N Ravikiran Taj Mahal Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Mumtaz Mahal Super-Audio CD

This is a (multi-channel) Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio players.

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.

Taj Mahal is joined by Indian master musicians N. Ravikiran and V.M. Bhatt on a selection of tunes that ultimately owe more to obvious blues clichés than they do to cross-cultural collaboration. Perhaps that's because nearly half of the album's tunes -- including Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen," "Mary Don't You Weep," and "Johnny Too Bad" -- have long been staples of Taj Mahal's concert catalog. This isn't to say that the set doesn't have any moments of inspired improvisation and nuanced playing; there are a few instances of brilliance. But that seems a terrible waste of the talent gathered, unless the listener is looking for nothing more than an unlikely blues workout. ~ Brian Beatty

(SACD-HYBRID) Vocalist/guitarist Taj Mahal, a repository of the musical traditions of the West African Diaspora in the New World, teams with Hindustani wizard of the mohan vina, V.M. Bhatt and Karnatak virtuoso of the chitra vina, N. Ravikiran. Their int

Full performer name: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt/Taj Mahal/Narasimhan Ravikiran.

Personnel includes: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (guitar); Taj Mahal (vocals); Narasimhan Ravikiran (chitra vina).

Full performer name: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Taj Mahal, N. Ravikiran.

Personnel includes: Taj Mahal (vocals, guitar); V.M. Bhatt (mohan vina); N. Ravikiran (chitra vina).Alternative Press (2/97, p.56) - 3 (out of 5) - "...Drawing from classic reggae, Robert Johnson's blues and his own compositions, Mahal sings and plays with authority and enthusiasm..."
Down Beat (9/96, p.57) - 4.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...The blend of improvised sounds is colorful, entrancing, exotic, sensual, even poetic....The blues, in accord with Hindustani and Karnatak music, is made miraculously new."
JazzTimes (10/95, p.82) - "...a uniquely ethereal folk-blues atmosphere....this music has an infectious lightness of being with a cultural identity that is hard to isolate--which is the underlying message of the meeting. Even overly familiar standard cover tunes...are refreshed and renewed, taken out of their American context..."