Search - Suvarna :: This Dewdrop World

Great Musicianship, Good Songs, But not a perfect CD!

Brahms Scholar | Los Angeles | 03/30/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Since know one has reviewed this CD, I thought that I would try to give you some idea of what you will hear. To get a sound sample of the CD you will have to go to [....]; It's worth the effort; that way you can grasp the point that I am making with my review.



This CD is wonderfully produced and recorded. The sound is clean and spacious throughout. One would be hard pressed to find music more spacious and open. Martyn Phillips did a great job of shaping the sound. The musicianship is also of the highest caliber. The CD begins with "Heart of Tara", a flowing rhythmic piece that is the strongest of the bunch. The second track "This Dew Drop World" is quite lovely. I especially like the beginning. Suvarna's velvety voice along with the music produces a gentle effect that eases you forward, just like a dew drop inching it's way over the surface of a leaf--great song indeed.



The reason that I gave this CD 4 stars was because all the songs are not 5 star material. The best songs are the two I just mentioned. The rest are good mind you, but they don't quite reach the level of the first two. I think this is why they put these two tracks first in the Album--in order to get it off to a good start. The other problem is Suvarna's singing. Although her voice is clear and bell-like, and her delivery is as smooth as the surface of a quiet lake, she doesn't seem to have a very wide range of improvisational ability. Her method of embellishment was to continually use the flowing "aah" sound. She uses this approach to great effect, but she does this throughout the entire CD. At first you are quite moved by it, especially on the first track. You should go back and listen to it just to see what I mean. The problem is that to do this throughout the entire CD is rather noticeable with repeated listening. Almost every single song has this long "aah" type of embellishment in it. And just to prove my point, track 7 (Deniz) is 3 1/2 minutes of this with the music going nowhere at all. When I first listened to it I waited for the music to really pickup but it never did. It just sat there in kind of a static groove with Suvarna adding her ooh's and aah's, and then it ended. I always skip track 7. The last track (Nanak's Song) would have been a great vehicle for the nice tabla playing that is heard on Tracks 1,2, and 5; but unfortunately the tabla is completely missing, and in it's place is a clicking beat that sounds like what you get when you press your tongue against your teeth and pull it away very quickly. I know that this sounds rather critical but on a good stereo this clicking is rather loud.



In the future I would hope that Suvarna really opens up her Sanskrit improvisation the way Jai Uttal has for instance. If I were to compare this CD to say Deva Primal's "Embrace", I would say that Suvarna's CD would come out squarely on top. Suvarna's voice along with the musicianship are definitely on this level. This CD really is that good; not 5 full stars, but very good. It's just that she seems somewhat at a loss when the singing calls for a more developed improvisational approach in some of the more open places. In this spacious style of music there is no were to hide, so if she plans to continue with this type of recording, it would be a good idea for her to improve her improvisation skills a little. Her previous CDs were more music synthesizer and production driven, so there was no need to add much improvisation over and above the melody. If you aren't burdened with a critical ear such as I have, you may not mind these shortcomings at all. Yet, keep in mind that the price will come out to $20.00 when you purchase this CD alone. I think that's worth being critical :-) Make sure to listen to the sound samples and make your own decision. Good luck!

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