel. Other tracks that stood out for me were Palika Market (iTunes link) and IIT (iTunes Link), the latter being the track he refers to while talking about beat variation in the interview (see part 1).
In summarizing both albums, I would say that I appreciate Mahanthappa’s talent in being able to understand Karnatik classical, and in being able to find the right way to meld his style of music with the new style he has learned. Overall, I still think, he favors either a bebop sound or a smooth jazz sound, and nothing in between. Bebop is most definitely an acquired taste, and isn’t meant for passive listening, so his music’s ability to win over traditional Karnatik classical fans might be a hit or miss. As a jazz fan, I totally appreciate what he’s done and look forward to hearing more.
Links:
NPR’s Fresh Air Interview link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101644613
Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Home Page: http://rudreshm.com/
Update: The song titles and their corresponding snippets had been mistakenly switched, they’re now back where they belong.
Music This! 