http://www.anoushkashankar.com

http://www.myspace.com/anoushkashankar

Origine du Groupe : India , U.K , North America
Style : Alternative , World Music , Electro World
Sortie : 2005

I was in Sound Spectrum in Laguna Beach, California a couple of days ago where the owner Jim had Anoushka Shankar's album Rise playing. Wow, it sure got my attention. Anoushka is the daughter of legendary Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar and along with her famous half-sister Norah Jones is heir to one of the world's great musical legacies.

As one of only a handful of female sitar players in the world, Anoushka could well be thought to be trading on her uniqueness in the male-dominated culture of sitarists and on her father's famous name. But that's definitely not the case here. She's an accomplished sitarist, musician, composer and director in her own right with an impressive list of awards and credits for someone in her mid-twenties.

Rise is a luscious, evocative album that features Anoushka's traditional Indian sitar playing set amidst richly textured arrangements, instrumentations and vocalizations. The compositions and arrangements are hers and they float magically out there somewhere in the ethers between the ancient sounds of Indian music and rhythmic contemporary stylings. Anoushka's music on Rise is both haunting and liquid, beguiling us with a mystical magic carpet ride and then seducing us with its colorful gems along the way. (When was the last time you heard a sitar and a didjeridoo making music together?)

For those familiar with the music of Spain's Ojos de Brujo there's some vocalizing on Anoushka's song Red Sun that's highly reminiscent of the vocalizing on Brujo's Gypsy Party. I was excited to hear this unusual vocalizing again - it's electrifying stuff and makes me think that this is what a human voice would sound like if it morphed into a percussion instrument. Though Anoushka's music is truly Indian at its core and Ojos de Brujo's decidedly Spanish, both share a common thread in the way they blend traditional music with contemporary stylings and do it so well; a telling hint as to the evolution of music.

I like Anoushka Shankar's music on Rise a lot. It has a haunting, seductive quality to it that stirs the imagination and inspires a meditative, trance-like stream of consciousness that makes me want to dance and dream all at the same time.

by  Tom Clark  permalink

Tracklist :    
01. Prayer In Passing 06:21
02. Red Sun 04:50
03. Mahadeva 05:41
04. Naked 04:16
05. Solea 07:25
06. Beloved 07:05
07. Sinister Grains 06:11
08. Voice Of The Moon 08:55
09. Ancient Love 11:08
10. Beloved (Thievery Corporation Remix) 04:29
11. Naked (Karsh Kale Mirrors Remix) 06:18

 Line Up :
   1. Anoushka Shankar: Sitar, keyboards, vocals.
   2. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: Veena
   3. Barry Phillips: Cello.
   4. Pedro Eustache: Bansuri, duduk.
   5. Ajay Prasanna: Bansuri
   6. Pedro Ricardo Mino: Piano.
   7. Pulak Sarcar: Keyboards.
   8. Kevin Cooper: Bass guitar.
   9. Jesse Charnow: Drums and percussion.
  10. Tanmoy Bose: Djembe, tabla.
  11. Sanjeev Chimmalgi: Backing vocals.
  12. Ritesh Mishra: Backing vocals.
  13. Rajneesh Mishra: Backing vocals.

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