As Night Falls On The Silk Road

Album review

The traditional fusion group Ghazal joins music from India and Persia, either end (more or less) of the silk road. The band's sophomore release features Kayhan Kalhor on kamantche and Shujaat Hussain Khan on sitar, as well as tabla master Swapan Chaudhuri on the first track as a bonus. The concept is a worthy one, and the music is well performed on all fronts. The one possible flaw would be that the music is unduly brooding in many parts. This is more than likely an artifact of the combination of the alap of Indian music and the tone of the kamantche, as it tends to pick up a bit once the tabla kicks in. This is a lighter, more soothing album than one would expect from either tradition in general, but it fits into both rather well. Pick it up as a reflective-sounding disc for relaxation or background music, but don't expect the level of high-speed virtuosity one might get from a younger Ravi Shankar or Ustad Vilayat Khan (Shujaat's father, actually). The emphasis here appears to be more on songcraft than on instrumental virtuosity.
© Adam Greenberg /TiVo