Victoria JazzFest Twin Bill: Rudresh Mahanthappa & Christian McBride

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Monday, June 23rd, 2014
7:30 PM

Victoria JazzFest presents a twin bill with saxaphonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and bassist Christian McBride at the First Metropolitan United Church on June 23.

Rudresh Mahanthappa

There have been lots of East-meets-West collaborations, starting with Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin in the 1960s. But rarely are these musical fusions contained within one person, and never so creatively as with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, a second-generation Indo-American composer who is equally fluent with modern jazz and the ancient traditions of South Indian classical music.

Both a great player and a restless innovator, Mahanthappa not only has a few of his own projects and ensembles but also plays with jazz giants such as legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette. His seamless and deeply-felt fusion of jazz and Indian is remarkable on its own terms but is also notable for Mahanthappa�s inspired musicianship: for the last three years he�s been Downbeat�s �Alto Saxophonist of the Year�, and received the same honour for the last five years from the Jazz Journalists Association. His latest album is 2013�s Gamak. This is one debut we are really looking forward to! Rez Abassi guitar, Rich Brown bass, Dan Weiss drums.
http://jazzvictoria.ca/jazz-fest/event/rudresh-mahanthappa-gamak

Christian McBride

Bassist Christian McBride has become a mentor to an emerging group of jazz artists as well as being a celebrated standard bearer for the best in mainstream contemporary jazz practice. McBride has played hundreds of dates as a first-call sideman, gigging with the likes of Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, and John McLaughlin, as well as with pop, hip-hop, and soul musicians like Sting, Celine Dion, The Roots, and others. He�s also had several of his own bands and last year recorded Out Here, his 11th CD as a leader. He is currently heading up a much-lauded trio featuring pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. Known for their hard-swinging and highly melodic treatment of classic jazz-blues tunes and favourites from the American Songbook, Out Here performs some of the finest and most propulsive straight-ahead jazz you�ll hear all year. McBride�s 2011 performance at JazzFest was incredible and this year�s should not be missed!
http://jazzvictoria.ca/jazz-fest/event/christian-mcbride-out-here

Tickets available at the Victoria Jazz Society office, Lyle's Place and Royal & McPherson box office.