#MutualNight: Diwali and Indian Jazz

(Quick reminder: if you’re curious why I’m writing about music on a Mormon blog, this post will summarize what #MutualNight posts are.)

Subharnab Majumdar, The Rangoli of Lights. CC BY 2.0

Diwali, India’s most important holiday, starts today. Most of my experience with Diwali has been at the Art Institute of Chicago, which has an annual Diwali Family Festival.[fn1] I’m far from an expert, but the outline of the holiday is this: Diwali, the festival of lights, marks the triumph of good over evil, and of light over dark.

With the upcoming holiday, I thought I’d take a quick listen to some Indian music. Now, if you’re anything like me, your exposure to Indian music has come through two routes: Bollywood and the Indian classical music that found its way into the Beatles’ music.

Unsurprisingly from a country of well over 1 billion people, that’s not the extent of Indian music.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, “Agrima”

A couple days ago,[fn2] Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition released “Agrima.” I’ve been looking forward to this album for about seven months, since I saw them perform at the Harris Theater. The performance was electrifying; the band is Mahanthappa on alto sax and electronics, Rez Abbasi on electric guitar, and Dan Weiss on tabla and drums.

The band plays jazz, influenced strongly by various Indian and Pakistani musical styles. And here, I’m at a little bit of a loss to describe exactly how Indian this album is, but I hear the Indian influences. Maranthappa’s saxophone tone hints at the pungi, with a clean, sharp tone, sometimes subsumed in echoes and other electronic effects. Abbasi’s guitar plays off of Mahanthapp’s music, as sometimes they play together, but more often they take turns. And Weiss spends parts of some songs on the ground, playing tabla, but also has a drum set in front of him; in their performance, he’d rise up into the drum set.

The trio doesn’t have a bass, but it doesn’t miss it. Abbasi uses the full range of his instrument, while Mahanthappa plays pedal tones under Abbasi’s solos, pedal tones that suggest a sitar without being a sitar.

And have I mentioned how electrifying this album is? Mahanthappa is certainly one of the most virtuosic saxophone players playing today. He goes from droning long tones to Coltrane-esque sheets of sound and back. On this album, he’s clearly playing jazz, but he’s clearly incorporate language from outside of jazz. Weiss’s tabla playing, and his transitions from tabla to drums, are outstanding. Abbasi’s use of the full range of the guitar is astounding. And the electronic effects, while never front and center, create a dreamlike feel that, as much as Mahanthappa’s pedal tones and Abbasi’s low notes, suggests the absent sitar.

I can listen to this album in a couple different ways. It’s the kind of thing that I can play in the background, letting it wash over me. But it also warrants a close, attentive listen. Abbasi’s guitar’s tone and power wouldn’t feel out of place in any guitar hero band, while Mahanthappa’s saxophone playing stands apart from basically anybody else I’ve heard (it makes me think of Phil Woods and Charlie Parker, but its not derivative of either of them). And man, that tabla playing.[fn3]

Rez Abbasi, “Unfiltered Universe”

The three members of the Indo-Pak Coalition also play on Rez Abbasi’s new album, “Unfiltered Universe.” His Invocation quintet is rounded out by Vijay Iyer(!) on piano and Johannes Weidenmueller on bass, with guest cellist Elizabeth Mikhael.

Two quick asides: first, the album doesn’t come out until next month, but it’s available for listening on Spotify now. Two, Vijay Iyer is one of the most stunning contemporary pianists playing. Whatever superlatives I applied to the musicians of the Indo-Pak Coalition apply equally to him. And, while I’m not familiar with Weidenmueller’s playing outside of this album, it’s excellent here.

“Unfiltered Universe” is doing slightly different work than “Agrima.” Where “Agrima” is broadly Indian influences, with his album, Abbasi is specifically invoking South Indian Carnatic music.

Confession: I don’t personally know what that means. On the other hand, I can hear the difference between New Orleans jazz, New York jazz, Chicago jazz, and West Coast jazz, and differentiating Delta blues and Chicago blues is no problem at all.

That said, if this has Carnatic influences, I like Carnatic. Abbasi’s doing interesting work here: although he’s specifically invoking a regional music, he’s not using the regional instruments. He sticks purely with guitar, and on this album, Weiss sticks with drums, not pulling out the tablas he’s so accomplished on. Iyer’s piano runs waterfall over each other, while Mahanthappa shows the same proficiency and energy here as he does on his own album.

The guitar is as punchy as anything I’ve listened to; again, the South Indian and the jazz notwithstanding, you could listen to this easily as a rock album.

I don’t want to play the albums against each other—I sincerely love both of them. They are both deeply rooted in multiple traditions, even if I’m only really familiar with one of the traditions. They’re both also fundamentally contemporary, doing things that haven’t been done before. Every musician plays his or her heart out; interestingly, the “Agrima” album lives up to the live performance, and I definitely want to see Abbasi’s band perform live.

These albums are great, and bear repeated listening. (I listened to both this morning biking to and from a dentist appointment. Which is stupid—you shouldn’t listen to music while biking—but I really, really wanted to listen to them again.) This Diwali season, I strongly recommend either (or better, both!) to get into the spirit of the Indian subcontinent, and celebrate the victory of good over evil.

[fn1] Which, btw, if you’re in Chicago, you should definitely go. It’s a wonderful introduction to the art, music, dance, and stories of India. Also, it’s free, even if you’re not a member of the Art Institute.

[fn2] At least I think it was a couple days ago—I preordered the album two or three weeks ago, and got my download email Tuesday.

[fn3] Also, the mp3 version of the album is only $2.50, so there’s really not a lot of reason not to give it a try.