Narada World: A Global Vision

Amazon.com
A collection of 29 tracks from almost as many albums, Narada World offers more than 125 minutes of an easily digested assortment of contemporary, mostly instrumental selections that are adorned with varying degrees of international or traditional flourishes. Though some genuinely scintillating works are included here--most notably flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook's two selections and an arresting Persian/Indian hybrid, "Astrae," by the exotic vocal/percussion duo Vas (from Sunyata)--the album is largely an easy-listening collection of modern music embellished with world music accents. This is not such a bad thing. The two-disc set's highlights are its Celtic and Latin/flamenco pieces, which dominate this package. Other tracks include traces of Far East, African, and Native American influences; and on occasion, the juxtapositioning of such far-flung musical styles creates some peculiar segues on the two discs. Yet the overall mood is sanguine and refreshing, a fact that may disappoint earnest world-beat adherents but will satisfy less critical ears. Highlights: "The Road North" by champion Celtic fiddler Alasdair Fraser, Bernardo Rubaja's charming mix of pipes and charango on "New Land," the saintly female vocal offerings of Scartaglen and Connie Dover, and the flamenco dramatics of Oscar Lopez on "Lucia." --Terry Wood

Tracks:

Baghdad - Jesse Cook
Wasuze Otya? - Samite
Cactus De Paraguand - Carlos Guedes
Planxty Burke/Planxty Drew (Edit) - Shelley Phillips
Sealwoman/Yundah - Mary McLaughlin
Wind Spirit - Bill Miller
The Cheetah Hunt - Michael Whalen
Back Home - Nando Lauria
The Road North - Alasdair Fraser
Ladakh - Ancient Future
Viajero - Miguel De La Bastide
Cielo Y Montana - Rumillajta
Water - Richard Warner
Chuaigh Me 'Nu Rosann - Scartaglen
The Journey Begins - Hans Zimmer

Tracks:

Douce Mousitomanie - Orion
Lucia - Oscar Lopez
New Land - Bernardo Rubaja
Ubi Caritas - Connie Dover
Gravity - Jesse Cook
Kothbiro - Ayub Ogada
Mujeres Y Ninos - Rumillajta
Kantico En Flor De Piedra - Tomas San Miguel
Doce Morena - Nando Lauria
Introduction: Precious Waters - R. Carlos Nakai
Giant Step - Michael Pluznick
Dancing To A Lot Of Time - John Whelan
Astrae - Vas
Inochi No Sharin (Wheel Of Life) - Riley Lee

Amazon.com

A collection of 29 tracks from almost as many albums, Narada World offers more than 125 minutes of an easily digested assortment of contemporary, mostly instrumental selections that are adorned with varying degrees of international or traditional flourishes. Though some genuinely scintillating works are included here--most notably flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook's two selections and an arresting Persian/Indian hybrid, "Astrae," by the exotic vocal/percussion duo Vas (from Sunyata)--the album is largely an easy-listening collection of modern music embellished with world music accents. This is not such a bad thing. The two-disc set's highlights are its Celtic and Latin/flamenco pieces, which dominate this package. Other tracks include traces of Far East, African, and Native American influences; and on occasion, the juxtapositioning of such far-flung musical styles creates some peculiar segues on the two discs. Yet the overall mood is sanguine and refreshing, a fact that may disappoint earnest world-beat adherents but will satisfy less critical ears. Highlights: "The Road North" by champion Celtic fiddler Alasdair Fraser, Bernardo Rubaja's charming mix of pipes and charango on "New Land," the saintly female vocal offerings of Scartaglen and Connie Dover, and the flamenco dramatics of Oscar Lopez on "Lucia." --Terry Wood

Customer Reviews:

Astonishingly good collection.......2003-09-30

I played this 2-CD set last Sunday and my mate kept running into the room; "Hey, what's that song! It's fantastic." I agreed. This is one excellent selection of world music, and I reach for this CD set again and again.

In particular, the Celtic piece by Orion "Douce Mousitomanie" is hypnotic and soothing--Enya fans will definitely groove to this one. And my favorite, Jesse Cook leads off CD One with exotic "Baghdad" (no meaning here, this CD dates before 9-11 and the invasion.) Cook has a second cut on the second CD "Gravity" and it's as good. He's a wonderful guitarist.

There's so much here that's just SO good that it's hard to point out one track over the others. This is one of the best introductory CD's to world music I know of, along with Narada's annual world anthology World 2002. You can't go far wrong with this CD set.

The best of so many styles of music.......1999-05-07

With this CD, a lot of new styles came into my life, like Astrae from Sunyata and Kothbiro from African Voices (both CD soon to be bought, I assure you), shoulder to shoulder with old friends like Celtic Treasure. Is pure delight to listen to this compilation. The world is so vast and deep, that we better start to listen.

An excellent sampling of music from around the world........1998-10-14

Narada has done listeners a great service by producing this compilation of various artists. The global scope and variety enable the listener to experience many kinds of music on one CD. The mellow vocals of Samite; the guitar virtuosity of Jesse Cook; the soaring, beautiful voices of Scartaglen; the composing acumen of Hans Zimmer; all these and more add up to one superb sampling of global music. A very enjoyable listening experience.

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