SHEZ RAJA - Tales from The Punjab
Ubuntu Music – UBU0077
Shez Raja - bass guitar; Fiza Haider - vocals; Ahsan Papu - bansuri; Zohaib Hassan - sarangi; Kashif Ali Dani - tabla;
Qamar Abbas - cajon
Shez Raja has established an outsize presence on the UK fusion scene, with his trademark white Kangol cap and Fodera bass guitar, and a back catalogue of album releases that lists such fusion luminaries as Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern and Randy Brecker among the cast list. This album takes a quieter, more reflective route as Raja sets out to explore the music of his Punjabi heritage with a set of collaborations with an impressive cast of South Asian musicians, from young virtuoso Zohaib Hassan to veteran classical players Ahsan Papu and Kashif Ali Dani. With Raja’s rich trebly bass guitar the only electrically amplified instrument, there is space for some finely nuanced dynamic interplay between the musicians on tunes that range from the still introspection of ‘Angel’s Tears’ to the quietly but urgently pulsating ‘Adventures In The City Of Wonders’. Fiza Haider’s clear vocals combine with sarangi to enchanting effect on ‘Mantra’ over Raja’s chord riffs. Attempts to marry South Asian music and jazz rock will inevitably invite comparison with heavy hitters like Trilok Gurtiu and John Mclaughlin, and ’Maharaja’ has a double-tracked Raja accompanying his own soloing over frantic percussion and what sounds like an electric sarangi for a more intense Mahavishnu-style fusion experience, but generally the mood is one of meditative calm, with Papu’s bansuri flute weaving webs of delight on the closing ‘Enlightenment’. A refreshing aural tonic for lock-down life.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Ubuntu Music – UBU0077
Shez Raja - bass guitar; Fiza Haider - vocals; Ahsan Papu - bansuri; Zohaib Hassan - sarangi; Kashif Ali Dani - tabla;
Qamar Abbas - cajon
Shez Raja has established an outsize presence on the UK fusion scene, with his trademark white Kangol cap and Fodera bass guitar, and a back catalogue of album releases that lists such fusion luminaries as Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern and Randy Brecker among the cast list. This album takes a quieter, more reflective route as Raja sets out to explore the music of his Punjabi heritage with a set of collaborations with an impressive cast of South Asian musicians, from young virtuoso Zohaib Hassan to veteran classical players Ahsan Papu and Kashif Ali Dani. With Raja’s rich trebly bass guitar the only electrically amplified instrument, there is space for some finely nuanced dynamic interplay between the musicians on tunes that range from the still introspection of ‘Angel’s Tears’ to the quietly but urgently pulsating ‘Adventures In The City Of Wonders’. Fiza Haider’s clear vocals combine with sarangi to enchanting effect on ‘Mantra’ over Raja’s chord riffs. Attempts to marry South Asian music and jazz rock will inevitably invite comparison with heavy hitters like Trilok Gurtiu and John Mclaughlin, and ’Maharaja’ has a double-tracked Raja accompanying his own soloing over frantic percussion and what sounds like an electric sarangi for a more intense Mahavishnu-style fusion experience, but generally the mood is one of meditative calm, with Papu’s bansuri flute weaving webs of delight on the closing ‘Enlightenment’. A refreshing aural tonic for lock-down life.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
