Search - Baraka :: Baraka

I LOVE this CD!

LadyBytes | Southern California | 05/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The more I hear Baraka, the more I love it! As an artist/designer, I always play music while I work. Baraka has proven to be very stimulating to that creative place in me (especially the title song track #7). My mind and spirit are carried by the melodies of this CD to exotic places and other times. They have stirred up memories of my past, and visions of my dreams.Baraka has quickly become one of the permanent residents in my CD carousel.I can't say it enough ... I LOVE this CD!"

What Type of Music is this? Who cares......it's great!

Douglas J. Hultsman | Corinth, Texas United States | 10/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I will often buy 4 or 5 unknown CD's, throw them randomly in my car's CD changer, and then find out which of them rock, and which of them blow.This was the one that most caught my attention out of several others due to its infectious blend of Latin rhythms, world dance vibes and outstanding musicianship. This one keeps you guessing at every turn, never becoming repetitive or boring(one of my pet peeves, and the reason I've slammed several other such "new world meets old world" outings by other artists).Robby Longley plays all of the stringed instruments, add voices and "incidental" percussion, while Ken Minardi mans everything from keyboards to flutes to orchestrations as well as the drum programming.The CD starts out with a Middle Eastern style and vocal on INCEPTION, before launching into the lively and joyous CLIMBING KILIMANJARO, that includes a slower introspective middle section replete with a nice flamenco style guitar work. BERCEUSE(FOR ELAINE)slows down the pace, with a nice soft piano and classical guitar.WILD LIFE and WHO IS, WHO HAS NO NAME pick the pace back up a bit, with excellent guitar workouts and nice keyboard textures. NO NAME also includes a nice minimalist vocal by Antonio Silecchio. FIREWALKER is done in a nouveau flamenco style with a fantastic middle section of beautiful classical guitar arpeggios & soloing by Mr. Longley.The ambient style start to the title track BARAKA draws you in until joined by a lovely classical guitar at the 2:44 mark, with infectious percussion and a sitar drone to round out the mix. At around the 5:30 mark, it jumps to a little faster pace, with some well done frenetic picking and strumming before landing with a grand pipe organ solo on the Sauer Orgel from Halle, Germany.....Simply fantastic!Next, it's the lovely island magic of CORONA DEL MAR. My only complaint is about the incongruous use of a "cheap" sounding synth trumpet sample that lessens the overall impact of this well arranged tune. OK, so I'm nit-picking a bit! It's still very good!The CD starts to wind down with one more energetic "blast" on ZOMBO COMBO before landing softly with a more synthesized version of track number 3, BERCEUSE(REPRISE).Oddly enough, even though there are only 10 tracks listed on the liner, there is an eleventh, with 00:17 of silence before a voice says "Earth, 62" (which first shows up in ZOMBO COMBO).This one is a stone groove from start to finish, and well worth the purchase price. I found it much more enjoyable and timeless than some other more highly touted releases."