In review--tsunami music (The Way the Wind Blows)
Laya Project Compilation EarthSync In 2004 before the tsunami hit South Asia and East Africa, animals and indigenous people fled to higher ground. There intuition had saved them from one of the greatest disasters to happen in the last decade. The aftermath brought much needed attention to the poorer communities bordering the Indian Ocean and climate change, and also exotic music that might not have been brought to the world’s attention had the tsunami not struck ground in this region of the world. Laya Project’s Tsunami Music: Sounds Embrace Survival from the Maldives to Myanmar, from India to Indonesia , spearheaded by Patrick Sebag and project producer and director (both a documentary and double CD) Sonya Mazumdar, the repertoire here comments on the musical vastness of this planet. While the CDs contain plenty of tabla beats, Indian twang, bansari flutes etc, listeners also hear Buddhist chants, love songs for the departed, and the rich polyphony gamelan of Indonesia. The...