Rudresh Mahanthappa - Mother Tongue

'Mother Tongue' is Indian-American composer and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's musical attempt to dispel the mistaken notion that India, with its multiple cultures, religions and hundreds of spoken languages and dialects, is one homogenous culture.

In response to having been repeatedly asked: Do you speak Indian? or Do you speak Hindu? Rudresh has created compositions that are directly based on melodic transcriptions of various Indian-Americans' indignant responses in their native Indian tongues to these questions. Rudresh, Vijay Iyer (piano), Francois Moutin (bass), and Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums), interpret and reconfigure seven languages of India through their own musical language. The astounding results make up the core of this CD.