Search - Rudresh Mahanthappa :: Yatra

This is burning.

John C. Lynch | Chapel Hill, NC United States | 11/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not the sort of album where a young lion tries to convince you that they are well versed in all the various styles, and the history, of jazz. Rather, this album is created from a singular voice and vision. This is not to say that Rudresh has not studied the masters -- he clearly has. But Rudi's sound is all is own. His technique is burning. His tunes are indsidiously infective. His ideas are endless. His sound is huge and confident. He is compared to Ornette and to Coltrane and to Steve Coleman and to Bird, but I don't think he sounds like any of those guys. He sounds like Alan Holdsworth on saxophone. Or if Tony Williams played saxaphone, he'd probably sound a lot like Rudi. Burning. Definitely burning. And I'm not just saying that because he's my friend. But someone had to review this great disc.Check it out. And check out ......END"

Very much worth seeking out.

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 12/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a recording session that took place in June of 1994. Besides Rudresh Mahanthappa on the alto, it features Larry Kohut on the acoustic bass and Jerry Steinhilber on the drums. Jim Trompeter sits in on the piano for tracks 1 and 2 while Ryan Schultz adds bottom on bass trumpet on tracks 3 and 7.
Rudresh Mahanthappa has studied with Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano and Steve Coleman and more recently has been in Vijay Iyer's group.
He plays wonderfully on this album. He shows various influences such as Eric Dolphy, Ornette and Steve Coleman (thus the title to tune 7) and maybe Ken McIntyre (to my ears, track 6). He is also very much his own man with a sly and slippery sense of time. It is just that it is obvious that he loves the tradition of alto sax in jazz. Everyone else on the CD also came to play. I particularly like Larry Kohut's bass sound- a very strong presence particularly in the trio performances.
There are so many truely excellent musicians out there plying their trade that it is sometime a daunting choice to know which one to support with your purchase or to devote your listening time to. It may take you a while to find this disc. It is worth the effort. Mr. Mahanthappa is a peer in a great generation of alto players- he is right up there with Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, Kenny Garrett, Marty Ehrlich and Ned Rothenberg."