Indian Accent (Rock and Raaga WMC21, 2010)
Indian Accent is the debut album by Bangalore-based world fusion band MoonArra. The musicians make a fascinating mix of Indian music, jazz and blues. Their sound is characterized by engaging vocals that include three styles: poetic English language vocals with jazz and blues inflections, Hindustani vocals and konakkol (vocal percussion).
On the instrumental side, MoonArra presents superb musicianship, where the slide guitar morphs from blues style to Hindustani style and interacts with other guitars and oud. The finely-calibrated rhythm section features drum kit and Indian percussion, and electric bass.
MoonArra means three streams. It is a 5 member ensemble that has performed at major international festivals throughout Asia. Band members include Madhuri Jagadeesh on vocals; Jagadeesh M.R. on acoustic and electric guitars, and oud; Prakash Sontakke on Hindustani slide guitar, Indian classical vocals; Karthik Mani on South Indian percussion (ghatam, khanjira) drums and konnakol; and Wilson Kenneth on electric bass.
Indian Accent is an impressive debut album by one of the emerging talents in the Indian world fusion scene.
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
