www.aakashmittal.com

JAZZ | BRET SAUNDERS

Jazz saxman Mittal finds a satisfying Indian fusion
Coloradan's new CD, "Videsh," blends bright harmonies, beats

By Bret Saunders The Denver Post

Colorado saxophonist and composer Aakash Mittal has his own "vocabulary" of Indian and jazz traditions.

More often than not, attempts to fuse jazz with other global styles fall flat. Even when the participants are sincere, the results can be kitschy and unsatisfying, arriving at a compromise where nothing new or truly beautiful is created.
That's not the case with young Colorado saxophonist and composer Aakash Mittal, whose ambitious new self-produced CD, "Videsh," is a winning fusion project. Because of the balance between tough improvisation and bright harmonies coupled with thorough investigations into the rhythms of the music of India, he's already arrived at his own place in the jazz community, where it's difficult to establish an identity.
"I'm trying to create a vocabulary that draws on both (jazz and Indian music)," he says. "That was totally my goal."
Mittal finds fertile common ground between the two traditions. At points, he delves into balladry with a tone reminiscent of saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Sometimes the performances on "Videsh" — which, according to his liner notes, is a Hindi word that can be translated as "foreign, abroad" — rock and swing confidently, with the dedicated support of his quartet of locals: guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis and drummer Josh Moore. A lot of the disc's success comes from the interplay of the group of unknown (for now) performers.
"They're really excited about learning the Eastern stuff," Mittal says of his group. "It's very collaborative, even though I'm credited with writing the tunes."
Mittal is enthusiastic about continuing along the path that began when he "checked out a few Indian records that my dad had" when he was in high school. "I was raised with certain (Indian) traditions but also in a very American way."
The music on "Videsh" could be seen as the result of that upbringing. It also points toward new possibilities in improvised music. Keep an ear on this guy.

The Aakash Mittal Quartet, 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge, 930 Lincoln St. $10. Call 303-839-5100.

The Aakash Mittal Quartet:
A musical journey to India

Thursday, Oct 22nd, 2009
By Dani White Berthoud Recorder  

There is a bold new kind of music emerging in Colorado. The Aakash Mittal Quartet, influenced by the muse of modern day India where customary meets contemporary, has fashioned a unique and worldly blend of sound. The band is an independent outfit and will soon be self-releasing their second album, “Videsh.”   Mittal, the band’s innovator, was born in Dallas, Texas, was raised in Loveland and is of Indian descent. The diversity of the artist’s background has inspired his creative approach to music. A lifelong fascination with instruments and his father’s native land of East India is reflected in Mittal’s most recent composition. He suggests his ensemble is “trying to create music that goes along with the diverse culture of America and the heritage of immigration.”   The word “Videsh” roughly translates to “foreign abroad.” The music of the latest album illustrates Mittal’s initial journey to India with a progressive fusion ranging from modern jazz to traditional Indian styles. The quartet has created a musical voyage representative of an experience in an exotic country where new world and old world unite for the first time.   “Videsh” is free flowing and continuous expression that begins with the pure timbre of a few resonating notes. The album tells a musical story interwoven with improvised instrumentals and authentic background noise – voices at the market place, traffic and a swirl of ambient sounds of daily life.   Mittal relays the sounds of flute, saxophone, clarinet and the electronically recaptured drone of a tambura gourd, as well as recordings of the natural Indian world. Matt Fuller adds guitar, Jean-Luc Davis the bass and Josh Moore completes the quartet with his drum work. A mellow and moody prelude morphs into a frenzy of sound as “Videsh” pulls listeners straight into the streets of India.   

Jazz: Aakash Mittal Quartet – Videsh

Colorado Music Buzz

Sunday, November 01, 2009
by Doug Anderson

The title of Aakash Mittal’s latest release, Videsh, is a Hindi word translated as “foreign abroad.” As stated in the liner notes, Aakash has taken to heart the idea that “music must be an expression of human experience.” More an “auditory journal” than a typical Modern Jazz CD, Videsh captures the essence of Aakash’s first visit to India to explore his heritage, seamlessly intertwining audio samples recorded from various scenes in New Delhi and Kolkata with his own genius brand of modern Indian-flavored Jazz. You’ll go on a fascinating journey, from a scuffle at a bazaar over sandals to an inspired visit to the Taj Mahal.

