Acclaimed Alto Saxophonist/Composer RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA Assembles New Quartet on Latest Album, “Gamak,” Available January 29 via ACT Music

Tags

Act Music, Composer, Dan Weiss, David Fiuczynski, DL Media, Francois Moutin, Producer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophonist, South Indian music

Rudresh Mahanthappa, GAMAK

Thirteenth Album Continues Mahanthappa’s
Multi-Directional Evolution as a Leader

Project Focuses on New Approaches to Synthesizing
Western and Non-Western Musical Forms & Concepts

“[one] of the finest saxophonists going . . . jaw-dropping” – Pitchfork

“…a tornado of a saxophonist and a jazz composer who has never limited himself by that descriptor.” – NPR “A Blog Supreme”

“a leading figure in innovative jazz circles . . . jazz improvisation of a global kind, as universal in its appeal as it was international in its inspiration” – Chicago Tribune

Stream Tracks From Gamak

The idea of hybridity has been central to the music of alto saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa throughout his career. Most prominent, of course, has been his highly original fusion of east and west, jazz mixed with the sounds of his Indian heritage. But that’s too easy and linear a depiction of this open-eared and inventive composer, who has absorbed an enormous variety of music into his thinking and amalgamated it into a singular vision.

Rez Abbasi -][- Suno Suno [ENJA RECORDS, 2011]

Tags

Guitar, Jazz, Rez Abbasi, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer

Rez Abbasi, Suno Suno

Rez Abbasi -][- Suno Suno [ENJA RECORDS, 2011]

[Biography] – Born in Karachi, Pakistan, removed at the age of four to relocate to Southern California, schooled at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music in jazz and classical music, as well as a pilgrimage in India under the tutorial of master percussionist, Ustad Alla Rakha, Rez Abbasi is a vivid synthesis of all the above stated influences and genres.

Making New York home for the past 18 years, Abbasi has developed a unique sound both as a composer and an instrumentalist and is considered by many to be one of the foremost modern jazz guitar players the world over. He has honed his skills with performances through out Europe, Canada, the U.S., Mexico and India. He has performed and recorded with many jazz greats including, Grammy winner Ruth Brown, Peter Erskine, Kenny Werner, Barre Phillips, Tim Hagans, Marc Johnson, Billy Hart, Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith, Gary Thomas, Rick Margitza, Dave Douglas, DD Jackson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Tony Malaby, George Brooks, Pandit Ronu Majumdar, Pandit Kadri Gopalnath, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Marilyn Crispell, Greg Osby, Howard Levy and a host of others.

Rudresh Mahanthappa -][- CODEBOOK [Pi Recordings]

Tags

Jazz, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone

Rudresh Mahanthappa - CODEBOOK

Rudresh Mahanthappa -][- CODEBOOK -(MP3)- [Pi Recordings, 2006]

I will give my Cambridge neighbor below the benefit of the doubt that what he is saying is that he prefers the sounds of Stan Getz and Ben Webster (not Kenny G!) over that of Rudresh Mahanthappa. I love the sound of a lush, lyrical ballad but jazz doesn’t need another Stan Getz or Ben Webster. Rudresh and his current piano partner Vijay Iyer are creating and playing some real fresh music. They recently played at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Unfortunately for me it was sold out. Funny I would think that the new Contemporary Institure of Art would be a more appropriate setting than the drapery lined walls of the ISG Museum but it’s great that they are bringing cutting edge music to this jazz starved town.

Check out the track samples here on this CD as well as Mother Tongue, Blackwater and anything by Vijay Iyer (check out Vijay’s collaborations with Mike Ladd if your really open minded and like a challenge). This is not cacophonously challenging in the avant-garde sense such as Evan Parker (awesome as well!). This is powerful, driven, edgy stuff (Pardon the lame cliches but I am obviously not a musician, critic or a student of music). His tone really appeals to me as do his compositions. All I can say is more please! –Rooster | Amazon.com/Reviewer

..:: SOURCE: Amazon.com ::..

[Featured Album of The Week] … Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green -][- Apex

Tags

Bunky Green, Jazz, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone

Featured Album of the Week

Greetings my fellow jazz enthusiasts, I’m enthralled to return with two of the most influential and innovative voices in modern jazz … composer / saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green. With Apex, both artists combine their prolific voices to create a unique marriage that accentuates the energy, creativity and dexterity realized only through the soundscape of where global music meets jazz and how it accurately impacts those who truly love music. —Rob Young | The Urban Flux

Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green - Apex

Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green -][- Apex – [Pi. Recordings, 2010]

Apex is a blazing collaboration between alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green that puts on display a fifty-year continuum of state-of-the-art saxophone playing. Featuring the all-star band of Jason Moran on piano, François Moutin on bass and switching off on drums, the dynamic Damion Reid and the great Jack DeJohnette, Apex shines a much-deserved spotlight on Bunky Green, a hugely influential but under-recognized original in jazz.

