I didn't get to see Rudresh Mahanthappa's rad set with Bunky Green at Newport a couple of weeks ago – I left early Sunday after suffering enough of the wet weather – but from what I heard on the radio while driving back to NYC, he absolutely killed it.
So, when I heard Rudresh was appearing tonight at the Brooklyn Museum with his Indo-Pak Coalition- part of WBGO's ongoing BrooklyNites Jazz series – I hightailed it over. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was excited that this particular gig was in Brooklyn.
"I can't tell you how great it is to be playing a show four blocks from my house," Rudresh said.
Rudresh, who won a Guggenheim Fellowship last year, played his alto with ferocious energy, fusing the raga-like rhythms of Indian classical music with ecstatic, high-flying jazz. Joining him were Rez Abassi on electric guitar and percussionist Dan Weiss, who switched seamlessly between tabla and a small drumkit. Everyone played like hell.
The trio played two sets, closing with "I.T.T." named after the India Institute of Technology, which is apparently so demanding and difficult to get into that it makes M.I.T. look like Arizona State. Over a machine-like meter, Rudresh blew like mad, his ideas flowing fast and furious. For all the consternation surrounding India's "brain drain" to the U.S., this is one particular intellect we should fight to keep.More pics on the photo page.