Kinsmen is a groundbreaking project by alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa that melds jazz and South Indian Carnatic music into a single organic whole. Features Kadri Gopalnath, a living legend of Carnatic music and a true innovator in introducing the alto saxophone to India. In synthesizing traditional South Indian concepts of melody and rhythm with his inventive style as a jazz composer and improviser, Mahanthappa has masterfully provided a framework that has brought out a spectacular interplay within the ensemble. Kinsmen is a tour-de-force of cross-cultural musical creativity and a landmark contribution to modern music that bears no precedent.
“Mahanthappa creates a music that is at once technically brilliant yet musically cogent, harmonically adventurous yet expressively straightforward. He takes listeners into fascinating Eastern idioms that are otherwise virtually unheard in jazz today.” — Chicago Tribune
“With this visionary new work, Rudresh Mahanthappa is boldly breaking some exciting new ground while going all the way back to his Indian roots.” — JazzTimes |