Pleasing for fans of the genre, but nothing new or innovativ
ShriDurga | 06/16/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Tulku is a Tibetan word for a reincarnated Buddhist master, a Bodhisatva who returns to the corporeal world again and again to help sentient beings along the path to enlightenment. Perhaps the most well known Tulku is the current incarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Then there's Jim Wilson. As far as I know he doesn't claim to be Buddhist, nor a reincarnated Bodhisatva, just a boy born of American Indian and Irish parents who loves music in all its infinite varieties. Early in his career he played country swing, country rock, produced a Grammy Award wining zydeco album, and then developed a life-long interest in Native American music, recognized in 2005 with a Grammy Award for his production, Sacred Ground.
Reflecting an expanded interest in indigenous music, Wilson launched a world beat project in the mid 90's seeking to preserve the traditional sound, the old soul, in a new body. And thus Tulku was born in its first incarnation, 1995's Transcendence. Since then there have been two other incarnations, 1998's Season of Souls, and 2002's A Universe to Come, all of them the product of close collaboration with American kirtan singers Khrishna Das and Jai Uttal.
The newest manifestation, Doors to Paradise, is built on familiar foundations, mid-tempo beats and ambient washes providing the background for an international cast of singers and musicians. Featured on this outing are South African kora player Pops Mohamed and classical Indian singer Samia Mahbub Ahmad, appearing on five of the album's 11 tracks. The only other player featured on more than two tracks, besides Wilson himself, is oud player Abdelouahed Zamin.
There's nothing on Doors to Paradise that sounds terribly new or inventive, nothing that you haven't heard on numerous Buddha Bar compilations. Wilson's programming creates a laid-back, moody atmosphere, over which he layers solo vocal and instrumental performances. Stand out tracks include Shanti Afrique, a virtual one-man show with Pops Mohamed on kora, voice and percussion, a quiet shuffle with only the slightest intrusion from the synthesizers; Paradise, a lush arrangement of new age piano intertwined with violin and the swooping and swirling of the ethereal voices of Consuelo Luz and Annette Cantor; Zamin's deft picking of the oud on Travelers From a Strange Land; and the swapping of solos between the kora and oud on The Dawn of Blessing.
Doors to Paradise is a fine example of the genre, sure to please fans of artists such as Deep Forest, Engima, Waterbone, B-Tribe, Dead Can Dance, or Sacred Spirit.
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Track Listings (11) - Disc #1