A touch of India at Panama Jazz Festival

The Jazz Scene with Ken Grady

RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA is a Jazz alto sax player and composer of Indian lineage. You can catch his style at the 2016 Panama Jazz Festival in January. He became hooked on Jazz after hearing a Charlie Parker recording when he was in  sixth grade.

Mahanthappa’s new release, Bird Calls, is a tribute to Parker, and has earned him the Downbeat Critics Poll for, Album of the Year, Alto Saxophonist of the Year, and Rising Composer of the Year. Rudresh has a dozen releases to his credit.

I’m the kind of Jazz head that is always looking for new, eclectic works from all over the world. I have been steeped in American Jazz since I was 8. As I have matured as a Jazz fan, I found that some of my favorite artists come from outside the US. So, it was no surprise that Mahanthappa caught my attention about 10 years ago.

The integration of Jazz and rhythms from India is not new. The collaboration of John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar in the early 60’s was the catalyst for the “experiment”of Indian influences added to Jazz improvisation. The Shankar connection was so important to Coltrane that he named his son, Ravi, after Shankar.

Rudresh Mahanthappa is of Indian descent,. But, he was actually born in Italy, not India, and grew up in Colorado. His early musical influence was legendary Indian sax player, Dr. Kadri  Golpalnat. Rudresh was inspired early on by Dr. Golapanath’s use of a western instrument in melding progressive Jazz with Southern Indian classical music. In 1992 Mahanthappa graduated from Berklee College of Music. Before moving to New York in 1998, he received his master of fine arts degree in jazz composition from Chicago’s DePaul University.

In New York, Rudresh worked with pianist, Vijay Iyer on several projects. His talents have placed him among the elite in the New York Jazz scene.

I got hip to Mahanthappa in 2004, while working at Jazz stations in America. At that time he had released 2 albums, Kinsmen (PI Recordings Label) and Apti (Innova Label). I immediately became a fan. 

On the new release, Bird Calls (ARC+Music Vision label), there are actually no Charlie Parker tunes. Rather, in an interview with NPR’s Arun Rath, Rudresh explains,“…each composition is based on a particular Parker song or solo. Really, I feel like the best way we can pay tribute to Parker is to show what we have learned from him, not so much play his music”. He continues, “in hearing these snippets out of context, they sounded more like classical music, or even elements of something funk-like, just modern. And, it struck me that maybe there was more to Charlie Parker than I had previously thought”.

As a leader, co-leader and sideman, Rudresh has worked with Clark Terry, The Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet, Jack DeJohnette, Danilo Perez, and many other notables.

The new Mahanthappa release, Bird Calls, on ARC+Music Vision, feartures Adam O’Farrill(tr), Matt Mitchell(p), Francois Moutin(Bs), Rudy Royston(dr). In addition to his appearance at the 2016 PJF you can discover more by going to: rudreshm.com.

Other notables appearing at the upcoming festivalinclude Panamanian piano icon, Randy Westin. More on Randy Westin’s life and career in a future article.