Alto saxist Rudresh Mahanthappa is one of the few artists that keeps an allegiance to the jazz tradition while also stretching into 21st Century territory. Here, with bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston, he adheres to his allegiance to Charlie Parker by interpreting a number of his tunes, but also adding spices of other artists ranging from free jazz to country, and it works!
As to the bop progenitor pieces, “Red Cross” is given bright colors and textures with nimble duet spacing for bass and drums, while Parker finally meets with John Coltrane on the medley of “Barbados/26-2” with a segue of assertive bebop turning into sheets of sound in a modal format. Moutin and Royston dig into a rivulet on “Dewey Square” and go down a rich rabbit hole on “I’ll Remember April” while Mahanthappa delivers a richly abstract intro to “I Can’t Get Started”. Most fun is when Moutin gets funky on Keith Jarrett’s Caribbean journey of “The Windup” and the place gets shaking to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. Mahanthappa shows he remembers how to bop as well as hop.