In Review--Musical Delights from the Subcontinent
Shastriya Syndicate Syndicated Sense World Music Mandala ensemble Mandala Sense World Music It was one of those gorgeous late spring Saturdays with every plant under the sun blooming, and nothing could go wrong. I received two new Sense World Music recordings, both ensembles that literally blew me away. First, Shastriya Syndicate which features some of India's masterful young talent including, sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee, Carnatic veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, tabla player Subhankar Banerjee, sarangi player Murad Ali, bansuri flutist Rakesh Chaurasia, mridangam player Patri Satish Kumar and percussionist Pramath Kiran (from Carnatic and Hindustani traditions). This fiery ensemble performs original compositions on their debut recording, Syndicated . The playing here, borders on 60s psychedelic--exploding with fantastic colors reminding me of Jimi Hendrix' saying, "are you experienced?" I am not sure why exactly, except that the experience of listen...