Two Voices Finding Their Own Language
Their challenging rhythmic syntax takes on greater immediacy in the duo context.
Raw Materials arrived early in Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa's working relationship, capturing them at a moment when their musical conversation was still forming. This is a duo record — nothing but piano and saxophone — which means there's nowhere to hide. Both players had already made strong albums leading their own groups, but this setting stripped away the ensemble and forced a kind of intimacy that neither had fully explored on record before.
The program consists largely of "Sangha: Collaborative Fables," a suite commissioned by the Jazz Gallery with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. That kind of institutional backing mattered, but what matters more is what Iyer and Mahanthappa actually do with the material. According to JazzTimes reviewer David R. Adler, "The two cover plenty of ground but aren't at all longwinded. Somehow their impeccable precision enhances rather than limits their improvisational freedom." That balance — between structure and openness, between the composed and the spontaneous — is what makes the album work. AllMusic's Jonathan Widran noted their "closely entwined musical language," and you can hear it in how they listen to and respond to each other across these thirteen tracks. This is not a record of two soloists taking turns; it's a conversation.
For listeners trying to find a way in, this sits as a genuine entry point to both musicians' work, though it's definitely not the commercial or immediately accessible kind of thing. Tom Hull gave it three and a half stars, which landed somewhere in the solid range. If you come to this expecting straightforward swing or traditional jazz standards, you'll be wrong-footed. But if you want to hear two serious improvisers thinking in real time, with precision and without pretense, Raw Materials is worth the attention it demands.
Who's playing
Vijay Iyerpiano
Rudresh Mahanthappasaxophone
Where next?
More by Vijay Iyer
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