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Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mother Tongue


Nate Dorward

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An interesting one, on Pi.

Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto sax

Vijay Iyer, piano

Francois Moutin, bass

Elliot Humberto Kavee, drums

1) "The Preserver". This has the burning crying-in-the-wilderness quality of a Coltrane uptempo modal piece circa 1965 ("One Up One Down", "After the Crescent", e.g.) filtered through Osby/S. Coleman. Rhythmically it's something else again, alternating between a blurred-motion rhythmic cycle which I can't count at all & a more down-to-earth rocking-three feel. The theme itself's like a short fuse to a big firecracker.

2) "English", the first of the tracks based on transcribed speech. A mean funk number, though again I can't really count it. The tune itself, like all the pieces based on transcriptions, is more like a transmission than a tune, happening within a narrow band with a lot of repeated notes, rather like pulses along fibreoptic cables. As with all the pieces on the album there's no obvious "alto solo / piano solo / bass solo / drum solo" structure--entries and exits aren't what this music's about, they're all unmarked. The tune is all about ominous holding-back, & then there's a transitional section to something that's more unhinged but actually almost a relief after all that buildup.... Tight alto + rhythm & Iyar's piano is wriggling edge-of-hysteria inkspill stuff.

3) "Kannada", out-of-a-trance slow piece, the bass almost tunelessly stalking around, the alto & piano like chimes. Mahanthappa lays down (very briefly) some intricate false-trail saxophone in the spirit of Coleman/Osby (I can't follow these lines with the ear): a deliberately "unnatural" sound with little relationship to singable melody, so that you feel you'd have to slow it down & transcribe it to actually follow it. That's not a criticism, it's just a comment on style. Even with Braxton I could actually sing you back phrases after hearing a solo but with this kind of playing it kind of overloads my senses & makes me lose my bearing--there's something very odd & slippery about it. Anyone get this feeling listening to this stuff (e.g. to Osby)?

4) "Gujarati". Like several tracks here it starts with a laconic intro by Mahanthappa--in fact so short (three notes) that rather than easing you in it actually unsettles you further as you're not expecting it to be so short. This tune has wider intervals than the previous two--I don't know Gujarati but I take it this reflects something of the different sound of the language. This is a plangent, baleful, slightly neurotic piece & again the improvs come almost as a relief....! This is the first extended feature for the leader, broken in two by a dancing figure that he can join in at will. The doubletime lines come so on-the-beat it's almost bruising. Iyer is quite lightfingered & cools things off, the first moment on the album to suggest whimsicalness (temporarily!)

5) "Telugu", again baleful but this time rather langorous; Iyer's comping is almost sensuous. A waltz-time section with a pop-music feel (makes me think of Hendrix or the Beatles--the chords are a little like a passage in "A Day in the Life" I think). Iyer's solo, though has a monstrous, bumpy quality, all dark protuberent bass & crumpled funky bits. He's got the "Jason Moran run" (did Moran invent it? who?)--the blithe glittering offhand zip up the keyboard. Mahanthappa keeps to more of a "swing" feel rather than the insane unfollowable doubletime lines elsewhere on the disc.

6) "Circus", which is the 2nd tune on the album not based on transcription, & it's like a breath of fresh air, much the happiest-sounding thing on the disc, with a softly rising/falling feel to the chord changes.

will write more later... (there are 10 tracks)

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Round 2--

7) "Konkani"--a hustling bassline, a one-chord jam. That kind of strange "dead" repetitive melody (we're back with the transcriptions)--not, I think, one of the better tunes on here, but it's only 2:40...

8) "Tamil" begins with a slow, complex call-&-response theme rather than the twiddling bands of notes typical of the other tracks. A broken-down Iyer solo over the widely-spaced accompaniment.

9) "Malayalam": an almost hectoring tune pitched high. A daisychain of solo, & the most striking moment comes when Iyer on his 2nd solo responds to Mahanthappa's frenzy with a laconic & almost serene solo, & I get the impression that the track works backwards from this point to a kind of calm, & the head is noticeably less strained.

10) "Change of Perspective": a surprise: a lovely a cappella alto solo at the start which is straight out of Dolphy's "Tenderly" at points (the fluent arppeggios). It's a little sweeter & more--sentimental, even--than I'd expect from Mahanthappa, & the tune itself is dreamy & major-key, a softly undulating theme that reminds me of the ending track on Iyer's Panoptic Modes, or even one of Pharoah Sanders' beatific moments. It gradually gathers urgency & force--this is the longer track on the disc, nearly 8 minutes--& discharges itself (like lightning) in a whirling-dervish theme. (Couldn't keep away from the abyss too long.....) When the slow theme returns at the end Mahanthappa's tone reminds me a lot of one of Charles Lloyd's ethnic-instrument performances at one point.

There's a bonus track: an audio collage of all the taped speech used for the basis of 7 tunes: I think the "English" extract is Mahanthappa's own voice, actually.

Final thoughts: it's a very good disc. As with Coltrane or certain other musicians (Steve Coleman e.g.), you could fault it for a lack of humour: it's a very insistent disc. & I actually like the 3 ordinarily composed tracks best--though this isn't to criticize the others, just to note that the non-musical nature of the sources of the transcribed-speech tracks does make them seem kind of similar despite the ingenious variations of rhythms & harmonizations & so forth. I haven't heard Black Water, & should obviously get a hold of it.

