Sultans of String with Anwar Khurshid – Subcontinental Drift (Century Media, 2015)
With releases like Symphony (2013), Move (2011), Luna (2007) and Yalla Yalla! (2013) to their credit, the Sultans of String are back with sitar player Anwar Khurshid on Century Media’s Subcontinental Drift. This Ontario-based band is a whip clever cornucopia of Celtic, flamenco, Gypsy, Arabic, Cuban and South Asia. While the concept might come across as a little quirky in writing, in music is unfolds and flowers into something infectiously delightful. Subcontinental Drift is lushly folksy, serenely captivating and warmly inviting.
Comprised of producer, violinist, viola, chin-cello and vocalist Chris McKhool; guitarist and vocalist Kevin Laliberte; guitarist and vocalist Eddie Paton; bassist and vocalist Drew Birston; and drummer and percussionist Rosendo “Chendy” Leon, the Sultans of String are joined by sitar player and vocalist Anwar Khurshid for Subcontinental Drift. Guest artists Ravi Naimpally on tabla, vocalists Shweta Subram and Waleed Abdulhamid lend their talents to the album.
Opening with the lovely Indian tinged “Enter the Gate,” the Sultans of Strings ply their eclectic blend of musical passions by way of the energetically folksy numbers like the irrepressible “Rakes of Mallow/Rouge River Valley” or the catchy “Ho Jamalo” based on a traditional Sindhi with Sindhi vocals by Mr. Khurshid, Sudanese dialect vocals by Mr. Abdulhamid and some razor sharp guitar and percussion lines.
Bob Dylan gets a nod with the Indian tinged “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Fans will not want to miss the deeply delicious tracks like stunning “Snake Charmer” or the lazy, open sky loveliness of “Parchan Shaal Panhwar” with Ms. Subram’s and Mr. Khurshid’s soaring vocals or the east meets west duality spectacular on title track “Subcontinental Drift” composed by Mr. Laliberte.
The Sultans of String make crossing musical maps as easy as connecting travel routes on a map with a pen, but the final product is so much more satisfying. Subcontinental Drift is a musical version of the hopeful optimism that we as humans can behave and work to create something better.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
