Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa is best known as pianist Vijay Iyer's regular partner, but he's paired here with an alto sax inspiration from his student years: the little-known (and now 75-year-old) former Charles Mingus sideman and eminent jazz educator Bunky Green. Like Mahanthappa, Green enjoys tonal manipulations that take liberties even by the standards of a music as unbuttoned as jazz. (The former absorbed this style from sitar players, the latter from street musicians in Algiers in the 1960s.) But much of this vigorous set is also full-on, restlessly rhythm-shuffling postbop, bristling with intricate themes. Welcome is a haunting exercise in atmospheric note-warping, but on the uptempo Summit and the staccato Who?, the saxes trade flying phrasing with a verve that obliterates the decades between them. Soft begins as an exercise in multiphonics that becomes almost Ellingtonian; Playing With Stones is crackling avant-funk; Rainer and Theresia a delicious cool-jazzy ballad. Two altos in constant company can get a bit shrill, but it's a scintillating encounter, made more so by having four tracks with Jason Moran on piano and Jack DeJohnette on drums. - John Fordham / the guardian.com
Apex is an alto sax summit of huge proportions—a prodigious work of collaboration and stirring performances—boasting Rudresh Mahanthappa, one of today's rising stars, and Bunky Green, a lesser known master who has influenced innovators such as Greg Osby and Steve Coleman. Like another memorable 2010 release, Dual Identity (Clean Feed), which featured Mahanthappa and alto conceptualist Steve Lehman, the music here is another no-holds-barred outing between seminal artists.
Though there's a 36 year age difference, Mahanthappa's fearless horn is equally matched by Green who, impressively at 75, continues to peel the paint off walls with an angular style—once touring with CharlesMingus' band in his early twenties, and heard on his own Another Place (Label Bleu, 2006). Backed by a stellar cast of players, Apex is not just the meeting of young and old lions (a one-time debilitating term), but about two artists that share a camaraderie, vision, and affirmation of the alto legacy.
An array of robust experiences is witnessed, with drum duties split between the great Jack DeJohnette and younger firebrand Damion Reid, plus invigorating work by stalwarts bassist Francois Moutin and pianist Jason Moran. Indian-influenced roots surface in Mahanthappa's "Welcome," where his biting horn issues a spellbinding incantation that preludes "Summit," a track where the two similar-toned horns trade fiercely, the music swinging hard, and a powerful spotlight shining on DeJohnette's continued prowess.
Mahanthappa's past music has been criticized for being "overly cerebral" at times, but here he delivers a balance between complex and mainstream musical concepts. Opening with Moutin's splendid bass solo, "Soft"'s languid blues slowly transforms into a demanding staccato tempo, before reverting back to its original form. "Playing with Stones" combines South Indian music with a tight groove that is no small feat, the band working out the details with exacting precision and inspiration.
Moran's empathetic notes are sweet repose in "Lamenting," an earnest setup for Greene's flight pattern in "Eastern Echoes," as Reid salvos in tandem with Mahanthappa's coarse voice. "Little Girl" and "Rainer and Theresia" are evidence of the elder's lyricism and soul; each containing a timeless and enduring quality that could rank with any well-known standard.
If there's one track that highlights the two saxophonist's similarities, then it would be "Who?." The appropriately titled composition is volcanic—horns moving in quick jagged bursts, chromatic maneuvers, thrusts and parries. The band is also in step, especially Moran's eccentric soloing and comping.
There are surprises to be found in multiple listens, including a hidden track at the end of the recording. Apex is the fruitful meeting of two profound alto stylists—individualists whose voices are at once recognizable—and one of the most enjoyable recordings of 2010. - Mark F. Turner / allaboutjazz.com
This collaborative album between two alto saxophonists of different generations but similar character is a fascinating if somewhat overlong (77-plus minutes!) encounter that demonstrates the power of what's known as the "inside-outside" approach to jazz. Mahanthappa, the younger of the two men, is known for his fusions of post-bop saxophone with classical Indian music -- indeed, on his 2004 release Mother Tongue, he took it one step further, and performed compositions based on the tonalities of people speaking various Indian languages. If this sounds like a hyper-cerebral exercise, something almost Braxtonian in its capacity to alienate casual listeners, well then Apex is the ideal counter. A hard-swinging disc that pairs Mahanthappa with Bunky Green, a 1960s player whose best-received work emerged in the late '70s, Apex finds the two hornmen backed by a powerhouse all-star band including newly minted MacArthur fellow Jason Moran on piano, bassist François Moutin, and drummers Damion Reid and Jack DeJohnette switching off. Everyone gets spotlight time, Mahanthappa and Green play distinctively enough that each is identifiable despite the fact that they're both on alto, and the music maintains an adventurous but grooving hard bop feel. A concise 40- to 45-minute running time might have been more enticing to non-diehards, but while the 15-minute album closer may seem particularly intimidating, it's actually two pieces, the nine-minute "The Journey" and then a five-minute sax-drums duet to bring things to a gentle close. - Phil Freeman / allmusic.com
Tracks
01. Welcome (R. Mahanthappa)
02. Summit Play (R. Mahanthappa)
03. Soft (R. Mahanthappa)
04. Playing With Stones (R. Mahanthappa)
05. Lamenting (B. Green)
06. Eastern Echoes (B. Green)
07. Little Girl, I'll Miss You(B. Green)
08. Who? (R. Mahanthappa)
09. Rainer And Theresia Play (B. Green)
10.1 The Journey (B. Green)
10.2 (silence 40')
10.3 Hidden Track
FRANÇOIS MOUTIN acoustic bass
BUNKY GREEN alto saxophone (1-3, 5-10)
RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA alto saxophone (1-6, 8-10)
DAMION REID drums (3-8)
JACK DeJOHNETTE drums (1, 2, 9, 10)
JASON MORAN piano
Recorded April 22 & 23, 2010 at Systems Two, Brooklyn, New York
Pi Recordings – PI35