Under the influence of George Harrison and the Beatles, I became interested in Indian music for a few years before I started to seriously listen to jazz. So I’ve long been primed for the recent explosion of “crossover” music involving Indian music and jazz improvisation. One of the latest developments is Ragmala: A Garland of Ragas, a powerful two-CD set of music by the combined forces of Go: Organic Orchestra & Brooklyn Raga Massive. A pioneer of “world music,” percussionist Adam Rudolph has been active in a variety of contexts since his recording debut in the mid-Seventies. With kora master Foday Musa Suso and fellow percussionist Hamid Drake, Rudolph co-founded The Mandingo Griot Society in 1978 and began a lengthy association with Yusef Lateef in 1988. He has led a number of unclassifiable ensembles over the years, frequently including Drake, who plays drums on this release. For Ragmala, Rudolph has allied his Go: Organic Orchestra with Brooklyn Raga Massive, self-described as “an artist collective dedicated to creating cross-cultural understanding through the lens of Indian classical and Raga inspired music.” This huge cast of musicians, about 40 strong, is heard in music composed and “improvisationally conducted” by Rudolph. With instrumentation that includes various flutes, brass and reeds, a string section, keyboards, guitars, sitars, drums and a wealth of percussion from around the globe, plus vocalists including Gnawa singer Hassan Hakmoun, there are a multitude of textures and endless timbral combinations for Rudolph to draw upon. It’s a testament to his vision, and to the skills of the assembled players, that the music never descends into chaos. In tracks that run anywhere from just a minute or two to a couple of pieces that break the 11-minute mark, Rudolph’s instincts lead him to spread the joy around and allow everyone in the room some space in which to shine. Particular favorites include Rotations with its overlapping polyrhythms and wild horn parts, the lengthy Savannahs featuring yearning violin, harp, clarinets, voices and more over a simple drone, Seven Pearls and its dancing percussion, Turiya, deeply into a spiritual groove, and Africa 21, a health dose of sitar-inflected Afro-funk. As violinist Arun Ramamurthy, a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive, told Shaun Brady for his liner notes, “the individual sounds and different backgrounds” of the musicians are “all melding together in this beautiful union. It was a match made in heaven.” Ragmala is nearly irresistible, and totally recommended.
Meta/BRM 023; Graham Haynes (cnt, flgh, kudu horn, bamboo vaccine) Stephen Haynes (cnt, flgh, solo alto, pocket tpt, didgeridoo, conch, kudu horn) Peter Zummo (tbn, didgeridoo, conch, kudu horn) Libby Schwartz (Fr hn) Kaoru Watanabe (C flute, fue, noh kan) Michel Gentile (C flute) Sylvain Leroux (chromatic tambin, tambin, c flute) Ze Luis (C and alto flute) Mariano Gil (bass flute) Avram Fefer (ts, bcl) Sean Sonderegger (bcl, cbcl, ss) Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon) Ivan Barenboim (Bb clarinet) Jay Gandhi (bansuri) Arun Ramamurthy, Trina Basu (vln) Samarth Nagarkar (vcl) Neel Murgai (rhythm sitar, overtone singing) Sameer Gupta (tabla) David Ellenbogen (electric rhythm guitar) Abhik Mukherjee (sitar) Bala Skandan (mridangam) Mari Tanaka (tanpura) Charles Burnham, Julianne Carney-Chung, Sana Nagano, Gwen Laster, Richard Carr (vln) Stephanie Griffin (vla) Mia Theodoratus (harp) Marco Cappelli (el & ac guitars) Alexis Marcelo (kybds) Leco Reis (b) Damon Banks (el b) Harris Eisenstadt (bata [iya, itotele, okonkolo)] Rogerio Boccato (caxixi, mineiro, temple blocks, bells, wood box surdo) Hamid Drake (drum kit, okonkolo) Adam Rudolph (iya, itotele) Hassan Hakmoun (sintir, vcl) Abderahim Hakmoun (qarqaba, vcl); West Orange, NJ, December 2018; Disc 1 (57:06): Mousa Azure/ Rotations/ Ecliptic/ Savannahs/ Shantha/ Wandering Star/ Ascent to Now/ Lamentations/ Dialectic/ Thirteen Moons. Disc 2 (60:41): Glare of the Tiger/ Reflective/ Seven Pearls/ We Grieve/ Chakawali/ Turiya/ Syntactic Journey/ Sunset Lake/ Africa 21/ Gone to Earth. metarecords.com www.brooklynragamassive.org
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