Mahanthappa brings his Hero Trio, uncostumed but accustomed, back to the Jazz Kitchen

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Rudresh Mahanthappa in his shiny blazer on Election  Day 

Between his first visit here and his recorded Hero Trio outing, which was nearly buried by the pandemic, Rudresh Mahanthappa had plenty of repertoire to draw upon when he brought the Hero Trio back to town Tuesday for a vigorous set at the Jazz Kitchen.

We heard some new things on this visit, but it was fitting to have him and his men revisit a favorite Charlie Parker original, "Red Cross," to start the set. He unloaded his forceful sound and returned unpredictably to the theme again and again, releasing florid episodes of improvisation in between, along with his bandmates' soloing in the same spirit. 

The alto saxophonist of Indian-American heritage, who directs the jazz program at Princeton University as his home base, is known for his breadth of material upon which to put his own stamp. For many years, his assistants in this long-range project have been bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston — both his worthy partners in victimless crime.

The pop-culture inspiration remains musical and not so much

The Hero Trio circa 2020. 

a matter of outfitting nowadays. The inspiration on this visit flowed abundantly throughout the trio. Moutin's solo all along the fingerboard made of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" a test case of the song's title.

It was fun to take in again the trio's inspired mashup of Parker's "Barbados" and John Coltrane's "26-2," an exercise in applying a funky vibe to both tunes. The leader's nods to his sidemen cued their individualistic outbursts; smiles were distributed freely around the band. The bassist found a deep groove in his solo, following which Royston's thundering showcase was soon decorated with a repeated three-note tag from the others. 

Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" was treated to an arrangement that honored Mahanthappa's long-running admiration for the country-music hero. Its quiet ending prepared the audience for a reflective video-game borrowing, the theme from "Animal Crossing."  It took on the character of a jazz ballad, with a strong beat almost diguising its lyrical bent. A huge slowing of the tempo near the end had a mesmerizing effect. 

The respect paid to jazz-adjacent genres brought the generous set to a heroic conclusion: Chuck Mangione's "Give It All You Got," handled in a low-key manner, and George Michael's "Faith." The whole set amounted to  a rousing exercise in driving away political thoughts for the time being and applying a grooving salve over many an imaginable wound. 


[Solo photo by Rob Ambrose]

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