Freedom and Leela – Ru (Times Music, 2011) This is an album for the more spiritually inclined. The 9 tracks are renditions of sacred Hindu…
Freedom and Leela’s Mantra Fusion
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.
Baba Da’s Great Tradition
Adidam Sacred Music Guild – Baba Da’s Great Tradition (WorldWide Records, 2007) The acoustic music on this CD was spontaneously improvised by musicians from the…
The Experimental Side of Sheila Chandra
Sheila Chandra – This Sentence is True (EMI/Narada, 2001) Sheila Chandra, the Anglo-Indian singer who released a number of synth-pop albums in the 1980s, is…
World Music Inspired by Buddhist Philosophy
The Buddhist Monks Sakya Tashi Ling – My Spirit Flies to You (Fundacion Prevain, 2006) This is an ambitious world music album inspired by the…
Ravi Shankar’s Vision of Peace
Pandit Ravi Shankar – Vision of Peace (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal, 2000) This double CD showcases some of Pandit Ravi Shankar’s international prowess. The first CD has…
Sheila Chandra Out on Her Own
Sheila Chandra – Out on my own (Indipop, 1984, reissued by Narada//EMI in 2000) This is a slender album by today’s standards, with 10 tracks…
Dynamic Salsa and Merengue
Son Real Orchestra – Salsa (ARC Music, 20008) The London-based Colombian band Son Real presents an excellent CD of vibrant, dynamic and very danceable salsa…
Hot Indo-Swedish Fusion
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…
The Diverse Background of Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal – Spirit Room: A Retrospective (Free Spirit/Triloka, 2000) Jai Uttal is a veteran musician and singer-songwriter from New York, and this album reflects…
The New Pulse of World Fusion
ShapeShifters – The New Pulse of World Fusion (WorldWide Records/Soundings of the Planet, 2000) This is a largely instrumental album of world fusion music, featuring…