Aakash Mittal meshes the music of his father's homeland with classic jazz

By Jon Solomon

Westword
Published on November 10, 2009 at 11:
The first thing that struck me, being an American, is that I got off the plane and it was like this different level of chaos that I've never experienced before," says Aakash Mittal of a trip he took to India a couple years ago. "That first day you're in the street, and people don't follow any traffic rules at all. So, like, you'll have a whole bunch of traffic going one way and then one car going against traffic, and somehow it works out, like cows in the middle of the road and families that live on the median between traffic."
Mittal made the trip to his father's homeland to meet a side of his family that he'd never met before. He stayed for nine days, which was just long enough to get over the initial jet lag from such a long flight. Fortunately, the trip proved inspirational. On his second album, Videsh, the 24-year-old saxophonist continues to explore jazz as well his Indian heritage, offering a snapshot of a day in the life in India.
Starting in the morning with the slow, meditative introduction song "Subah," based on a Hindu morning raga, the album immediately takes on a frenetic pace with "The Street," a track that reflects the initial shock Mittal experienced. The other members of the quartet (guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis and drummer Josh Moore) weren't initially fond of placing "The Street" on the album so early on; they thought it made a jolting first impression. But Mittal stuck to his guns.
"I really stuck to it, because the whole point of it is sort of like this: shock in the beginning, and then, as you get accustomed to it, it chills out," Mittal explains. "It's the same with going through a day there. Early in the day things are crazy, but as it becomes nighttime, it's definitely a lot more chilled out. It's about having really big, relaxed meals and hanging out with people."
The track immediately following "The Street," the peaceful "Om Shanti," was inspired by Mittal's uncle taking him to a less densely populated part of town to an ashram type of spot, where there were huge white marble buildings and everyone was wearing white. Hearing the two songs back to back, Mittal says, shows the duality of having this sheer intensity and this super-meditative yoga-type side. "It's really crazy," he enthuses, "and then you're in this peaceful place, and then you're back into the craziness."
Along with other cuts on the album, both songs also include field recordings — such as the sounds of traffic on "The Street," or his uncle speaking on "Om Shanti" — that Mittal made during another trip to India in February to learn how to play Indian music correctly, and authentically. Since he had already recorded Videsh a month before he left for India, he wasn't able to apply any of what he learned to the album. Nonetheless, he's happy with the way the album turned out.
"In a way, I'm glad it is what it is, because it's more like a jazz musician playing it rather than someone trying to follow all the rules of Indian music," Mittal offers. "What I wanted to do was be able to compose and improvise from a more authentic perspective. So it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to try to create some kind of fusion album, or that from now on I'm going to follow the strict rules of a raga. But it's more like each new thing I might learn is like a new tool I can use or a new color to paint with. Now when we play, I do think of that more. I don't want to force it into any kind of box."
Applying techniques of Indian classical music to the saxophone has been challenging for Mittal, particularly since the music is more suitable to a sitar, which can essentially only be played in one key and where notes can be bent an octave or more. "If you try to put a sitar into a jazz setting, it wouldn't work as well, because you can't really change keys very easily," Mittal notes. "Part of what was fun was doing saxophone research and, like, how can I fake my way through this and be convincing as far as doing the different pitch bends and ornamentations and things like that."
Rudresh Mahanthappa, a highly touted New York-based saxophonist who also blends jazz and Indian music, has been something of a mentor and a major influence on Mittal since the two met four years ago at a show at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where Mittal was working toward a degree in saxophone performance. Mahanthappa offered advice on saxophone technique and how to change the embouchure to create a certain sound or use different palm key notes on the instrument.
"I did a lot of that on the first record," Mittal confesses. "When he listened to it, he said, 'You copped a lot of my shit.' But that's the tradition. You have to copy somebody for a while. A big part of the jazz tradition is the bigger successful guys taking younger guys under their wing and helping them out."

While it's easy to hear Mahanthappa's influence on both of Mittal's albums, Mittal is also a big fan of Dave Pietro, who was his sax hero his freshman year in high school, and of Jackie McLean's 1960s Blue Note albums. Although there's some bop on Videsh, Mittal says he was really trying to use all different types of musical palettes to express the experience. Although he dips into bop, avant-garde, groove rock and Indian music, the album still has a certain cohesiveness, which makes sense, because part of the plan was to create a twelve-song suite of sorts. "I was trying to think about it in those terms," he says, "as well as that each part can work individually."
Aakash Mittal
While a majority of jazz tunes are based on a playing the melody in the beginning and at the end and then improvising in the middle, most of the cuts on Videsh are very composed out, which doesn't leave a lot of room for soloing. But he did write tunes that highlight each of his sidemen: Davis shows off some fine arco bass work on "Om Shanti," "Chapal ki Dukaan" features Moore's propulsive timekeeping, and Fuller delivers some extremely fluid legato phrasing à la Kurt Rosenwinkel on "Mughal Impressions," a tune inspired by Mittal's visit to the Taj Mahal.
In Videsh's liner notes, Mittal writes about what inspired each song, as a lot of them are about stories or real-life experiences, but he didn't relay that information to the other guys in the band.
"Part of that is like when we're playing, it's just the music," Mittal points out, "and they all put their own ideas into that, especially on the features. I really wanted them to personalize it and not try to be like, "Well, this is about this experience I had," because they didn't have it.
"That's one thing I like about jazz, is giving them the freedom," he concludes. I just give them the chart, and I step back and see what they do with it. And they always make it sound like ten times better."

