Pi Recordings is very pleased to announce that at last night’s Jazz Journalists Association awards presentation, Rudresh Mahanthappa was named Alto Saxophonist of the Year. This is the first time that Rudresh has been given this honor, but we think, probably not the last. We would like to congratulate Rudresh and thank all of the journalists who voted for him.

posted June 17, 2009 by Seth

What an exciting week for Pi Recordings!

Our latest release: Steve Lehman Octet’s Travail, Transformation, & Flow is out, and the critical accolades have been amazing. Nate Chinen in The New York Times put it in his Critic’s Pick list, calling it “Superb…a perfectly ultramodern gesture.” Ben Ratliff, also of The Times, also gave it a rave review in this feature on radio station WBGO’s great new show: The Checkout. While you are there, be sure to “check out” this INTERVIEW with Steve conducted by show host Josh Jackson. Finally, over at our favorite blog Destination Out, Chilly Jay and Prof. Drew LeDrew, were nice enough to preview the CD for their readers.

But enough for Steve, we have a new BLOG post from our resident smart kid and fine musician Rafiq Bhatia. He took the words right out of our mouths, except he’s more articulate with those words. There is also a nice link from NPR’s fine new blog, where Patrick Jarenwattananon wrote that Pi Recordings “seems to put out at least one of my favorite new releases every year.” Wow! Thanks Patrick!

If you are in New York City this week, be sure to come to The Vision Festival. The lineup is fantastic as usual, and it’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in music and mingle with this super-friendly community of music lovers. Seth and I will be there selling all of our great releases, T-shirts and other goodies. Be sure to stop by and say hi!

posted June 10, 2009 by Yulun

Great news! Muhal Richard Abrams, a founder of the AACM and a dear friend of Pi Recordings has been named a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master for 2010! The recipients will be honored in a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 12, 2010. Check out Muhals latest releases: Vision Towards Essence and Streaming for just a small sense of all that Muhal has accomplished in his long and illustrious career.

Congratulations Muhal!

posted May 21, 2009 by Yulun

You are in for a treat if you are in New York this week – Marc Ribot is having a 55th birthday celebration and festival at venues all over town. Go to our Events page for all the listings. He’ll be revisiting many of his various projects, the sheer breadth of which is astounding. You can read more about them in The Village Voice, Time Out New York and Billboard.

Happy birthday Marc!

posted May 8, 2009 by Yulun

Due to overwhelming demand, we have extended our sale on all things Rudresh Mahanthappa and his incredible CD Kinsmen. to the end of April. Purchase a copy of Kinsmen at our regular price and get ANY other CD in the Pi Recordings catalog for only $12 ($18 for double CDs) all with one flat shipping fee. For a limited time only, we also have Rudresh’s other acclaimed release Apti out on Innova Records and Black Water, his early release on Red Giant. Among other CDs that you might find interesting include Rudresh’s other releases on Pi: Codebook and Mother Tongue. He is also prominently featured on the Vijay Iyer Quartet recordings Blood Sutra and Reimagining and in duo with Vijay on Raw Materials. Finally, he is an important part of Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers, a ground-breaking synthesis of jazz with the Iraqi Maqam. You can also pick up a limited edition Kinsmen T-shirt on sale for $18 with the purchase of a Kinsmen CD. We hope you take advantage of this chance to discover more innovative jazz on Pi Recordings. (Note that the discount prices will not show up in your cart but will be reflected on your charge.)

posted March 19, 2009 by Yulun

Check out the latest BLOG entry from our own Rafiq Bhatia, where he interviews alto saxophonist / composer Steve Lehman about his music and upcoming CD release on Pi, Travail, Transformation, and Flow.

posted March 17, 2009 by Yulun

We have new releases on the horizon! First up is “Cries from tha Ghetto” from Corey Wilkes, one of the hottest young trumpeters on the scene today. Corey is one of the busiest musicians in Chicago and was hand-picked by Roscoe Mitchell to join The Art Ensemble of Chicago, replacing the legendary Lester Bowie. He also plays and tours extensively with other heavy hitters like James Carter, Kahil ElZabar and Will Calhoun of Living Colour. “Cries…” shows off Corey’s incredible range as a musician, a mastery of every corner of jazz. If you can stand toe-to-toe with both Roscoe Mitchell and James Carter on stage night after night, you better be able to bring it. Read more about the CD and hear some tracks right HERE. You can get a copy right now, only from us, in advance of the official release date on April 28th.

posted March 17, 2009 by Yulun

The hits keep on coming for Rudresh Mahanthappa and his CD Kinsmen. This time, he is featured on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, in an extensive interview with Terry Gross. You can listen to that along with Howard Mandel’s NPR piece HERE.

Also this week, Peter Margasak in the Chicago Reader called Kinsmen “a paradigm shift, accomplishing his most dramatic and insightful fusion yet of jazz and Indian classical music. It delivers a downright ecstatic jolt, with Mahanthappa’s bright tone gaining energy and depth in the presence of the more stately improvisations of the great Kadri Gopalnath…”

posted March 12, 2009 by Yulun

We are so pleased to let everyone know that the new issue of the New Yorker features an article by Gary Giddins on Rudresh Mahanthappa’s two new recordings Kinsmen and Apti. Without question Giddins is one of the top voices writing about music today and this article is one of the best that we have read on Rudresh, his music and in particular his collaboration with Kadri Gopalnath. Giddins writes: “Kinsmen is a momentous achievement that will be around for a long time to come.” Please read it and enjoy.

posted February 24, 2009 by Seth

Rudresh Mahanthappa has posted a very personal introduction to Indian classical music on the Destination:Out blog. It provides some rich insight into how this music provides melodic and rhythmic inspiration for his own work.

posted February 2, 2009 by Yulun