Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls

Downbeat 2015 Critics Poll Jazz Album of the Year
Alto Saxophonist of the Year
Rising Star Best Composer of the Year

Alto sax star Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls takes on the legacy of bebop icon Charlie “Bird” Parker through scintillating original compositions that embrace Bird’s foundational influence rather than versions of Parker’s classic repertoire. Supporting him is this outstanding quintet featuring pianist Joshua White, bassist François Moutin, drummer Rudy Royston, and young trumpet phenom Adam O’Farrill, whose fiery exchanges with Mahanthappa echo Parker’s interplay with Dizzy Gillespie. A hit at last year’s Winter Jazz Festival in NYC, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls delivers “the jolt of a horn player on fire,” according to JazzTimes. “You’ll be drawn to [them]…whether or not you recognize Bird shadow-dancing in the light.”