![]() The heat and space created by Mahanthappa's all-Eastern alto lines and Rez Abassi's single guitar notes are like being on a sailboat on the River Ganges at middday the wind is still and the sun pounds like a sledgehammer. Mahanthappa opens Kinsmen with "Introspection," a meditation that could be the soundtrack for a documentary on India. ![]() Given the quality of Gopalnath's performances, and the performances of the Indian musicians recruited to the Dakshina Ensemble, it's safe to say that common ground was found. Mahanthappa had to bring Gopalnath over that hurdle so he could find melodic possibilities within Mahanthappa's compositions that would fit the precepts of Gopalnath's musical frame of reference. Indian classical music is not like European classical music, in that there is no tradition of composing new works for the genre. He sought out Gopalnath a few years later the result is Kinsmen, and it is a dream on many levels. Far from laughing it off, Mahanthappa took it as proof that his dream could work. Mahanthappa's key arrived when his brother gave him a post-recital gag gift: A CD by legendary Indian musician Kadri Gopalnath called Saxophone Indian Style (Oriental, 1997). For Rudresh Mahanthappa, the door was his desire to meld the compositional and improvisatory esthetics of jazz and Indian classical music. ![]() ![]() It's hard to know what key will open a locked door. ![]()
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