Gabrielle Roth Bardo CD

Gabrielle Roth wants to make you sweatàand pray. Creator of the "5 Rhythms" method of improvisational movement, urban shaman Roth writes and produces ecstatic music for body and soul. Of the five universal rhythms that Roth has identified in her workshops (flowing, staccato, lyrical, chaos, and stillness), BARDO favors the "flowing and lyrical."

The first loping measures of "Sand Castle" (with Deva Premal on backing vocals) set a sultry template for the rest of the album. Although Russian singer/songwriter Boris Grebenshikov handles lead vocals throughout, Dassi Rosenkrantz-Cabo's fluid (mostly fretless) bass is really the featured instrument. Synthesizer squiggles, bells, strings, and flutes provide the high end and the "lyrical" element, but the bass lines give life to the songs. The album flows along in a fairly set pattern until the penultimate title track. Named after the transitional state between death and rebirth, "Bardo" suggests a dark tango from one realm to the next. It's this unflinching consideration of both the spirit and the flesh that makes Roth such a treasure. While much of the New Age music genre concerns itself with the celestial and harmonious, Gabrielle Roth continues to report from the ground.

This may not be the strangest album you ever heard, but it's in the top 10. -- A Russian rock 'n' roll star -- Chanting in mystical gibberish -- To world beat percussionGo figure!This is the latest album from the collaboration that produced the extraordinary album, REFUGE, this second offering of Gabrielle Roth & Boris Grebenshikov weaves transcendental, hypnotic music with a mystical language of the soul."This stunning release escapes definition; [it is] a force that moves outside the driving percussion and ethereal vocalizations like a pair of ghostly hands that reach through the gut to grip and rhythmically sway the soul.... Profoundly moving, deep, hypnotic, trance music like no other."- Musical SoundscapesAs one critic noted, Gabrielle Roth is the only woman in America making tribal, ambient music and she's been doing it for 20 years.Boris Grebenshikov is the former USSR's leading rock musician. He has released 20+ solo albums and 30+ albums with his band, Aquarium. There are over 300 websites devoted to his music.

Audio Mixer: Scott Ansell.

Director: Gabrielle Roth.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Joe Bonadio; Robert Ansell.

Personnel includes: Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors, Allison Cornell (vocals, violin, viola); Boris Grebenshikov, Catherine Russell, Deva Premal & Miten, Reza Derakshani (vocals); Charlie Burnham (violin); Bob Een (cello); David Sancious (piano, synthesizers, fretlass bass); Dassi Rosenkrantz (bass), Joe Bonadio (drums); Marlon Saunders, Arif St. Michael (background vocals).

Personnel: Allison Cornell (vocals, violin, viola); Mindy Jostyn, Catherine Russell (vocals, background vocals); Deva Premal, Miten, Boris Grebenshikov (vocals); David Sancious (electric guitar, piano, synthesizer); Kevin Ansell (electric guitar, synthesizer, bass synthesizer); Sanga of the Valley (berimbau, percussion); Michael Allen Harrison (tamboura, harmonium); Charles Burnham (violin, electric violin); Sachi Patitucci, Bob Een (cello); Mary Lou Irvine (oboe); John Patitucci (electric bass); Rocky Bryant (drums); Morgan Doctor (tabla); Joe Bonadio (tom tom); Cyro Baptista (percussion); Arif St. Michael, Kevin Osborne, Marlon Saunders, Sara Carlson (background vocals).

NAPRA Review (05-06/02, p.78) - "...An evolutionary mix of world beat, trance, chant and meditation. Otherworldy voices and verses emerge from an inner landscape, excavating a mystical language....Engaging and enlightening..."