Jazz musician Aakash Mittal blends east Indian music into jazz

November 28, 3:22 AMJazz and Blues ExaminerLinda Gruno

Videsh, the Aakash Mittal Quartet

Every so often a jazz project comes out that is new, refreshing, and full of possibilities that cause it to stand apart from most of the jazz music coming out today. Boulder, Colorado-based composer, saxophonist, flautist and clarinet player, Aakash Mittal has created such a project, with his latest self-produced cd Videsh, a jazz suite combining jazz idioms, from free jazz and multi-harmonic melodies with traditional East Indian music. Mittal, at 24, has brought forth a project that shows infinite possibilities. While folks in Colorado are hailing Mittal as something akin to the second coming of Ron Miles, they may be getting ahead of themselves with that wishful thinking. Anyone who has seen Miles play, well knows that a second coming is highly unlikely. But the Mile High City has not seen such originality, and talent, in a jazz musician since Miles broke onto the scene. It is easy to feel the buzz and excitement Mittal has newly generated. Denver’s jazz community would be well-advised to remember that history shows that there was a times when their most favored jazz musician, Miles, could hardly get a booking in his hometown. So where do these facts place Mittal? Only time, his future projects, and the fickle nature of jazz audiences, will tell.  While many will argue that blending jazz with other styles of music can prove to be a musician’s downfall, this is an absurd argument. From the nucleus of jazz, other styles of music have been the base upon which the style was created. It has been a dismaying amazement that jazz fans do not always feel that the influences of other musical styles, and forms should, as a part of natural evolution, become solidly incorporated into jazz. It seems ridiculous that jazz fans should consider Mittal’s Videsh to be such a bold venture, slinking along the edges of jazz. It clearly is not. The essence of jazz is new creation. As a half Indian, half white musician, it seems completely natural that Mittal would come to present both sides of his ethnicity in his art form.  The word, Videsh, means something akin to outlander, foreigner, and stranger. Mittal was inspired to write the music for Videsh from his first trip to his father’s homeland, India. Mittal explains:  “My goal, so to say, was to write music for my jazz quartet that expressed the story of my first trip to India. Jazz is my foremost passion and I always come back to it. I have also been into avante-guard music and "free" jazz sense I first started playing saxophone. A few years after first discovering jazz, I discovered classical Indian music and became passionate about that. More recently I have been exploring rock and hip hop. While many people start their love of music with these genre's I have only discovered them in the past few years. So when writing the music I was inspired by all of these genres. As I mentioned above, I was also trying to write specifically for the members of my band. Not just for guitar but for Matt Fuller. This type of composition in jazz definitely goes back to Duke Ellington if not earlier. Instead of trying to "fuse" instruments from different cultures together I am trying to absorb Indian techniques, musical vocabulary, and themes into the jazz tradition.   I am really into the idea of "acculturation" which is the new culture that is created when two cultures are combined. As a first generation Indian-American I experience both cultures in my identity. As Rudresh Mahanthappa said, there is no precedent for an Indian jazz musician the way there is one for a Latin jazz musician, or third stream jazz musician. We are creating our own. I believe American culture, and therefore jazz as the unique American art music, is a culture of acculturation. I think the mix of cultures and styles that blended to create early jazz in New Orleans is a good example of this. Jazz still continues to absorb other cultures and their traditions just as America does. In the last thirty years there have been increasingly more interactions with south Asian culture as well as south Asian immigrants to America. I think this music is a product of that.”   The quartet that Mittal writes for includes bassist Jon-Luc Davis, drummer Josh Moore, and guitarist Matt Fuller. Mittal’s horn and woodwinds tie the crew together. More important than Mittal’s compositions and tight nature of his quartet, is the fact that even at his youthful age, Mittal shows extreme virtuosity and talent as a player. He already has his own sound. He plays confidently and naturally. Upon an initial listen, it appeared that Mittal may be too ambitious: his combinations of free jazz and ethnic styles sometimes almost appear to clash. One would say that in his case, it might not be possible to serve two masters. Further listening, and reason, soothe these concerns. After all, it is all just music, why should one have to choose? Mittal comments on reactions to his work:  “It seems, from my interactions with people who listen to my music, that my music is perceived as being original. Beyond that everyone seems to bring their own experience to the music and perceives it in vary different ways. People who are into Indian music latch on to that. Some people latch on to the free jazz aspect or just the group sound. Many people have told me that I am combining these eastern and western elements in a unique way that is not really like the "fusions" that have come before. That makes me the happiest. I am simply trying to write and play the music I love, which happens to be kind of eclectic, and express life experiences. I am learning more and more that this will be a continuous journey with no end to it. I hope to continue on it and see where it takes me. In more practical terms I hope to continue to study and learn both about jazz and Indian music. I have several more projects in mind that will be further developments of this. I hope to continue to record, to perform both locally, nationally, and internationally. I hope to develop my ability to compose, teach, and perform. I hope to continue to be inspired by life experiences and try to express them in music. I would like my quartet project to develop into an internationally recognized ensemble someday. I would like to continue to meet other musicians, collaborate, and create new projects. Personally, I hope to continue studying Hindi and one day be fluent. I want to continue to learn how to cook better, dance more, and read and watch more science fiction.”   As a young American, Mittal’s hopes and musings seem perfectly in order. With no knowledge of Mittal’s cooking, dancing, or grasp of science fiction, as one whom has heard only Mittal’s music, I say, watch this flower blossom.

