Rudresh Mahanthappa

“Samdhi”

(ACT Music & Vision ACT 9513-2)

Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa has attracted a compelling amount of critical praise both for his solo work and for his collaborations with pianist Vijay Iyer, a musician with whom he shares a very similar cultural background. Both Iyer and Mahanthappa were born in the US to Indian parents and both have established themselves as expert jazz players before consciously setting out to explore their Indian musical heritage. Iyer has recorded a series of albums for ACT with his latest recording “Tirtha” (reviewed elsewhere on this site by Tim Owen) his deepest examination yet of his Indian ancestry.

“Samdhi”, Mahanthappa’s ACT début, not only references the saxophonist’s Indian background but also throws all his other influences into a rich and bubbling musical stew. There’s the bebop of Charlie Parker, a primary influence, then 80’s fusion (Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, the Yellowjackets) plus more contemporary developments from the worlds of hip hop and electronic music. To Mahanthappa everything is fair game- “from Gregorian Chant to Lady Gaga” as he puts it. The saxophonist was lucky enough to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue these varying musical paths and the result is an album that brings these seemingly disparate strands together as a coherent and invariably thrilling whole. The title is well chosen, “Samdhi” is the Sanskrit word for twilight and is an apt description for the way he blurs the boundaries between the various musical genres that have influenced him. The instrumentation features the leader on alto sax and electronics, David Gilmore on electric guitar, electric bass specialist Rich Brown plus the twin percussive attack of Damion Reed on kit drums and “Anand” Anantha Krishnan on mridangam and kanjira. This unique line up brings together elements of jazz, rock and Indian music in a highly distinctive fashion.

Mahanthappa has channelled his writing into twelve relatively brief items, some of them little more than vignettes, and the improvising is, in the main tight and focussed. The longer pieces give the musicians greater room to stretch out and there are some brilliant individual contributions within the distinctive group sound. “Parakram # 1” acts as a kind of overture with Mahanthappa’s shenai like alto cutting sharply through the surrounding electronic soundwash like an Indian Jan Garbarek.

Mahanthappa first explored his Indian heritage on the 2008 album “Kinsmen” when he worked with the Carnatic saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath as part of the Dkshina Ensemble. A later visit to a Carnatic music festival in Chennai, India involved further immersion in Carnatic (or South Indian) music and the fruits of these labours can be heard on the following “Killer” which adds the percussion of Krishnan for the first time. The obviously Indian elements that Mahanthappa and Krishnan bring to the band are balanced by Gilmore’s rock influenced guitar and Brown’s buoyant electric bass with Reid’s kit drums complementing Krishnan superbly. The two percussionists link up seamlessly throughout the album as emphasised on the later all percussion item “Meeting Of The Skins”. The surging “Killer” features the leader’s mercurial alto, a wonderful blend of Carnatic and bebop influences plus Gilmore’s guitar, lithe and intelligent above a backdrop of exotic percussion.
Mahanthappa and Gilmore also enter into a thrilling exchange of phrases on this high octane piece that really throws down the gauntlet for the rest of the album. 

“Richard’s Game” is the first of the “vignettes”, a solo electric bass feature for the Toronto based Rich Brown, a musician who has also played with a Canadian Indo-jazz band. It’s a melodic improvisation in the spirit of Jaco Pastorius with Brown affecting an almost guitar like sound. The piece provides a gateway into the following “Playing With Stones”, one of the album’s lengthier and more through composed numbers, a piece that previously appeared on “Apex”, Mahanthappa’s 2010 album recorded with fellow saxophonist Bunky Green. The opening Indian inspired melody evolves into a more jazz inspired passage featuring Mahanthappa’s horn and with Gilmore’s guitar providing an element of abstraction. Brown’s bass groove provides the backdrop for Krishnan’s percussion feature before the initial melody re-emerges.

“Rune” is a solo feature for Gilmore with the guitarist gently layering his sound via the judicious use of effects. Again the piece is a precursor for the following item, the boppish “Breakfastlunchanddinner"with its scintillating sax and guitar exchanges plus a thrilling rock influenced solo from Gilmore. Bassist Brown also gets another chance to demonstrate his chops again with an effortlessly funky solo and the two percussionists also feature strongly.

“Parakram # 2” represents Mahanthappa’s excursion into the world of electronica with its live saxophone looping and synthesised drum beats. It could have ended up sounding a mess but is actually highly effective. Once again the piece provides an appropriate introduction for the following item “Ahhh”, another convincing mix of jazz harmonies and Indian structures and rhythms with Gilmore’s wonderfully fluent solo taking flight in the middle. Elsewhere Brown’s percolating bass groove and the busy chatter of the two drummers provides the taking off point for a fiery Mahanthappa solo that once again sees the saxophonist electronically treating his sound.

“Meeting Of The Skins” represents the long awaited face off between the two percussionists, a fiery duel between Reid on kit drums and Krishnan on the double headed frame drum the mridangam and the South Indian tambourine or kanjira. Elsewhere the two percussionists combine brilliantly, their colourful rhythmic interplay adding much to the album as a whole. As on the earlier bass and guitar cameos the composition credit is given to the protagonists suggesting that all three of these solo interludes were fully improvised.

“Still-Gas” is powered by Brown’s infectious bass groove and features some of Mahanthappa’s most incisive playing plus another powerful solo from former M Base guitarist Gilmore, all enhanced by the ebullient work of the twin percussionists. It’s a real nod to the funk and fusion of Mahanthappa’s youth yet still acknowledges his current identity.

The final two pieces are thematically linked with the brief multiphonic solo saxophone piece “For My Lady” seguing into the sumptuous slow burning electric ballad “For All The Ladies”. It’s very different in feel to the rest of the record and a beautiful way to end a very good, if sometimes rather intense album.

Mahanthappa has been exploring his cultural heritage on record for some time now. I’ll admit that I’ve not heard much of his previous output but “Samdhi” suggests that I should start taking a serious look at his back catalogue. This new album brings his various influences together in stimulating fashion and is a highly distinctive and personal statement, full of innovative, imaginative writing , musical colour and with some brilliant musicianship all round. It almost seems invidious to pick out individuals but it has to be said that Gilmore is particularly impressive.

It’s “fusion” in several different senses of the word and suggests that the much maligned “f word” should be looked at in a new light. 

   

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