There’s no doubt that US pianist Vijay Iyer has become one of the more talked about pianists in recent years excelling in different formats and drawing on hitherto little known pathways into jazz via his south Indian roots. His long time playing partner Rudresh Mahanthappa, playing last night at the Vortex for the first time with Iyer in the duo they call Raw Materials, is an ideal foil to the cerebral Iyer, adding gruffly melodic decoration to Iyer’s sometimes impenetrable but always captivating runs.

Fast, with a beautiful sour tone and thick voicings, Mahanthappa dominated the early sections of the gig but if you listened carefully, what Iyer was doing was equally fascinating, drawing harmonic depth from his deep well of ideas and skipping before and after Mahanthappa in deft out of time sequences and darting start-stop themes.

The improvisations were long but full of variation and imagination and the pair had the packed Vortex rapt throughout. While at times you could hear Indian rhythms and melodies emerging from the wealth of ideas the pair produced, the merging with post-bop jazz was a seamless mix which worked beautifully throughout. Judging by the reception given to the pair surely it can’t be long before they’re back again.

– Stephen Graham