Rudresh Mahanthappa Hero Trio
Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa brings his Hero Trio to SFJAZZ's intimate Joe Henderson Lab, celebrating his sixteenth release as a leader with an album of tributes to his greatest musical influences. One of the most acclaimed musicians of his generation—Pitchfork calls him "jaw-dropping... one of the finest saxophonists going"—Mahanthappa has earned nine DownBeat Critics Poll awards for alto saxophone and received both a Guggenheim Fellowship and Doris Duke Performing Artist Award.
The Hero Trio features longtime collaborators bassist François Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston in a chordless format that echoes the tradition of Sonny Rollins and Lee Konitz. Rather than showcasing Mahanthappa's compositions, this project reimagines works by his formative influences through "startlingly original arrangements." The repertoire spans from Charlie Parker's "Red Cross" and Keith Jarrett's "The Windup" to Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," bridging supposed high and low art with conviction.
Mahanthappa's approach blends his mastery of the alto saxophone with an exploratory compositional voice informed by the Carnatic musical traditions of his South Indian heritage. Born in Trieste, Italy and raised in Colorado, he studied at Berklee before moving to New York in 1997, where he forged a long-term partnership with pianist Vijay Iyer and collaborated with Jack DeJohnette, Danilo Pérez, and Arturo O'Farrill's Latin Jazz Orchestra.
Critics describe the trio's sound as "free and lively" with "a rollicking, loose-jointed feeling." The three musicians—each with big, distinctive sounds on their instruments—gel as a unit while expressing themselves fully, creating "an overwhelming feeling of joy amid all the 'chops.'" Royston serves as "a constantly ticking engine of ideas," while Mahanthappa and Moutin embellish phrases and turnarounds with no inhibition.
The Hero Trio album, released on Whirlwind Recordings, was considered one of the best jazz albums of 2020 by critics and fans alike, continuing the thread from Mahanthappa's acclaimed 2015 release Bird Calls.