Rudresh Mahanthappa One Sheet

BIRD
RUDRESH
CALLS
MAHANTHAPPA
“The concept here is so inspired, the playing so
incendiary that five stars might not be enough...
Breathtakingly brilliant.” THE ABSOLUTE SOUND
“A strong new record by a strong new quintet… The album’s premise
neatly erases itself, which proves something important: that Parker as
sound or energy or strategy may be all-important for Mr. Mahanthappa,
but the copyrightable or memorizable parts of his music are beside the
point.” THE NEW YORK TIMES
With “Bird Calls,” RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA creates a contemporary view on one of the primal fathers of modern jazz:
Charlie “Bird” Parker. In an intelligent and complex way Mahanthappa uses influences of Parker’s creative work in order
to create a foundation for his own compositions and improvisations. “This project is not a tribute to Charlie Parker. It is
a blissful devotion to a man who made so much possible,” noted Rudresh. As the Village Voice described it, “For Mahanthappa — who has long found inspiration in juxtapositions of global musics — Parker represents an approach, a
freedom, and a logic, rather than a sound to imitate. You’ll hear worlds on’Bird Calls’, rather than the usual run-throughs
of ‘Salt Peanuts’...If any New York night sounded better this year, we didn’t hear it.”
MUSIC WORKS INTERNATIONAL
Katherine McVicker
[email protected] Tel: +01 781 300 7580 Fax: +01 781 942 8858 www.musicworksinternational.com
DownBeat Magazine #1 Album of the Year;
#1 Alto Saxophonist; #1 Rising Star Composer –
International Critics Poll 2015
The Village Voice Best Jazz Artist 2015
NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll - #1
Taintradio.org “Jubilation” at #1
The New York Times (Nate Chinen) - #6
JazzTimes Critic’s Pics #3
That Gene Seymour Jazz Blog - #5
“BEST OF THE YEAR” LISTS:
Chicago Tribune - #1
iTunes
New York City Jazz Record
The Arts Fuse/Boston
Huffington Post
Popmatters
Allaboutjazz.com
Jazzwise (UK)
Birdistheworm.com - #2
Few musicians share the ability of saxophonist/composer RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA to so fully embody the expansive
possibilities of his music and his culture. Jazz is unparalleled in its ability to absorb other styles and genres and emerge
with a new form still recognizably jazz, just as its country of origin, America, is unique in encompassing so many people
with deep roots in all corners of the world who can still be called American. Mahanthappa has eloquently expressed both
of those concepts throughout his singular career, which has seen him emerge as one of modern jazz’s most visionary
composers while pursuing a deeply personal and individual approach.
His success has been recognized by giants in both jazz and South Indian music. Most recently, Mahanthappa was asked
to join the working group of legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette. He has been awarded with a Guggenheim Fellowship,
a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Chamber
Music America and the American Composers Forum. He has been named alto saxophonist of the year three years running in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics Polls (2011-2013) and for FIVE years running by the Jazz Journalists’
Association (2009-2013). In April 2013, he received a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, one of the most prominent
arts awards in the world.
These impressive accolades, as well as critical praise from such influential outlets as NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the
Village Voice and the New Yorker, spotlight Mahanthappa’s growing role as a pioneer in the contemporary jazz world.
His early years growing up in Colorado, his studies at Berklee College of Music and DePaul University, and his staggering
wealth of experiences playing alongside elders and contemporary masters from a number of musical disciplines, are
all refracted into his stunning and still-evolving body of work.
RUDRESH MAHATHAPPA on MWI.COM  | RUDRESHM.COM  | MINIDOCUMENTARY 
MUSIC WORKS INTERNATIONAL
Katherine McVicker
[email protected] Tel: +01 781 300 7580 Fax: +01 781 942 8858 www.musicworksinternational.com