Raw Materials......

.....is the name of this "group" whose performance I went so see with a few friends on Friday. For starters, the two musicians, namely Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa are of south Indian heritage, but are very American, which actually helps them to bring a lot of versatility to their music. Honestly, before I entered the auditorium I was expecting the music to be more of fusion than jazz, which happens to be true for most jazz musicians of south Asian origin. It’s not a stereotype, just very natural I think to fuse what you already know with whatever you have learnt. This duo however, was anything but stereotypical. The show began very atypically, with no monologue of sorts from the musicians; instead they simply walked onto the stage, glanced at each other and immediately set off.....hallmark of serious and great musicians in my opinion. The show lasted for all of 90 minutes with a 10 minute recess in between.

The first half of the show was very introductory but quite interesting. Some of the pieces the duo played seemed very rudimentary for someone of their aptitude and experience, but overall it all seemed to mesh well. The highlight however was the second half; the duo played some powerful short tunes which had the audience gripped and this half really showed the versatility and the "co-ordination" the two musicians shared.

Overall the duo put on a great performance and even a newbie jazz aficionado would have felt he got his $20 worth. I would definitely recommend this duo's music and would encourage anyone who is reading this to try and catch one of their performances.

http://www.vijay-iyer.com
http://www.rawmaterialsduo.com
http://www.rudreshm.com

Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa