1. You’ve Got It Bad Girl
2. If You Go Away
3. Moonlight in Vermont
4. Monsoon
5. The Pink Panther
6. Ponteio
7. Eleanor Rigby
8. Blue Rondo à la Turk
9. Kafi Jazz (Five Rivers)
10. Everybody Hurts
11. Wave
12. To the End of the World
13. Morning Has Broken
Sachal Studios Orchestra
Nafees Ahmad Khan - Sitar
Ballu Khan - Tabla
Rafiq Ahmed, Najaf Ali – Dholaks, percussion
Umar Draz, Ghulam Abbas, Waqas Ali - Cellos
Saleem Khan, Altaf Hydar, Javaid Ali, Akbar Noushad,
Kaleem Khan, Mukhtar Hussain, Mohammed Ilyas,
Kahwar Hussain, Akbar Abbas, Sakhawat Ali, Babar Baila, Nadeen Ahmad, Fazal Hussain, Aqeel Anwar, Chand, Ghulam Hussain, Ghulam Ali, Riasat Hussain,
Mubarak Ali, Abid Ali, Akram Farooqi, Amjad Ali, Basharat Ali, Nijat Ali - Violins
UK Musicians
Derek Watkins – Trumpet, flugelhorn
Chris Wells - Percussion
Steve Lodder - Piano
Philip Achile – Bass, harmonica
Sally Price - Harp
Soumik Datta - Sarod
John Paracelli - Guitar
Bangalore Prakash - Ghatam
Kandiah Sithaparanathan - Moorsing (jewsharp)
Chorus
Abbie Osman, Alice Fearn, Claire Henry, Joanna Forbes, Mary Carewe, Rachel Weston, Sarah Ryan, Soophia Foroughi, Yona Dunsford.
Metro Voices - Choirmaster Jenny O’Grady
There were several reasons why Indian music became popular in the West from the 1960s onwards. The Beatles’ interest in Indian culture (and especially
George Harrison’s use of the sitar) and the virtuosity of Ravi Shankar contributed to our awareness of Indian music. Meanwhile, John Mayer’s Indo-jazz
experiments (with a line-up that included altoist Joe Harriott) showed how jazz could mix with elements from India. All this contributed to an appreciation
of World Music, which has continued to expand exponentially and influence jazz as well as many other forms of music.
This album is an example of the symbiosis between Indian styles and jazz. Indian musicians are teamed with British jazz players to present new
interpretations of jazz and popular songs. Several of the tracks are not jazzy, so they fall outside the remit of this website. The strings also tend to
water down the jazz element, often making the music seem like the soundtrack for a Bollywood movie. For instance, Ponteio sounds like a Bollywood
version of James Bond.
However, the jazz musicians (especially the late lamented trumpeter Derek
Watkins) add to the amount of jazz and contribute several fine solos.
Watkins’ impeccable trumpet sounds brilliant on Monsoon.
Wave includes a good jazz solo from Philip Achile on harmonica,
and the uncredited flautist conveys the melody very sweetly. It would
also have been nice to know the identity of the sarangi player who
contributes emotive music to some tracks. Solos by sitarist Nafees
Ahmad Khan remind us of the improvisational connection between Indian
music and jazz.
One of the pleasurable aspects of this album is hearing how Western tunes are adapted with an Indian flavour. This is particularly notable in The Pink Panther Theme (introduced and propelled 3by hustling tabla) and Moonlight in Vermont (which arranger Izzat Majeed wants to
retitle Moonlight in Lahore!).
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Sachal Music SM 028