Mahanthappa, a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow, is widely recognized as one of the most important jazz musicians today. At 39 years old, he has perennially been on the Down Beat Critics Poll as alto saxophonist and composer and has been named Alto Saxophonist of the Year the last two years by the Jazz Journalist Association. His prior release Kinsmen (Pi 28), which masterfully combined jazz with South Indian music, was named the runner-up album of the year in the Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll in 2008 and hailed as one of the top jazz albums of the year by numerous publications. Read more …

..:: Source: FULLY ALTERED MEDIA ::..

New Releases [Jazz] … for the Week of 9/28/2010

Tags

Bunky Green, Cassandra Wilson, Gospel Music, Jazz, Lizz Wright, New Releases, Paul Brown, Rudresh Mahanthappa

Releases”]

Greetings jazz aficionados, thanks for stopping by The Urban Flux at WordPress.com as I’m here along with you to explore the intricate sounds of stimulating and innovative jazz that awaits us on this massive canvas in cyberspace. With each visit you’ll discover a montage of new jazz releases featured that encompasses a generous diet of nuances which includes a wealth of complex and distinctive styles, textures, melodies, and rhythms exalted by a host of definitive and creative voices in the world of jazz.

New Jazz Releases this week at The Urban Flux:

New Releases for 9-28-2010

-))- Fellowship by Lizz Wright – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Love You Found Me by Paul Brown – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Playing The Piano by Ryuichi Sakamoto – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Apex (Dig) by Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Silver Pony by Cassandra Wilson – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- In Stride by Oregon – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Silent Movies (Dig) by Marc Ribot – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Ipsissimus by John Zorn – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Unknown Angels by Tony Grey – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Warriors by Cookers – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Introducing Triveni by Avishai Cohen – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Tango Jazz: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center by Paquito D’rivera – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Israeli Song by Eli Degibri – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Cosmo by Jesse Harris – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Boss Guitar by Wes Montgomery – (Audio CD – 2010) – Original recording remastered
-))- Talented Touch by Hank Jones – (Audio CD – 2010) – Import
-))- Clube Da Esquina by Milton Nascimento – (Vinyl – 2010)
-))- Porgy And Bess by Hank Jones – (Audio CD – 2010) – Import
-))- Uh Huh by Jazz Crusaders – (Audio CD – 2010) – Import
-))- Don’t Think Twice by Tamco – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- The Cusp by Robert Mitchell’s Panacea – (Audio CD – 2010)
-))- Radio Yonder by Mats Eilertsen – (Audio CD – 2010)

Visit Amazon.com, for more details about Imports, Vinyl, Soundtracks, and Re-issues.

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Flux Music [Jazz] Essentials … [Turner, Cohen, Glasper, Mahanthappa & Rosenwinkel]

Tags

Avishai Cohen Trio, Jazz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Robert Glasper, Rudresh Mahanthappa

Flux Music Essentials

Greeting’s jazz connoisseurs, I’m back with another intriguing palette of creative music from some of today’s most inspiring voices known and unknown coupled in the world of jazz.

Mark Turner - Ballad Session

Mark Turner -][- Ballad Session – [Warner Bros. 2000]

Tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, who at least in the photographs included in this CD bears a striking resemblance to the Indiana Pacers’ Reggie Miller, shows in this CD that he has the potential for being as big a star on the jazz circuit as Mr. Miller is in the NBA. Ballad Session features a crack lineup of Turner on tenor, Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar, Kevin Hays on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. The ballad selection is also sterling, starting off with Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy” and ranging over cuts such as Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark,” Paul Desmond’s “Late Lament,” and several others.

The musicians really seem to enjoy playing these classic tunes; Rosenwinkel deserves special mention, as he is able to blend perfectly into the texture of the music, never calling overt attention to himself, but adding immeasurably to the beauty of the sound. Brian Blade has a wonderful touch on the drums, so soft and sure and deft, and of course Turner himself sets the tone, playing with a tone at once caressing and confident, and always serving the music, never once seeming to be showing off. —Karl W. Nehring | Amazon.com

Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green -||- APEX [Pi Recordings]

Tags

Bunky Green, Jazz, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone

Alto Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa follows His Highly Acclaimed Kinsmen & Apti Releases With Apex, an Historic Collaboration with Fellow Alto Saxophonist Vernice ‘Bunky‘ Green

Also featuring Jack DeJohnette, Jason Moran,
Francois Moutin & Damion Reid

Apex Will Be Released September 28, 2010 on Pi Recordings

Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green - Apex

Apex is a blazing collaboration between alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green that puts on display a fifty-year continuum of state-of-the-art saxophone playing. Featuring the all-star band of Jason Moran on piano, François Moutin on bass and switching off on drums, the dynamic Damion Reid and the great Jack DeJohnette, Apex shines a much-deserved spotlight on Bunky Green, a hugely influential but under-recognized original in jazz.

Mahanthappa, a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow, is widely recognized as one of the most important jazz musicians today. At 39 years old, he has perennially been on the Down Beat Critics Poll as alto saxophonist and composer and has been named Alto Saxophonist of the Year the last two years by the Jazz Journalist Association. His prior release Kinsmen (Pi 28), which masterfully combined jazz with South Indian music, was named the runner-up album of the year in the Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll in 2008 and hailed as one of the top jazz albums of the year by numerous publications.