Aakash Mittal Quartet
City pages

By Rick Mason
Published on March 18, 2009 at 3:24am
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They may be a little lost amid the Joshua Redmans and Tierney Suttons on the Dakota's calendar, but interesting things are going on late in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays down on Nicollet. One example is the Aakash Mittal Quartet, a group of young, hot jazz musicians from Colorado who are pursuing an intriguing mix of bop, avant-garde jazz, and East Indian traditional music. Mittal is a versatile alto saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist actively playing everything from jazz, classical, Brazilian, and even funk-rock. In exploring both strands of his U.S./Indian heritage with this quartet, he's obviously following in the similar footsteps of Rudresh Mahanthappa. But it's rich territory, and Mittal and company seem abundantly capable of forging their own path, judging by their debut album, Possible Beginnings. Mittal, guitarist Matt Fuller (whose taut runs, billowy chords, and skittish leads sometimes suggest Larry Coryell), and the supple rhythm section of bassist Jean-Luc Davis and drummer Josh Moore, range from blistering free-jazz to thoughtful ballads like "Vandana," which sidles from Coltrane to ragas. There's also a funk workout ("Funktional Corruption") and exotic syntheses like "Billu," with Mittal's sax engaging in a mesmerizing dodge-and-feint dance with the other instruments. Well worth staying out late for.
Sat., March 21, 11:30 p.m., 2009

Jazz Police

One of the most exciting features of the Twin Cities jazz scene is the Late Night series at the Dakota Jazz Club, initiated a few years ago by musician/jazz entrepreneur Jeremy Walker and now curated by club staffer/trumpeter Dan Eikmeier. Throughout its run, the weekend Late Night gig calendar has offered new, experimental and otherwise unusual music in the after-hours time slot. Usually the musicians are local innovators, and sometimes a debut at Late Night is a prelude to prime time bookings and greater visibility—such as the Atlantis Quartet, Monk in Motian, John Raymond Project. But now and then Dan brings in a ringer—an ensemble from more distant realms. This Saturday, March 21st, at 11:30 pm, Late Night patrons will have the opportunity to experience the cross-cultural explorations of Denver-based alto saxophonist Aakash Mittal and his quartet. With his recent debut release, Possible Beginnings, Mittal is quickly gaining a reputation as a creative composer and iimprovisor.
Aakash Mittal

Aakash Mittal
Cross-culturalism describes Mittal’s own background—his father is from India, his mother from the U.S. Growing up in Texas, Mittal moved to Loveland, CO at 14. He took up saxophone as a student at Loveland High School, and was first attracted to big band swing. A University of Colorado jazz camp prompted his pursuit of jazz studies at the university, and he also dabbled in Brazilian and funk music. But it was his first encounter with paternal relatives (many of whom are musicians)in Chicago, shortly before starting college, that sparked his interest in the music of India. Notes Mittal, “My cousin is a classically trained Hindustani singer. My uncle plays a classical Indian hand drum. They are friends with Ravi Shankar... So I got to jam with them. And before that I had just been playing jazz and listening to Indian music, and then all of a sudden I got to meet all these people that I was related to. So after that, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go in.”

Mittal shares a common heritage with one of his muses, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, an Indian American musician from nearby Boulder, CO (now based in New York) who has been praised for his fusion of traditional Indian music and American post bop. “He is kind of like an older, way more developed version of myself,” Mittal says of Mahanthappa. “Or, I’m more like the younger, less-experienced version of him, is probably more like it.”
These days, Mittal performs all original music with his quartet in Denver/Boulder area venues, leads a standards-based Brazilian duo, and a classical flute and harp duet. He’s performed with some of India’s acclaimed musicians including Ravi Shankar, in pit orchestras including Urintown and with the Loveland Opera Theater’s Magic Flute. A devoted music educator as well as performer, the 24-year-old has run a private lessons studio and has taught ensembles in area high schools, middle and elementary schools. He’s also composed over thirty compositions for jazz quartet and studied classical Indian music in Kolkata, India earlier this year with internationally renowned artists Pandit Tanmoy Bose and Prattyush Banerjee.
Mittal’s quartet includes University of Northern Colorado Professor Matt Fuller on guitar, Denverite Jean-Luc Davis on bass, and Boulder musician Josh Moore on drums.
The Music, Possible Beginnings

East Meets West: The Aakash Mittal Quartet at the Dakota Late Night on March 21st
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Possible Beginnings
Listening to the music of Aakash Mittal, one can hear his diverse influences—John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Johnny Hodges, and of course Rudresh Mahanthappa. Although there’s a gorgeous “Body and Soul” on Mittal’s website, he concentrates on performing original compositions that draw equally from his eastern roots and his American avant garde leanings. “Original music just felt more genuinely me,” Mittal told Glen BurnSilver (Reporter–Herald). “I thought about what I wanted to present and I felt this represented myself and the band more. It was something kind of different. It’s not to say I don’t like standards, but I didn’t feel I needed to do them. I don’t feel like that’s my contribution to music.” Of his compositions, he noted that “It’s more about getting into the groove or playing a scale that’s more exotic in this part of the world... I try to incorporate a groove element into it, so it’s not totally free or totally out. There is freeform stuff, but also the abstract and element of structure within a groove someone might be able to relate with.”

