Avantgarde Jazz Festival: Rudresha Mahanthappe Gamak Quartet
The Rudresha Mahanthappe Gamak Quartet will open this year's Avantgarde Jazz Festival
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This year’s 3rd in a row Avant-garde Jazz Festival began with Rudresh Mahanthappa’s concert, one of the leading alto saxophone players in the world
The Rudresha Mahanthappe Gamak Quartet will open this year's Avantgarde Jazz Festival. Rudresha Mahanthappe is one of the most highly-esteemed American artists. He plays the saxophone with fierce vigor, precision and creativity, and is considered one of the top world alto saxophonists.
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THE 3RD AVANT-GARDE JAZZ FESTIVAL HAS BEGUN
Rudresh Mahanthappa impressed audiences
This year’s 3rd in a row Avant-garde Jazz Festival began with Rudresh Mahanthappa’s concert, one of the leading alto saxophone players in the world. He was awarded the title of best saxophone player by DownBeat magazine critics, who gave him this prestigious award last year as well as the year before.This elite title in the jazz world was also confirmed by the International Jazz Journalist Association, which has given him the same honour for the last four years.
The concert in Rovinj was held in recognition of his highly praised album titled “Gamak,” which was released in January of this year, thus providing the Rovinj audience with a unique privilege to enjoy his new material. The evening began with the composition titled “Waiting Is Forbidden,” after which he played “Stay I,” “Ballad For Troubled Times,” as well as the other songs from the album.
The album itself was created in collaboration with David Fiuczynski (guitar), Francois Moutin (bass), and Dan Weiss (drums). The music that the Rudresh Mahanthappas Gamak Quartet performs is impossible to categorize because it combines Western forms of jazz, progressive rock, heavy metal, country music, American folk, go-go, and ambiance music. At the same time, it is also refined with accents of the rich musical traditions of India, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s homeland, as well as those of China, Africa, and Indonesia.
The evening after Rudresh Mahanthappas Gamak Quartet’s concert, the Rovinj audience had the opportunity to see the highly respected Amira Medunjanin, a Bosnian “sevdalinka” singer. Performances by Otis Taylor Contraband, who play excellent blues, as well as HRT’s Jazz Orchestra accompanied by Ricardo Luque, former lead singer of the band Cubismo are also on the repertoire. This year’s Avant-garde Jazz Festival will come to an end in mid July when concerts by Dee Dee Bridgewater and John Pizzarelli’s Quartet have been announced.
