Dimm and I saw Ustad Zakir Hussain a few months back and told him during a meet and greet backstage that we'd just seen Karsh in concert a few weeks earlier and got to hang with him afterwards. Zakirji said, "Yes, he's pretty good."
Coming from the Da Vinci of tabla that was high praise indeed! It may seem like we can't get enough of Karsh here on the site, but the simple truth is that the brother cuts some mean music. Obviously the tabla's phat, and becomming more ubiquitous on the scene by the minute, but Karsh's unique way of combining Indian classical with the "science fiction" (if you will) of electronica makes us huge fans. Be sure to check out his interview rite here on ethnotechno.
"Vital Breath" kicks off this CD with an urgency to the beats as the snare intros and is then followed as intensely by the tabla. Ajay Naidu (of tv/movie fame) impresses with his spoken word. Vishal Vaid, who is also on Karsh's Realize, lends his soothing vocals throughout the disc. "From the Temple Reborn" is omnious in it's buildup... I can just see Lord Shiva doing the cosmic dance. "Chilla" could easily have been on the Tabla Beat Science project. And "Classical Science Fiction" is hand's down the best song on this disc. I'm surprised SONY or Philips hasn't been using this track in one of their commercials. The echo-driven sarod is just beautiful.