Twelve Mittal compositions tend to flow into each other, creating more of a suite than simply a playlist. Overall the music could serve as the sound track to a film that takes its protagonist around the world, dodging danger and discovering hidden wonders; in some respects the compositions are reminiscent of some of the works of Charles Lloyd, particularly his experiments with flute and taragato. The title track opens with a spacious ambience that suggests the beginning of the universe or the initiation of a wide-ranging adventure. Rising out of a pool of fusion, Mittal unfolds his eastern themes, only to implode in a Coltranish swirl, resolving in waves of sustained elegance. “Choices and Changes” finds the rhythm section weaving a fusion-grooved backdrop to Mittal’s frenetic twists and spins, with harmonies courtesy of Matt Fuller’s guitar.

The buzzy ominous beginning of “Prelude” suggests the soundtrack to a dark thriller. Moore is particularly active in keeping a continuous wash of cymbals beneath Mittal’s almost sinister lines. Building in intensity, the track folds immediately into “Nachana” as if a new day, the music brightening with joyful drum patterns. Fuller’s chords sustain Mittal’s sunnier phrases that twirl and dance in celebration. The guitar solo follows the same agenda of fleet fingering and swirling motion, as does Davis, whose bass tone perfectly mirrors the overall sound sensations of this track.
On the simply titled “Drum Solo,” Moore sets up a solid groove (with hands on drums?), altering the rhythm while tossing in cymbal crashes that build to a climax, then recede. It’s only 90 seconds but he tells a complete story. “Hindustani Song” is the intersection where Bombay meets funk. Percussion and bass establish a funk groove, while Mittal and Fuller create a conversation of Old World themes, back and forth and in counterpoint, filling their lines with provocation and eccentric harmonies, hints of east meets west. Electronic effects from guitar provide a mesh for Davis to pluck and bow on “Alaap,” a dirge-like etude. Oddly melodic, sliding and slithering from high to low register, this track leads directly into the Byzantine “Billu.” The bowed bass continues its trance-like state until interrupted by Moore’s clicky sticks and low level thumps. Mittal’s snakey sax alternates with Fuller’s guitar lines, the two coming together in a seductive sparring that builds until the fever breaks, resolving in a less furious, equally powerful statement.
On “Raja,” Mittal’s flute sings beautifully over guitar. Davis and Moore set up a soft vamp, Fuller adds a line of sweetly harmonious chords as Mittal launches his journey. Fuller is at his most melodic, linear but filled with curves rather than angles. Flute and guitar braid a line of hypnotic repetition before the flute rises to lead the ensemble in a vigorous dance before flute and guitar resolve together. “Funktional Corruption” is indeed a funky conversation between sax and rhythm section, which here strongly suggests Fender Rhodes. Slow bubbling passages are interspersed with sudden eruptions and whirling dervishes. “Vandana” brings a welcome calm after the preceding thunderstorm. Mittal’s centerpiece, an unaccompanied solo, takes exquisite flight. There are a number of “Possible Endings,” each musician getting his own space, starting with a flurry of percussion, then unison statement from guitar and sax, commentary from bass, leading into a more sharp-turned conversation among the ensemble to close the set.
Late Night Treasures
Those who can sustain enough energy to keep their ears wide open after hours are often richly rewarded by the Late Night at the Dakota sets, and on Saturday, March 21st, the rewards will be many as we welcome the Aakaash Mittal Quartet to the Twin Cities. Take a nap and come early to hear another aural treat as the Chiara String Quartet fills the prime time slot at 7:30 pm, followed by vocalist Regina Carter at 9 pm.
The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis; www.dakotacooks.com. Reservations recommended for the 7:30 pm show. Cover for Late Night only $5. Late sets start at 11:30 pm! Possible Beginnings will be available at the show and from CD Baby at http://cdbaby.com/cd/tamq

Aakash Mittal Quartet
Star Tribune
A fiery alto saxophonist and prolific composer, Colorado-based Aakash Mittal is in the area with his quartet for a Concordia College clinic, and has parlayed that outstate academic visit into an enticing late-night Minneapolis gig. Mittal taps into his East Indian heritage often, and comes up with farflung post-bop, bracing fusion and entrancing world jazz. It's music full of intensity and rhythmic challenge. Mittal's been compared to, and endorsed by, the better-known Rudresh Mahanthappa. His savvy quartet -- Matt Fuller (guitar), Jean-Luc Davis (bass), and Josh Moore (drums) -- impresses with both its ambition and cohesion on the debut CD, "Possible Beginnings." If these guys were in Manhattan instead of the Rockies, they'd likely be generating a sizable buzz. Tom Surowicz

