Zakir Hussain - Venu - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This re-issue is now available through Universal classic.

John McLaughlin is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of music. Making albums from the 60's through the present, his intense guitar work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis gave birth to jazz/fusion. In 1984 he formed a reincarnation of sorts of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Featuring original Mahavishnu drummer Billy Cobham, plus saxophonist Bill Evans and bassist Jonas Hellborg, this high-energy electric album is regarded as one of his best efforts and has been his most sought after album for CD reissue. It is making it's worldwide CD debut! Wounded Bird Records.

The artists - percussionist Glen Velez, pianist Jovino Santos Neto, mrdangam drummer Poovalur Srinivasan, Qiu Xia He on the Chinese pipa, Harishankar on the kanjira (tambourine) and Ravikiran - tackle some very intricate compositions. They have made a concerted effort to study the music and then re-create them with ingenious interpretation. The production's nine tracks include well-known and exclusively composed pieces from different countries in various moods, tempos, melodies and rhythms, embellished with pure melodic, melo-rhythmic and pure rhythmic improvisation. Most of the CD was recorded in Seattle, USA, with a couple of tracks done in Madras, India. The tracks stretch the boundaries of Indian, Chinese and fusion with it's percolating warmth and energetic approach. Leader Chitravina N Ravikiran has established himself as one of the foremost performers, composers, teachers and ambassadors of Indian Carnatic music. His accomplishments extend back to being the world's youngest public performing musician ever. At the age of two, he stunned audiences in India by identifying and demonstrating over 325 ragas (melodic scales), 175 talas (rhythm cycles) and answering technical questions. Trained by his father, maestro Narasimhan, he commenced his career as a vocalist at age five. At 12, he switched to the chitravina, and once played a non-stop 24-hour concert in 1985. He has since performed across the world in a variety of settings including as a guest of the BBC Philharmonic. World music aficionados will recognize Ravikiran from his work with V.M. Bhatt and Taj Mahal on the CD, Mumtaz Mahal on Water Lily Acoustics.