Dhola Maru

Amazon.com
Rajasthan, in northwestern India, has a unique mix of cultures that has continually enriched not only its own music, but that of much of Asia and Europe over the centuries. Gypsies, Muslims, and Hindus have all contributed to a potent blend of sounds and influences that have grown into a ceremonial music of rare sensuality. Musafir's members reflect this fusion of religions and cultures and by working together have generated a new energy that is all of the above and none. If you know the various sources, you can identify the complex ragas, the ecstatic qawalli voices, the incessant swirl of the Sufi, and the physicality of Gypsy songs, but they are merged into a new sound in the hands of these musicians, singers, and dancers. The nine tracks include mesmerizing love songs, frantic dance tunes, powerful ensemble and imploring solo vocals, accompanied by harmonium, dholak, sarangi, and a host of other instruments that represent the region's diversity. Musafir are uniquely equipped to translate these many cultures into an important cooperative of sound. --Louis Gibson

Tracks:

Rangi Rang
Jungle Market
Sajenio
Halleriya
Moria Badnawa
Neenderli
Dhola Maru
Pundela
Roomal

Amazon.com

Rajasthan, in northwestern India, has a unique mix of cultures that has continually enriched not only its own music, but that of much of Asia and Europe over the centuries. Gypsies, Muslims, and Hindus have all contributed to a potent blend of sounds and influences that have grown into a ceremonial music of rare sensuality. Musafir's members reflect this fusion of religions and cultures and by working together have generated a new energy that is all of the above and none. If you know the various sources, you can identify the complex ragas, the ecstatic qawalli voices, the incessant swirl of the Sufi, and the physicality of Gypsy songs, but they are merged into a new sound in the hands of these musicians, singers, and dancers. The nine tracks include mesmerizing love songs, frantic dance tunes, powerful ensemble and imploring solo vocals, accompanied by harmonium, dholak, sarangi, and a host of other instruments that represent the region's diversity. Musafir are uniquely equipped to translate these many cultures into an important cooperative of sound. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews:

Incredible.......2004-11-28

This is one of the best world music cds I've ever heard. The recording is sharp, the vocals and musicianship is amazing. The sound can't really be described as Indian or Pakistani and manages to cross a very contested border geographically and musically. Highly recommended.

A skillful, sensuous blend of styles.......2002-09-20

Even more stunning than their previous album ("Gypsies Of Rajastan"), this disc delves deeper into more overt "world fusion" territory, but not in the icky way usually associated with that phrase. This is a gorgeous, glorious, earthy and expansively rich, Asian-based exploration of culture, sonic texture and musical spirituality. It's really quite lovely, one of the best albums of its kind. Highly recommended.

Just great music.......2001-04-04

I am not going to reach for any superlatives for this music; they would just come up short. This is just great music, passionate heartfelt. It is of the qawwali/folk tradition of India. But for a folk tradition it matches, nay surpasses the best of any high tradition of India, Europe or wherever. Just get this CD.

Just great music.......2001-04-04

This is a marvellous marvellous CD; the music is so passionate, so heartfelt. I urge you to purchase this CD and let yourself to just hear this stuff. This is music of the qawwali/folk tradition of the India. At this time this the best CD in my collection and my most treasured.

A modern folk masterpiece ... not musty ethnomusicology!.......2000-06-28

I enjoyed Musafir's appearance in Tony Gatlif's brillant 1994 film, "Latcho Drom;" I was blown away by their excellent first album, "Gypsies of Rajasthan;" and catching a stop on their 1999 U.S. tour clinched it: These guys are fantastic!

So it's great to see them back with a new album; and, yes, it's a good one. Musafir's music is an unorthodox mix of Muslim and Hindu musical traditions from the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India's vast northwestern state. The result is fresh, exciting and invigorating -- rather than yet another ethnomusical "field recording" of some insular performing caste of the region, this is a messy, organic, totally vibrant 21st century creation that's totally authentic, yet completely new. Musaafir is a breath of fresh air bursting from the bonds of India's oppressive and dangerous communalism. They're a lesson in the possibilities of cooperation rather than mutual hatred and distrust ... and a damn good party band to boot.

"Dhola Maru" (the name of a folk tale that is Rajasthan's answer to "Romeo and Juliet") is a nice follow-up to the band's first CD, "Gypsies of Rajasthan" ... it is immediate (recorded at a home studio in Belgium at all hours of the day and night), passionate (these people are truly in love with what they're doing, and it's apparent in every track), and engaging. As a previous reviewer wrote, it's also demanding -- this is not relaxing background music: It's wild, raucous, loud, and sometimes trascendently estatic.

I give the album four stars rather than five only because I think it tries to do too much in too little space. Musafir's lineup has expanded since the last album (it now includes a classical female vocalist, a transvestite dancer and other oddities that add to the group's already spectacular stage show). But it's too much to showcase on one album, I think.

Having so enjoyed the band's sound on "Gypsies of Rajasthan," I was especially disappointed to see the role of dancer/vocalist Sayeera Sapera significantly reduced due to the excess of new members. Her charming vocals graced much of the first CD, but appear on just a couple of tracks on "Dhola Maru." Sapera is a prodigiously gifted performer -- a breathtaking dancer, a deeply emotive singer; the real star of Musafir in my opinion (then again, I've been hopelessly in love with her since seeing their live show, so my opinion may be biased) -- so I would call her more "back seat" role on this album its only real liability.

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