Boulder's Aakash Mittal blends modern jazz and Indian music

By Vince Darcangelo  
Thursday, December 18, 2008 Boulder Daily Camera

Earlier this year, local saxophonist and flutist Aakash Mittal made his first trip to India, a cultural and musical journey that inspired the jazz performer to pen the music for his next CD, Videsh, which he will likely begin recording in January with the Aakash Mittal Quartet.
The foursome, which combines modern jazz with Indian modes and scales, will play some of this new material, as well as tracks off its debut CD, Possible Beginnings, on Sunday at the b.side lounge.
"I'm really into this idea of acculturation, the culture that's created when two cultures come together," Mittal says of his original compositions. "I'm into that for a lot of reasons, partly because I think jazz is a musical acculturation.
"The way jazz and American culture is good at absorbing other cultures, I'm trying to absorb these Indian elements into jazz," he says, "adding in elements of Indian melodies or Indian-sounding modes or scales."
The Boulder-based jazz player, who graduated with a degree in saxophone performance from the University of Colorado, has always been fascinated with merging cultures, as his father is from India, his mother from America.
The amalgamation of these two traditions, he says, created an entirely new one.
"I grew up in this other culture that draws from both," Mittal says.
The same goes for his music. The 12 tracks on Possible Beginnings draw together these diverse musical elements, but in doing so create something unique.
"I'm not trying to force it to sound particularly Indian or jazz-like," Mittal says.
He says the compositions wouldn't work if he tried to make one style fit into the framework of the other, especially considering that much jazz improvisation is harmonic, whereas Indian music, which also involves a lot of improvisation, utilizes more rhythm and melody. The result is a new sound, in part inspired by the increasing contact between the two cultures.
"It's a new niche that's slowly creeping out," Mittal says.
For the musically timid, Mittal also doubles as a tour guide. For the past six years he's been a private music instructor and he is a faculty member of Boulder's Lesson School, a music instruction studio. When performing, Mittal likes to talk a little about each song, as well as the features of the Indian music that will be heard in the songs -- for example, how Indian music is comprised of ragas, a series of melodic modes, each corresponding to a different time of day or a different season.
"I usually try to give the audience a little bit of the actual knowledge of what it is," Mittal says. "I also like to tell the stories behind the pieces that I write."
Mittal hopes to return to India early next year to study more Indian music, and plans to release Videsh later in the year, perhaps in the fall. For now, though, his quartet is finishing off a very successful year with Sunday's performance at the b.side.
"It's going to be high-energy original jazz," Mittal says. "You can expect to hear something new, and it will have a good groove to it."

The Aakash Mittal Quartet
Possible Beginnings Self-released
By Jon Solomon
Published: May 22, 2008

In the liner notes of his debut, Aakash Mittal asserts that every moment can be the start of something new or the end of something old, and that "through improvisation we seek to create something new from the old." On Beginnings (slated for release at Dazzle on Thursday, May 29), the 23-year-old alto saxophonist and flutist underscores this notion while drawing as much from his Eastern Indian roots (a lot of songs were inspired by family members) as from the annals of jazz history. With some solid backing from guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis and drummer Josh Moore, Mittal proves that he has the skills to go far, suggesting that Possible Beginnings is indeed just the start for this talented young player.

The Aakash Mittal Quartet –

Possible Beginnings

By Greta Cornett
Scene Magazine
Possible Beginnings and the Aakash Mittal Quartet bring an amazing lineup of all original music and local talent to the plate: UNC professor Matt Fuller on guitar, Denver’s own Jean-Luc Davis on bass, and Boulder musician Josh Moore on drums. And, of course, Aakash Mittal, who plays alto saxophone, flute and composes the songs.
The liner notes sum up the album: “Every moment is a possible beginning and possible ending because [they] are only matters of perspective… Through improvisation we seek to create something new from the old.” Each song takes you through beginnings and endings and everything in between.
My favorite song on the album is “Funktional Corruption”. It not only has some of the most technically difficult solos on the whole album, but also explores rhythms and modes, while keeping the listener interested and excited.
The musicianship of each person in the band is top notch and I found myself longing to play along to the tracks. Moore and Davis are so tight together as a rhythm section. Moore has such tasty chops on the drums; filling in spaces where needed and giving the soloists room to move around. And he breaks loose where he feels it. Davis adds to this by staying in the pocket and keeping the groove going, be it a slow number or something more swinging – and he can solo. Fuller plays counter melodies with Davis, adds to the rhythm section, and shares the heads and the soloing with Mittal. Mittal plays a mean sax and flute and definitely takes some of the best solos I have heard in a while.

UNITED WAYS
By ELLIOTT JOHNSTON
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Loveland-based sax player Aakash Mittal uses jazz to explore his Indian roots.

