One of the Most Enjoyable Albums of the Year
Stephen Silberman | SF, CA USA | 05/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is what "jam band" music should be and almost never is: collaborative music that is both tight and exploratory, impressively fresh in its palette of sounds yet full of the traditional jazz values of empathy and swing. Don't be put off by the marketing of this album as "deep trance groove" -- this is not another yawn-worthy electronic/world-beat hybrid with tablas sitting in for a drum machine, but a true meeting of Eastern and Western sensibilities boasting melodies that you can't get out of your head. Fans of everyone from Miles Davis to the Grateful Dead to "Mwandishi"-era Herbie Hancock should give this a listen -- it might be just what you're waiting for.
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Masterpiece Arriving On Time To Save A Drowning Witch
TUCO H. | Los Angeles, CA | 05/06/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This one delivers the goods in spades. Fareed, I congratulate you, you have created not only one of my favorite albums but one I already know is a masterwork for the ages.
This is a jazz/rock/indian/funk/world/Pop fusion album of the FIRST order. Not only a musician's journey but an artist's statement on a par with anything John McLaughlin or Joe Zawinul have ever done WITHOUT being a Jazz record of any kind made within the constrictive confines of the jazz discipline. That's what sets it apart. The fact that it is not rooted in jazz and is not JAZZ-FUSION but the other way around, it somehow has everything else rooted and then uses the improvisational freedom of jazz to add dimension to an already organic achievement. If the legendary band Shakti was the first major step in this direction, Subramaniam/Strunz the second, and Hellborg/Lane/Selvaganesh the third, then this is all of them combined & fused with a new mysterious essence of many subtle parts yet to be identified, some of which overlap the communications which were achieved by hippie rock bands like CSN, Grateful Dead and others of which extend from influences such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pat Metheny Group & in the last few years, the originators of the avant-garde jam-band scene: Medeski, Martin & Wood. Haque has played with MM & W in the past & his other band Garaj Mahal also has a 'jam-band' reputation, but this is very different. None of this sounds like 'Only A Great Jam.' This is WHERE IT ALL COMES TOGETHER. Will it stay together for a few albums? As long a run as Weather Report in the '70s perhaps? Let's hope so. FUN is the operative word here. It's been a long time since I've had so much fun listening to such superior musicianship. None of it is downer and none of it is depressing WITHOUT being trite and shallow. It is as deep as they come and yet fully life-affirming & non-cynical. Fun also means you can have a big old headache and not be in the mood even for Chopin or Bach but still want to listen to this music. A kid would enjoy this if given the chance. Nothing here is over anybody's head who can use their ears.
If you want to get into a little pseudo-analysis of music with words, here are some of my own approximations and pontifications in the direction of why this album is great:
First & foremost fantastic compositions that are super-cool & uncompromised but at the same time melodic and beautiful which is to say not too hip for their own good. Second, the great tunes incorporate truly incredible virtuoso guitar/bass/keyboard/drums/percussion work of every shade imaginable. Acoustic, electric, lound, soft, fast, slow, funky, forwards, backwards, you name it. These guys don't care about categories, they throw in anything they can think of and manage to make it work. Third, the work has AMBIENCE and ATMOSPHERE enough for an Eno album but is at the same time Meditative without being comatose. And fourth, there are NO CHEESY SOUNDING SYNTHS on this CD! I can't tell you how many great songs and albums have been ruined by the use of a cheesy synth sound in the past. The keyboard sounds on this album are all supremely tasteful without going back to some ridiculous ancient distorted Fender Rhodes Bitches Brew re-hash or a way too-thick sounding Medeski type organ sound.
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Track Listings (11) - Disc #1