From Amazon.co.uk
Gopalnath and Srinivasan are renowned masters of South Indian Karnatak classical music. Though born in Los Angeles, Newton can claim to be a "southern brother" too, his parents steeped in the gospel and blues of Texas and Arkansas. Another in the Waterlily label's acoustically pure cross-cultural collaborations, this is a rare meeting between jazz and Karnatak music. Most fusions of this sort tend to grow out of North India. Gopalnath is, very unusually, an alto saxophonist, a pioneer within his chosen form. Srinivasan plays the mridangam, a two-headed barrel drum. Flautist Newton is most familiar as a sideman to David Murray, his overblowing, multiphonic vocalisations a key part of his sound, providing suitable flexibility when conversing with the fluid, decorative phrases that wriggle out of Gopalnath's specially-modified horn. The trio tackle three traditional
ragams (the southern equivalent of the raga), and a pair of pieces penned by Newton. Their rapport was immediate and instinctive, the five-hour recording session generating a trouble-free fusion, Newton and Gopalnath engaging in an ongoing dialogue, building on and elaborating around each other's convoluted phrases. These structures have been opened up to allow Newton more freedom. Srinivasan remains silent during the opening alapana sections, making his eventual entrance all the more striking. --
Martin Longley
