World Music Friends Across Boundaries (Ninaad)
This is a fusion album closer to the Indian classical music tradition, featuring Ustad Sultan Khan on vocals and sarangi, Swedish musician Jonas Hellborg on bass, and Faizal Qureshi on tabla.
Hellborg has previously collaborated with Trikok Gurtu, and his bass riffs on this album are superb. This is the first world music album from the Ninaad label, and we look forward to more.
The six tracks engage the listen for just over 50 minutes, but the first three tracks are mostly solo in nature by the three individual musicians.
The real fusion happens in the second three tracks of the album, Mystery Conquered, Village Girl and Sufi in Ecstasy.
Author: Madanmohan Rao
Madanmohan Rao is an author and media consultant from Bangalore, and global correspondent for world music and jazz for World Music Central and Jazzuality. He has written over 15 books on media, management and culture, and is research director for YourStory Media. Madan was formerly World Music Editor at Rave magazine and RJ at WorldSpace, and can be followed on Twitter at @MadanRao.
