- Jimmy Katz
- Rudresh Mahanthappa
Like so many of today’s most interesting jazz musicians, the saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa regularly creates disparate contexts, hybrids, and concepts to develop new music. The son of Indian immigrants, he’s explored the music of the subcontinent in multiple environments: some have been explicit, such as the remarkable 2008 album Kinsmen (Pi), where he collaborated with the Indian classical-music saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath; others have been more subtle and integrated, such as the 2006 duets collection Raw Materials (Savoy) he made with pianist and fellow Indian-American Vijay Iyer. On other records he’s developed his compositions around cryptology and number theory (Codebook [Pi]), while yet another celebrated one of his mentors and musical heroes—the saxophonist Bunky Green.
Below you can hear the track “Chillin’”—a piece based on “Relaxin’ at Camarillo”—where fragments of the original are woven into the new piece (with a request from the composer to intersperse ideas from the Parker tune into individual improvisations as well).
