£3.50 .K. U DOWNBEAT.COM FEBRUARY 2011 DOWNBEAT BUNKY GREEN & RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA // OMAR SOSA // JOHN MCNEIL // KEVIN EUBANKS // JAZZ VENUE GUIDE FEBRUARY 2011 FEBRUARY 2011 VOLUME 78 – NUMBER 2 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Ed Enright Associate Editor Aaron Cohen Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Kelly Grosser Circulation Assistant Alyssa Beach ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Classified Advertising Sales Sue Mahal 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale January 18, 2010) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2011 FEBRUARY 2011 ON THE COVER 24 Bunky Green & Rudresh Mahanthappa 30 Breaking Free Of The System BY TED PANKEN Though the feeling they generate is best described as “free,” alto saxophonists Bunky Green and Rudresh Mahanthappa both work within strongly conceptualized structures that leave them plenty of space to soar. A seemingly odd pairing on the surface, the two share a common passion and stimulate each other to extremely high levels of creativity, O MANTOVANI M as heard on their latest CD Omar Sosa MASSI project as coleaders, Apex. Cover photography by Jimmy Katz Features 30 Omar Sosa Goes Deep BY DAN OUELLETTE 55 Mina Cho 59 Mike Reed 67 Kneebody 68 Tarbaby 34 John McNeil All Wit BY JIM MACNIE Departments 38 Kevin Eubanks Shapes His 8 First Take 20 Players 72 Transcription Post-Leno Career John Hébert 10 Chords & Discords 74 Toolshed BY KIRK SILSBEE James Falzone 13 The Beat Andrew Rathbun 78 Jazz On Campus Remembering Milton Suggs 82 Blindfold Test 42 150 Great Jazz Venues James Moody An International Listing 51 Reviews Kenny Barron & of the Best Places 17 European Scene 70 Master Class Mulgrew Miller to See Live Jazz 18 Caught Claire Daly 6 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2011 First Take | BY AARON COHEN Rudresh’s Mission bout 15 years ago, I went to Chicago’s Green Mill jazz club for a different sort of gig. The event was a CD-release party that a Agroup of master’s degree candidates at Chicago’s Columbia College’s arts, entertainment and media management pro- Rudresh Mahanthappa, gram organized to celebrate circa mid-1990s a release on their own label, AEMMP Records. While in- die record labels had a better chance for success—actual- ly, survival—in the mid-’90s than they do today, this was still a quixotic venture com- ing from a group of students. AEMMP was even more idealistic in that their sign- ing was a young, and un- compromising, jazz alto sax- ophonist named Rudresh Mahanthappa. Needless to say, Mahan- thappa has come a long way since the release of his de- but disc, Yatra. But even back then, his assertive tone and unique way of combining jazz with South Asian music revealed that he had an origi- CREDIT nal vision and determination that would take him far in any art. He’s also always had a deep respect for the traditions he chose to investigate, and that includes the work of jazz el- der Bunky Green, who shares Ted Panken’s cover story with Mahanthappa for this issue. In talking with Mahanthappa this past week about when I met him at the Green Mill in 1996, he said that the career he’s built for himself was al- ways the dream, but, of course, it’s never guaranteed. He also is thankful for the opportunity that the upstart label gave him. Having a disc in hand was a valuable calling card when he moved to New York the following year and began encountering the heavier hitters in the media (this was an era be- fore downloads, or e-mailed mp3s). All of which reaffirms that the dreams of a group of Midwestern students should never be taken lightly. The reason why AEMMP signed Mahanthappa, and held its party at the Green Mill, was because of one particular student, Michael Orlove, who was handling the label’s a&r. Then—and now—Orlove has kept his ear toward finding sounds from around the city and around the planet that Chicagoans need to hear. Orlove is currently senior program director for the city’s department of cultural affairs. He’s been the driving force for the city’s stellar world music festival, as well as excellent free events year- round at the Chicago Cultural Center. The Green Mill and the Chicago Cultural Center are included in this issue’s venue guide: this club and civ- ic institution show that it takes a combination of smart entrepreneurs, pub- lic programs and educational efforts—often, working together—to build a lasting audience for such artists as Mahanthappa. This issue also includes a memorial tribute to the wonderful saxophon- ist/flutist James Moody, who died on Dec. 9. Along with his beautiful me- lodic feel and warm sense of humor, he and his wife, Linda, were tire- less advocates for jazz education. For information on how to donate to the James Moody Scholarship Fund, go to his website, jamesmoody.com. DB 8 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2011 Chords & Discords Making John McLaughlin McLaughlin’s Day I just got home yesterday eve- ning after six weeks in the United States, and the DownBeat Readers Poll award had arrived yester- day morning! Good timing! I just wanted to thank you and the staff at DownBeat for providing musicians and music lovers with such a great magazine over the years. I’ve been reading DownBeat since the mid-’60s and to win an award from DownBeat has special significance to me. The plaque will occupy a special place in my home. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN MONACO Stop Thieves! Thanks very much for the article on Internet piracy of music publica- tions (“Thief!,” January 2011). I would like to make it clear that Sher Music Co. is still very much in the business of selling our world-class jazz fake books. My statement that “We are out of the fake book business” referred to the great difficulty in justifying the production rassment, have left this undone for decades. Ja- of new fake books when we know they will be mal waits, while Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea scanned and distributed free of charge all over and Keith Jarrett, all employees of Miles Davis, the Internet. My hope is that people reading went in ahead of the man who influenced him your article will be made aware of the serious (and that’s no disrespect to their individual tal- negative consequences of illegally downloading ents). Let’s hope the Veterans Committee won’t books and refrain from this unethical practice. have to do it. I wonder just how many of Davis’ CHUCK SHER pianists were told, “Play like Ahmad Jamal.” SHER MUSIC Company RON SEEGAR EL PASO, TEXAS Clean Language, Please I must agree with Kevin McIntosh’s letter Erskine Nails It (“Chords,” January) concerning cursing in your Peter Erskine’s “Woodshed” (November) is right interviews. I host a jam session for students on the money.