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review by Bill Binkelman Simply put, this is a charming and lovely CD that I loved from the very first playing onward! You might think that mixing Celtic/Irish and East Indian music would be a disaster (or, maybe you wouldn't). But, even someone as open-minded as myself was surprised to hear how seamless the integration of these different styles of music proved to be on this recording. It can't be an easy task to compose music that allows for a blending of Indian instruments (e.g. sarod, dholak, bamboo flutes, tabla, santoor) with accordion, penny whistle, violin (as well as contemporary keyboards, electric guitars, drum programming and fretless bass). But, in the hands of Chinmaya Dunster (who plays sarod, acoustic guitar, keys, percussion, and a few other instruments), who is the leader of the Celtic Ragas Band and wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, the result is world fusion music of the highest caliber. I wish I could list all the other band members, but there are thirteen of them, not all of whom play on each track. For recognition's sake, I tip my hats to all of 'em! Their efforts and talents on this CD show how unifying a force music can be when it is breaks down barriers and looks for ways to mesh, crossing boundaries at will. The songs on the CD are certainly diverse, some being uptempo and toe-tapping numbers, such as the album opener, "The Circle Makers," which is a flat-out ass-kicker. Happy-go-lucky accordion and Irish pub-floor dance rhythms interweave with exotic East Indian textures and spicy side-dishes. "Wedding in Kotree" is properly joyful and it'd be easy imagining the bride, groom, family and guests kicking up their heels to the whirling flute, percussion, and sarod and being delighted by the air of funkiness that permeates the music. The band also travels to more atmospheric vistas, crafting sensuous soundscapes, such as "The Hollow Hills," where the music somehow conveys the vision of the green hills of Eire, even while using a combination of Indian instruments to do so. I can't over emphasize how Dunster and his bandmates have performed such an extraordinary feat. I'm hard-pressed to articulate the exact nature of how they have created this crazy alloy. I can't point and say "There, that's it." All I can do is swear to you that it not only works, it shines, flows, weaves, dances and delights and charms. If you love East Indian music, even if the thought of intermixing it with Celtic makes you cringe, you should open your mind and give this a try. Celtic music fans will need to be a little more open-minded because the East Indian aspect of the music is almost always more overt. However, Karma Circles is true fusion music, where the two halves yield a whole which is absolutely unique and offers the best of both genres, retaining the flavor of each but ending up with something unexpectedly exotic and ultra-tasty. Holding songs that vary from sensuous and earthy to sublime and delicately beautiful, this album knocked my socks off and then some. Highly recommended to world music fans! |
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