Emam and Friends 2020 – Emam and Friends 2020 (2020)
Percussionist, composer and producer Emam put together an impressive cast of instrumentalists from various parts of the globe on the superb world fusion album Emam and Friends 2020. The recording features musicians from diverse traditions including Indian classical music, jazz and rock.
The concept for this album came to Emam while he stayed at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in Goa (India). Emam reached out to some great musicians in Poland and added them to tracks that had been recorded earlier and never released. The result is world fusion at its best featuring spectacular solos highlighting Indian musical instruments such as sitar, sarod, tabla, sarangi and bansuri as well western instruments like the violin, bass, piano and guitar, supported by a powerful percussion and bass section.
The lineup includes Ahsan Ali on sarangi; Arshad Khan on tabla; Dave Lewis on drums; Deepak Ram on bansuri; Emam on dumbak, tabla, ghatam, percussion; Gari Hegedus on ud, mandocello; Geetika Varde on vocals; Indu Prakash on vocals; Irina Mikhailova on vocals; Jim Dooley on drums; Julien Moretto on violin; Kai Eckhardt on bass; Lewis Patzner on cello; Łukasz Sobolak on drums; Mahalakshmi on piano, vocals; Manose on bansuri; Matthew Montfort on guitar; Michał Rudaś on vocals; Moses Sedler on cello; Mukesh Sharma on sarod; and Robert Szydło on bass.
Buy Emam and Friends 2020. Stream the album at emam.bandcamp.com/album/emam-friends-2020
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.