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I really really really like this CD. I am always spinning it on www.wrct.org, the station I dj for. He really doesn't like to include liner notes. So there is minimal info on each CD. But his sound is so powerful and the ideas just flow. It's not as amazing as Black Water cuz that was my first time hearing him, so I'm a little bit more used to his approach now. But it's still really good, intelligent, soulful music.

I don't really care for the bonus track with all the languages overdubbed. Jason Moran did a much better job with this but I think we'll be seeing a lot of this type of stuff in the future.

Matt

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Is it just me, or do you all detect a strong M-Base flavor to this music?

There are also times when Mahanthappa's playing in particular calls to mind konakkol, sort of the Carnatic tradition's version of solfeggio; konakkol however being much more about rhythm than scale (melody).

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Is it just me, or do you all detect a strong M-Base flavor to this music?

No, it's not just you.

So, is it just us? :g:g:g

Seriously, it's heartening to hear that that whole thing is beginning to seep its way out of its own little world and infiltrate others' little worlds. It should, and I've been hoping that it will. There's much meat there, even if not all the records bring it fully to the table.

Edited by JSngry
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Yes, I've got Blood Sutra--terrific disc. It's not as strange & perverse as Mother Tongue, but if anything it's hotter: the version of "Hey Joe" is quite apocalyptic.

Incidentally I came across a mention on the web of an unreleased album by Mahanthappa, The Preserver--I take it that must be the source of some or all of the three tunes on Mother Tongue that aren't based on transcribed speech.

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This thread and his web site made me decide to pick up a copy this afternoon and I'm glad I did. I'm on track 6, this is going to get quite a few spins this weekend. :tup

I can see myself picking up his other disks and his sideman gigs with Vijay Iyer real soon too.

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Glad you liked it!

Just got a reply to my query from Mahanthappa about the 3 tunes on the disc not from the Mother Tongue project--he says

The Preserver was my quartet with guitarist

Liberty Ellman instead if Vijay.  Even though it never got released, I

continued to play those tunes with both my quartet and an electric band

called Saturn Returns (myself, David Gilmore, James Hurt, François Moutin,

and Derrek Phillips).  You can hear an mp3 of the latter on my website if

you click on projects.

The Preserver and Change of Perspective on Mother Tongue are tunes left over

from that time.

Circus was actually originally written more recently for Dual Identity which

refers to any group that Steve Lehman and I co-lead.  I like that one a lot,

for it's kind of like my take on Steps Ahead or Michael Brecker.  Music that

inspired me to play when I was much younger.  My wife loves it!

Interesting--would be great to hear those bands. A friend tells me Lehman's a guy to check out, esp. the new one on FSNT.

It's a shame The Preserver hasn't been issued yet--I hope some enterprising label picks it up.

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Glad you liked it!

Just got a reply to my query from Mahanthappa about the 3 tunes on the disc not from the Mother Tongue project--he says

The Preserver was my quartet with guitarist

Liberty Ellman instead if Vijay.  Even though it never got released, I

continued to play those tunes with both my quartet and an electric band

called Saturn Returns (myself, David Gilmore, James Hurt, François Moutin,

and Derrek Phillips).  You can hear an mp3 of the latter on my website if

you click on projects.

The Preserver and Change of Perspective on Mother Tongue are tunes left over

from that time.

Circus was actually originally written more recently for Dual Identity which

refers to any group that Steve Lehman and I co-lead.  I like that one a lot,

for it's kind of like my take on Steps Ahead or Michael Brecker.  Music that

inspired me to play when I was much younger.  My wife loves it!

Interesting--would be great to hear those bands. A friend tells me Lehman's a guy to check out, esp. the new one on FSNT.

It's a shame The Preserver hasn't been issued yet--I hope some enterprising label picks it up.

We should get him to join the Org Board. He's obviously computer-savvy. Hopefully Pi will release all his old records - it's just a matter of getting the rights. I think Mother Tongue came out too late in the year to make "best of 2004" lists. Am I wrong?

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Yes the disc came out too late for virtually all published best-of-2004 lists: most journals require the lists to be submitted in early November. I think I sent my two lists (for Coda & Cadence) on Nov 6th.

You can order Pi discs through Cadence (www.cadencebuilding.com) or just through Amazon. Or direct from them at the Pi website.

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Rudresh's "Black Water", on Red Giant Records, is at least as good. More jazzy and I like the compositions better, on the whole. Also, the drums are not mixed as up front, in your face, as they are on "Mother Tongue" and Kavee plays with a bit more restraint. Rudresh was definitely in good form on the day this was recorded. Even so, I really enjoy "Mother Tongue" too.

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Is it just me, or do you all detect a strong M-Base flavor to this music? 

Keep in mind that the pianist, Vijay Iyer, spent some time playing with Steve Coleman and I also believe Mahanthappa has some form of relatioship with him as well.

Steve Coleman, M-Base, and Music Collectivism

Vijay Iyer

here

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