Mynta – Hot Days (Free Spirit, 2006)
This is a superb Indo-Swedish fusion band, not quite in the league of Shakti, but with a more diverse range of sounds.
Calling itself a “fusion of Nordic ice with Indian spice,” there’s a good mix of funky percussion, scatting vocals, slick guitar and soaring sax.
The two-disc set includes a CD and DVD. The Swedish lineup features Santiago Jimenez (violin), Max Åhman (guitar), Sebastian Printz-Werner (percussion) and Christian Paulin (bass). They are well matched by Fazal Qureshi (tabla) and Shankar Mahadevan (vocals).
The 15 tracks are culled from 5 previous albums. Each track is terrific, you must get this album!
Other Mynta albums available: Nandu’s Dance, Hot Madras, First Summer, Meetings in India and Indian Time.
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.