"Many times in music we are easily disappointed when a child follows a parent into the arts. This seems especially true with attempts at song craft or mastering instruments.
The offspring of great artists typically borrow too much and fail to create their own niche. I am pleasantly surprised to hear this isn't the state of affairs with Shujaat Hussain Khan, son of sitar master Ustad Vilayat Khan. He not only steps beyond strict Indian classical music, chooses a spike fiddler for a collaborator, but I also find his deft touch and pluck deliciously sharp and watery. Perhaps this is influenced by his belonging to the Imdad Khan School of the sitar where the style of playing is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice. Along as a passenger, an ideal sonic friend, the mercurial Iranian Kamancheh player Kayhan Kaldor.
Sweet, timeless, music. Driving stories, full of images and emotions."
Tranquil and Passionate
Fosdick Fong | Calgary, Alberta Canada | 07/11/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't know much about the Indian and Persian music but my mind feels both tranquil and passionate listening to this beautiful CD. The dialogue between the sitar and the kamancheh is most interesting. Ghazal's singing voice is even better than that on the other CD "As Night Falls on the Silk Road" (although I must confess that I don't understand what he sings). Recording quality is top-notch. Highly recommended."
Hindu-Persian Beauty
Fereydoun | New York | 12/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Few CDs from my 4000 collection of CDs get into my car for a long ride as frequently as The Rain. I just cannot have enough of Kalhor's kamancheh sound and the peaceful Hindu-Persian feeling that it evokes. The sound brings back for me the memories of my younger days at my aunt's Safavid era house in the Northern Iran city of Rasht and the peaceful Zoroastrian temples of Iran and India where I spent a lifetime of happy hours. This is a keeper."
It's Mostly Indian
Rizgar | Sweden | 11/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"
This is undoubtedly their best album. Altough two pieces of the three presented here are from their earlier albums, they now play them in a much more improved way. The audio engineering is perfect too.
The Indian influence is clearly stronger than the Persian one here exept for some imrovisational movements. Nevertheless, the collaboration between Shujaat and Kayhan remains a very good idea considering the fact that they would never be able to reach this success as solists..
I Highly Recommended This Album!!"
First rate
Patrick J. OBrien | Baltimore | 01/03/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"During a cab ride I took in New York, the driver played a CD of some Indian music which included a male voice as well as sitar, tabla and tambura. I asked him what it was and he wrote the name "Ghazal" as well as some other words that didn't show up on the Amazon search. The Rain is not the same CD and I'm not sure if it's even the same artist. The cab driver's CD was pure classical Indian and The Rain is a sort of fusion of Indian and Persian. If I made a mistake buying this CD it was a very lucky mistake because the quality of the music is very high. The interaction among the players is of a very high calibre, like that of the very best jazz combos as they take a motif and work it as if it were composed but with such a feel of spontaneity which is so much the excitment of improvisational music. I suppose that many people would like to find a piece of music like this if they only knew where to look. I got lucky with this one and I recommend it highly."