REZ ABBASI - Unfiltered Universe
Whirlwind WR4713
Rez Abbasi - guitar; Rudresh Mahanthappa - alto sax; Vijay Iyer - piano; Johannes Weidenmuller - bass; Dan Weiss - drums; Elisabeth Mikhael - cello.
Rez Abbasi has been making waves as a formidable musician operating in a multicultural world where the sounds of the Indian subcontinent are freely blended with the jazz tradition of his adopted New York home. It’s no surprise that he’s joined here by the two other leading exponents of what you might call Indo-Jazz fusion, Iyer and Mahanthappa, whose regular drummer Dan Weiss is also present to handle the fiendishly complex metrical structures. Both Iyer and Maranthappa are international travellers who have roots in India’s southern states, and this album is infused with the intense, rhythmically exuberant tradition of Carnatic music. Unlike in Abbasi’s previous two albums, there is no attempt to introduce the distinctive sounds of South Asian instrumentation - instead, he uses the energy and concepts of Carnatic music as a foundation for this set of upbeat, intense, multi-layered jazz-rock. So the title track uses the kind of metric tricks and long, winding melodies of South India, with no trace of jazz vocabulary, juxtaposed with muscular soloing from Mahanthappa’s full-toned, brassy alto and Abbasi’s own guitar, which bears the imprint of John Abercrombie in it’s fluid, logical blend of abstraction and melody. ‘Unfiltered Universe’ has a solo by Iyer that almost approaches a hip New York piano trio sound before returning to the Mahavishnu Orchestra-like main theme. ‘Thoughts’ deploys electronic effects to evoke the keening, vocalised swoops typical of U Srinivas’ Carnatic mandolin before turning into a measured, ECM-style ensemble piece with faint echoes of Keith Jarret’s European Quartet. ‘Disagree To Agree’ has a full-on Indo-rock fusion vibe, as does with ‘Dance Number’, based on Carnatic dance steps, which shows off Abbasi’s fluid attack. Mikhael’s cello is used to bolster the ensemble parts, but she gets space to come to the fore with free-improv contributions on ‘Turn Of Events’ which also features a typically virtuosic tumbling solo from Iyer.
Overall this is intense, powerful music with a distinctive personality - Abbasi has succeeded in melding together the many extremely disparate traditions represented here into a coherent whole, with a unique vision well served by his extremely talented ensemble.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Whirlwind WR4713
Rez Abbasi - guitar; Rudresh Mahanthappa - alto sax; Vijay Iyer - piano; Johannes Weidenmuller - bass; Dan Weiss - drums; Elisabeth Mikhael - cello.
Rez Abbasi has been making waves as a formidable musician operating in a multicultural world where the sounds of the Indian subcontinent are freely blended with the jazz tradition of his adopted New York home. It’s no surprise that he’s joined here by the two other leading exponents of what you might call Indo-Jazz fusion, Iyer and Mahanthappa, whose regular drummer Dan Weiss is also present to handle the fiendishly complex metrical structures. Both Iyer and Maranthappa are international travellers who have roots in India’s southern states, and this album is infused with the intense, rhythmically exuberant tradition of Carnatic music. Unlike in Abbasi’s previous two albums, there is no attempt to introduce the distinctive sounds of South Asian instrumentation - instead, he uses the energy and concepts of Carnatic music as a foundation for this set of upbeat, intense, multi-layered jazz-rock. So the title track uses the kind of metric tricks and long, winding melodies of South India, with no trace of jazz vocabulary, juxtaposed with muscular soloing from Mahanthappa’s full-toned, brassy alto and Abbasi’s own guitar, which bears the imprint of John Abercrombie in it’s fluid, logical blend of abstraction and melody. ‘Unfiltered Universe’ has a solo by Iyer that almost approaches a hip New York piano trio sound before returning to the Mahavishnu Orchestra-like main theme. ‘Thoughts’ deploys electronic effects to evoke the keening, vocalised swoops typical of U Srinivas’ Carnatic mandolin before turning into a measured, ECM-style ensemble piece with faint echoes of Keith Jarret’s European Quartet. ‘Disagree To Agree’ has a full-on Indo-rock fusion vibe, as does with ‘Dance Number’, based on Carnatic dance steps, which shows off Abbasi’s fluid attack. Mikhael’s cello is used to bolster the ensemble parts, but she gets space to come to the fore with free-improv contributions on ‘Turn Of Events’ which also features a typically virtuosic tumbling solo from Iyer.
Overall this is intense, powerful music with a distinctive personality - Abbasi has succeeded in melding together the many extremely disparate traditions represented here into a coherent whole, with a unique vision well served by his extremely talented ensemble.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