Aakash Mittal admits to being a chai tea snob. But he isn’t, really. Most people who exercise the kind of aggressive opinionating that calls for snobbery classification don’t dabble in Mittal’s humble exuberance. Indeed, if Mittal is a snob, he is a subtle one: His symmetrical, infectious smile takes the edge off any condescension.

While preparing a potfull of masala chai in the kitchen of his mother’s lovely, big-windowed historical home in downtown Loveland, he argues for a better American understanding of traditional chai, one that doesn’t suppose spin-offs like Oregon Chai to be the original recipe.

“I always like to say that, nowadays, because most of the time it’s just really sweet, and you can’t taste the tea or anything,” he says. “Masala chai is just what they call it in India, which is basically black tea with spices.”

Not that there is a strict blueprint for masala chai. In India, many families have their own special version. Mittal says he and his sister are constantly competing to brew a better mix. Indeed, like jazz, Mittal’s first musical love, improvisation is part of the tradition.

Once Mittal’s chai is poured, it is certainly different than the Starbuckian breed. It isn’t masked with vanilla or a mountain of milk froth. His chai has a bold, earthy taste, highlighted by ginger; it takes on a sandy, tan color that tints the walls of a white cup.

While Mittal freely serves up his Indian culture, he equally mines his American roots. A 23-year-old alto sax and flute player, whose father is of Indian descent and whose mother is Caucasian, Mittal sees his music — a regionally unique blend of American jazz and classical Indian music — as much a genealogical interrogation as an aesthetic adventure.

Mittal grew up in Texas, and moved to Loveland at the age of fourteen. Soon after, he was turned on to jazz during a camp held at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he went on to earn a degree in saxophone performance a year ago. He first met his father’s side of the family, many of whom are Indian musicians, in Chicago, just before he started college. Getting to know them was a transformative experience.

“My cousin is a classically trained Hindustani singer,” Mittal explains. “My uncle plays a classical Indian hand drum. They are friends with Ravi Shankar. Like Ravi Shankar has dinner with them when he comes to Chicago. So I got to jam with them. And before that I had just been playing jazz and listening to Indian music, and then all of a sudden I got to meet all these people that I was related to. So after that, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go in.”

Mittal’s debut album, Possible Beginnings, enlists a jazz quartet, which includes University of Northern Colorado music professor Matt Fuller on guitar, Denver-based Jean-Luc Davis on bass, and Boulderite Josh Moore on drums. On tracks like “Funktational Corruption” the four sound like an arty, modern jazz group, with Mittal squawking and blaring a manic sax lead over a thunderous groove. On others, Mittal’s classical Indian influence is salient.

Without using any Indian instruments (besides an electronic box that imitates the drone of a tambura) the quartet use their jazz setup to incorporate Indian ideas.

“Billu” is a particularly intoxicating fusion: Moore provides a trance-inducing Eastern backbeat, over which Davis bows his bass, Mittal yanks snake-charming melodies out of his sax, and Fuller adds some cinematically low guitar notes. Then, in true jazz fashion, the listener is slapped out of his daze by a frenetic rollercoaster of notes.

When philosophizing on his musical approach, Mittal likes to use the word “acculturation.” While his argument is compelling, inspiring even, it adds an interesting complexity to his disdain for Oregon Chai, which, like his music, is a uniquely American mashup.

“I think a lot about heritage,” he says. “I really feel, the more I get into the stuff, the more and more [I feel] strongly American. And one thing about jazz is it’s definitely considered by most authorities one of the truly original American art forms that has not come before. And it only has developed in America from American culture. So, that’s kind of cool.

“Really, our whole culture here is a blend of all these other different cultures, whether we realize it or not. Whether it is really obvious or not. I think, for me, it’s a little more obvious in some sense, because I go to one family reunion and it’s like Indian food — Hindu chai and stuff like that — and another family reunion is like small-town Nebraska, you know. And they are both great. They bring out different things.”

One of Mittal’s heroes is the Boulder-raised, Brooklyn-based, Indian American sax player Rudresh Mahanthappa. Mahanthappa has gained notoriety over the past five years for pioneering the kind of Indian music via avant-garde jazz that Mittal is now exploring. The two share similar biographies. Both spent their formative years in Colorado, and both have used their jazz backgrounds to delve deeper into their Indian family trees.

“He is kind of like an older, way more developed version of myself,” Mittal says of Mahanthappa. “Or, I’m more like the younger, less-experienced version of him, is probably more like it. I actually got him to give me a quote for a press kit, because we are actually kind of on friendly terms. And he was like, ‘I would be remiss if I didn’t say you copped a lot of my shit,’ but he said something like, ‘Aakash Mittal stands to make a contribution to modern jazz.’”

Mahanthappa’s poke at Mittal is more a mark of Mittal’s relatively young career than a defining statement. At 23, Mittal is just starting a journey that many jazz players extend into their golden years. And while Mittal has yet to reach the upper echelons of modern jazz as Mahanthappa has, Mittal’s music certainly deserves the attention of the Front Range. In fact, the enthusiasm of Colorado audiences gave Mittal the confidence to record his ambitious debut.

