Dec 22 2017
Best of 2017 #33: Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition – “Agrima” (Self-Produced)
It’s been rewarding and more than a bit fascinating to witness the transformation of the music of Rudresh Mahanthappa. Indian music and NYC jazz isn’t a typical match of influences, and yet with his 2017 release Agrima, it’s as if the saxophonist has achieved a certain normalcy of presentation, to the point where an unconventional sound is as embraceable as taking your next breath. The core of Agrima is Indian music, sometimes as a melodic influence and other times imposing its will upon a piece rhythmically. But the house of the album is built with the raw materials of an indie-rock edge and contemporary grooves and electronic effects, and it’s why Agrima sits plumb with previous Mahanthappa recordings while also representing something new.
It’s been nearly ten years since Mahanthappa’s last recording with the Indo-Pak Coalition of guitarist Rez Abbasi and drummer-percussionist Dan Weiss, but the daylight that separates 2008’s Apti and 2017’s Agrima could fuel an entire season of summer. If anything, Mahanthappa’s 2011 release Samdhi should be singled out as the precursor to Agrima‘s effortless display of casual virtuosity. Abbasi’s nuanced shifting of intensities on guitar is the perfect complement to the addictive chatter when Weiss switches over to tabla, and how the trio adds additional textures with varying degrees of electronic effects is a wash of color that adds vibrancy everywhere it touches down.
Everything about this album is wonderful. And what it says about Mahanthappa’s willingness to refuse to sit still is promising as hell.
Music from Brooklyn, NY.
Read more at Bird is the Worm.
The Web Web quartet references the classic Strata East label in the liner notes for Oracle, and it’s more than just a haphazard shout-out. Running through the blood of pianist Roberto Di Gioia, saxophonist Tony Lakatos, bassist Christian von Kaphengst and drummer Peter Gall are those times when hard bop ceded ground to spiritual jazz and avant-garde, where a thick groove and a thicker melody might begin with the blues, but likely won’t end there, and where a sense of song structure is just kindling for a wild conflagration. 1970s jazz too often gets associated with divergences into more saccharine forms of music and production. The seventies were a magical time for creative reinvention of jazz forms, where the pain of the blues and the joy of the soul came together in vivid imagery and volatile motion. Oracle celebrates those times and keeps them in fashion in the present day… both are excellent reasons to raise a glass and toast this supremely enjoyable recording.
The motion of the music is tango and tropanka, waltz and twist, foot taps and head bops and long slow dances with someone held close. It’s music from Argentina and Mexico and the Balkans and NYC to the north and Tuscon to the south. This music is the salt of the earth and the story of the roots. It’s a joyful form of folk music, and Peregrino serves it up like a stiff drink of euphoria. La Pingo’s Orquesta folds all of those influences along lines of motion until it resembles the shape of their sound. That this music can be so varied and yet so coherent and distinct is pretty amazing in its own right. But that the intelligence of its construction is made secondary to an abounding sense of fun is why this is a must-have recording, and why it’s one of the best things to hit the shelves in 2017.
Tracing the emerging patterns of a Marta Sánchez melody is like attempting to map out the shapes of a kaleidoscope. The changes of tone, texture and shape create a series of unexpected discoveries, sometimes startling and sometimes sublime. But that she goes through these thrilling permutations and then hits a landing spot that wraps everything up nicely is what clinches her 2017 release Danza Imposible as something special. It’s a wonderful follow-up to her equally wonderful 2015 release Partenika, and a promising sign of the state of her music today and what might come next.
Dec 22 2017
Best of 2017 #32: MAP – “Guerra e Paz” (Porta Jazz)
Music from Portugal.
Read more about the album on Bird is the Worm.
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2017 • 0 • Tags: Jazz - Best of 2017, MAP, Paulo Gomes, Porta Jazz, Porto (Portugal)