Talvin Singh Ok CD

Fusions of Indian music and Western dance have generally been lumped under the catch-all term "Bhangra" (actually a specific style of popular dance music traditionally associated with wedding parties in Pakistan and Northern India). However, tabla player Talvin Singh's solo debut OK shares a much stronger affinity with the musical structure of a classical Indian raga. Singh doesn't simply add Western club beats behind previously existing Indian music through sampling or remixing. Rather, he exploits the inherent tendencies of "intelligent" drum-and-bass and classical Indian music (ethereal chords and complex time signatures respectively) to find a natural point of intersection between the two, thereby developing an entirely new style.

Much more than any contemporaneous examples of "world-dance," this style recalls the fusion tablaist Badal Roy explored on records like Miles Davis' ON THE CORNER. OK echoes those notorious sessions of Miles' fusion era not only in its moments of brilliance and spirit of unedited improvisation, but also in the occasional self-indulgent mess. But while much of the material here cries out for editing, it also retains Miles' capacity to open countless new doors for the genres of music it touches.

Recording information: Au; Calcutta Cyber Studio, London, England; Fukuhara Studio, Okinawa, Japan; Sunny Sound Studio, Mumbai, India.

Photographer: Joseph Cultice.

Arranger: Talvin Singh.

Personnel: Talvin Singh (tablas, drums, keyboards, programming, piano, percussion, gong, sound effects, vocals, scratches); Ajay Naidu (vocals, spoken vocals); Cleveland Watkiss, Shankar Mahadevan, Bhairvi, Nenes, Suchitra Pillai (vocals); John Klein, Aziz Abrahim, Dhiren Raichura (guitar); Chandrashekar (electric violin); Madras Philharmonic Orchestra (strings); Naveen (flute, pipes); Ryuichi Sakamoto, Rakesh Churasia (flute); Byron Wallace (trumpet); Guy Sigsworth (keyboards, sound effects); Bill Laswell (bass); Vaijanthi-Limaye Sumati Antroliikat Purinama Shah, Archana, Arpaha, Karti Jyotsina Hardikar B Vijayalakshumi (background vocals); Ustad Sultan Khan, Madhukar T Dhumal, Chintoo Singh, Devi, Heat China, Somatik.

Audio Mixers: Talvin Singh; Tristin Norwell.

Spin (1/99, p.117) - "...Talvin Singh endeavors to make the world his chill-out room..."
Entertainment Weekly (11/6/98, p.88) - "...Singh delivers an incense-burning set with more than a whiff of the epic about it....All totaled: just about lives up to its name." - Rating: B
CMJ (11/09/98, p.20) - "...Despite the power of some of the digital beats, it's Singh's use of tabla that generally provides the album with its fire; its bubbling beat is the perfect companion for the synthetic grooves and orchestrations of O.K."
Vibe (11/98, p.165) - "...OK takes a suprisingly conservative approach....Singh has always stressed his desire for ethnomusic pillagers to preserve culture context on the dance floor..."