“In some ways I do feel really young,” Mittal says. “And I was almost kind of hesitant with the recording actually at first. Because I felt like I was almost going to put this requirement on myself, like, ‘Oh, I should pay some dues first, shouldn’t I? I’m just getting out of school; I’m just getting on the scene. Should I just play a bunch of traditional jazz standards for a while?’ But people just kept asking, ‘Do you have a CD?’ I just kept getting this message that I should make a CD.”

And, when Mittal explains his album’s title, Possible Beginnings comes to reflect not just the roots of his inspiration, but the youthful ardor with which he approaches his craft.

“Like I wrote in the liner notes,” he says, brightly. “This is only the beginning. And I really try to remind myself that, and I really feel that way. That everything is almost the beginning.”

World influence Aakash Mittal Quartet blends jazz, classical Indian music
By Glenn BurnSilver The Reporter-Herald

While jazz is often considered an American art form, with the Aakash Mittal Quartet, jazz takes on an international flavor.
Growing up, band-namesake and current Loveland resident and saxophone instructor Aakash Mittal heard enough of his native East Indian music that it soaked into his unconscious. Now those sounds come to light as his compositions meld the straight-ahead with avant-garde, modern with classical East Indian inflections.
“It’s more about getting into the groove or playing a scale that’s more exotic in this part of the world,” he says about his early influences on his writing. “I think of it as the groove we’re all attracted to before we really know what it is. Before I even had a clue what it was, I would put on a record and be captivated by it.”
But Mittal was also drawn to the likes of John Coltrane, Jackie McLean and other progressive bop players. By the same accord, Duke Ellington’s saxman Johnny Hodges also grabbed Mittal’s ear. Thus, Mittal’s debut album “Possible Beginnings” drifts though a variety of styles, some with that Indian element, others more freeform, bop or laced with experimental moments.
“I try to incorporate a groove element into it, so it’s not totally free or totally out,” Mittal says. “There is freeform stuff, but also the abstract and element of structure within a groove someone might be able to relate with.”
His band, guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis and drummer Josh Moore had no problem relating to the material Mittal had written. Having met in college in Boulder, and working together in a variety of settings over many years, Mittal was confident this band could create the music he envisioned.
“We linked musically as far as the specific kind of music we play,” he says. “I wrote the tunes out and they were very excited to rehearse it, and the sound came out of that.”

“Possible Beginnings” revolves around a theme of change. Mittal created the piece when he was halfway though college as new things were emerging in his life, both personally and professionally. The title track exemplifies this, beginning with a subtly hypnotic theme of Indian origin that quitely lures the listener in, before exploding like a flower bursting from the ground in a sped-up, time-lapsed film. The music radiates a buoyant freedom of expression associated with an awakening, a realization. This carries on through the album of moving and inventive originals that touch many of the important elements of jazz, but via fresh ideas and angles.
That this is a debut album of all originals also shows the level of confidence and daring of this young artist.
“Original music just felt more genuinely me,” he says. “I thought about what I wanted to present and I felt this represented myself and the band more. It was something kind of different. It’s not to say I don’t like standards, but I didn’t feel I needed to do them. I don’t feel like that’s my contribution to music.”
Mittal pauses, then adds, “When I thought about what I love and what I wanted to add (to music in general), it was to make this modern music with an Indian flavor to it.”

Aakash Mittal Quartet melds jazz, Indian sounds
STACY NICK

By STACY NICK
StacyNick@coloradoan.com

Jazz is to music what America is to the world, according to Aakash Mittal.

American culture is one of acculturation, and so is jazz, said the Loveland sax/flute player. It's such a blend of cultures, which is very American sounding.

The music he plays with The Aakash Mittal Quartet follows suit, mixing traditional and avant-garde jazz with East Indian music. But it wasn't something he created with that intention.

"It just comes from having a love of both styles," Mittal said. "I just wanted to do something that was authentically me. The (celebration of) both my American and Indian heritage."

Both are clear in the quartet's self-produced debut CD, "Possible Beginnings."

"I like that name because I really wanted to document where I and the band are right now," Mittal said. "I was hesitant to record it (at first) because I wasn't sure if I needed to pay more of my dues before doing a CD. But people kept on asking for one at shows and venues were too, and we were missing out on opportunities. There were all these signs that we should just buckle down and do this... (The name came from) the idea that anything can be seen as a beginning at any time."

The quartet, which frequently plays local clubs and bars, is made up of Mittal, UNC guitar professor Matt Fuller, Denver-based bassist Jean-Luc Davis and Boulder-based drummer Josh Moore.

Mittal got his musical start as a student at Loveland High School, taking up the saxophone during the big neo-swing trend. That's where he saw his sound going until attending a jazz camp where "I got my first taste for real jazz music."

From there Mittal dabbled in several jazz groups, including a Brazilian jazz duo, and a funk band.

"I like being versatile and playing in a lot of different settings," he said