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Gamak

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Gamak

Price: € 22.95
Format: CD
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427953728
Catnr: ACT 95372
Release date: 07 January 2013
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Label
ACT music
UPC
0614427953728
Catalogue number
ACT 95372
Release date
07 January 2013

""Grabbing globalization of music traditions. It occasionally leads up, to a back to the future feeling""

Jazzmozaiek, 09-8-2013
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Artist(s)
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About the album

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.

On his new ACT release, Gamak, Mahanthappa continues that multi-directional evolution with a bold, striking set of music that melds leading-edge jazz with innovative reinterpretations of traditional Indian and Middle Eastern approaches, shot through with an electric jolt of prog-rock complexity. Just as his personal experience is never wholly lived on one side of the hyphenate or the other, his music speaks in a voice dedicated to forging a new path forward.

Gamak, Mahanthappa’s thirteenth album as leader or co-leader, marks the debut of a new band that is both a reprise and a reinvention. The album reunites the saxophonist with bassist François Moutin and drummer Dan Weiss, the rhythm section from his long-running quartet, which was last recorded for the 2006 album, Codebook. “Dave has checked out so much music,” Mahanthappa says of Fiuczynski. “A lot of eastern music, whether it’s Chinese or Indian or Arabic, and a lot of 20th and 21st century classical music. Not to mention that he has this rock/punk aesthetic that’s evident in his band the Screaming Headless Torsos. And Dan and Francois come from a really wide perspective as well. Dan is just as much into Rush as he is Max Roach or Zakir Hussain. So I knew those guys were going to really bring this stuff to life.”

The album kicks off with the wiry prog-rock tension of “Waiting Is Forbidden” and ends with the hurtling punk screamer “Majesty of the Blues.” Fiuczynski is at his slipperiest on “Aboghi,” based on a raga that Mahanthappa describes as “one of the rare ragas that’s treated in very similar ways in both North and South India.” In the quartet’s interpretation, it’s transformed into a rubbery, feel-good boogaloo. Gamak as recorded ten years after Mahanthappa’s breakthrough sophomore release, Black Water, which he revisits directly and indirectly on two tracks. “Are There Clouds In India” was originally recorded on that album, and recently arranged for big band by Jim McNeely, which revived Mahanthappa’s own interest in the piece. “We’ll Make More” is a new piece built upon the same raga and beat cycle as “Balancing Act," the opening track from Black Water.

“Waiting Is Forbidden” came from a piece in the Brooklyn Museum, while “Wrathful Wisdom” is a concept from Buddhist philosophy. The piece to which it’s attached is one of Mahanthappa’s most challenging inventions, requiring awkward, counterintuitive alternate fingerings.

Despite the depth and breadth of his influences and his restless imagination, one thing which Mahanthappa has managed to do throughout his career is remember to “Stay I.” It’s a lesson that has continually resulted in strikingly individual statements, and Gamak is certainly no exception.

Artist(s)

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Guggenheim fellow and 2009 Downbeat International Critics Poll Winner ('Rising Star-Jazz Artist' and 'Rising Star-Alto Saxophone') Rudresh Mahanthappa is one of the most innovative young musicians and composers in jazz today. Named Alto Saxophonist of the Year for 2010 and 2009 by the Jazz Journalist Association, Rudresh has incorporated the culture of his Indian ancestry and has fused myriad influences to create a truly groundbreaking artistic vision.   As a performer, he leads/co-leads seven groups to critical acclaim. His recent release for Pi Recordings Kinsmen featuring Carnatic saxophone legend Kadri Gopalnath (September 25, 2008) was named one of the Top Jazz CDs of 2008 by over 20 news sources including the New...
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Guggenheim fellow and 2009 Downbeat International Critics Poll Winner ("Rising Star-Jazz Artist" and "Rising Star-Alto Saxophone") Rudresh Mahanthappa is one of the most innovative young musicians and composers in jazz today. Named Alto Saxophonist of the Year for 2010 and 2009 by the Jazz Journalist Association, Rudresh has incorporated the culture of his Indian ancestry and has fused myriad influences to create a truly groundbreaking artistic vision. As a performer, he leads/co-leads seven groups to critical acclaim. His recent release for Pi Recordings Kinsmen featuring Carnatic saxophone legend Kadri Gopalnath (September 25, 2008) was named one of the Top Jazz CDs of 2008 by over 20 news sources including the New York Times, NPR, BBC, Boston Globe, slate.com, JazzTimes, and the Village Voice to name just a few. His previous quartet release for Pi release Codebook (September 26, 2006) was named one of the Top Jazz Albums of 2006 by The Village Voice, Jazztimes, and The Denver Post and received rave reviews from Downbeat, wired.com and Science Magazine. In Europe, Codebook received the esteemed “CHOC DE L'ANNÉE” (album of the year) for 2007 in France’s Jazzman, 4 stars in the UK’s Jazzwise, and received the “Bollino di Marzo” from Italy’s Musica Jazz. As a saxophonist, Mahanthappa has achieved international recognition performing regularly at jazz festivals and clubs worldwide. As a composer, Rudresh has received commission grants from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, and the New York State Council on the Arts to develop new work. Mahanthappa holds a Bachelors of Music Degree in jazz performance from Berklee College of Music and a Masters of Music degree in jazz composition from Chicago's DePaul University. Rudresh Mahanthappa currently lives in New York where he is clearly regarded as an important and influential voice in the jazz world. Rudresh K. Mahanthappa uses Vandoren reeds exclusively. Mahanthappa is also a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow.
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Composer(s)

Press

"Grabbing globalization of music traditions. It occasionally leads up, to a back to the future feeling"
Jazzmozaiek, 09-8-2013

Their ensemble is remarkable. In the staggering grooves they manage to play their pace changing rhythmic cycles in unisono. This mutual ratification leads to Carnatic jazz melodies that have rarely sounded so convincing in fusion music.
De Volkskrant, 22-3-2013

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