I have been absent from these pages these last few weeks as I have been travelling in those oh so exotic regions that are the suburbs of Toronto. I have not, however, returned empty handed. While I didn’t make it as far as India I did stop by my local Indian media store. Amongst other CDs that I randomly picked up I purchased the highly recommended (by some guy who worked in the store) album “Fusion mosaic” compiled by our friends at Rhythm House [see the three random Indian guys awkwardly displayed on the bridge of the paper cover].
Well despite some problems with repetition it turned out be a fairly interesting find. The music is performed by a variety of artists on both Indian and western instruments and has a clear jazz influence. According to my brother, Matthew A. Rubel, (who is believed to be an authority on the subject by at least two of his friends) the introduction of Indian instruments into Jazz in “Jazz Fusion” was made first by Miles Davis in such albums as Bitches Brew.
I would especially like to point out where about four minutes into “Motherland”, after a fairly sweet solo, the strings battles it out against some unconventional (at least along the western front) scatting.
All in all the music makes for a nice background or a relaxed listening. Most of all it serves for a good step in the right direction if you’re looking to expand your music collection.
“mp3s”:
Recent Retaliations.