Rags & Ragas
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley November 24, 2023
Artist – Charu Suri with Berta Moreno, Charlie Subach, Joe Lastie jnr, John Patitucci , Kobi Arad and Steve Gadd.
Distributor:
Released: September 2023
Running Time: 31mins 20secs
Website: https://www.charusuri.com/
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From the first note this delightful mix of Indian Raga’s and American Jazz, Rags & Ragas is terrific, fun and most enjoyable. Noted for her ability to move between several style with pizzazz, pianist Charu Suri has made a name for herself in the captivating world of Jazz fusion.
For those of we unlighted, Indian Raga are a melodic framework for improvisation within Indian Classical Music and has no direct Western translation. It is considered within the Indian tradition that each Raga has the ability to ‘colour the mind’, which makes the transference of this style, when linked to traditional Jazz, one of the more interesting style of Jazz fusion.
Bourbon Street Stroll features some delightfully unexpected saxophone surrounded by the notes of the oud, in a vibrant piece that captivates the integral element that is Bourbon Street, known for the jazz on every corner, the colourful pageantry to be discovered in the French quarter.
Slow and sensual Bhairavi Blues is the perfectly contrived combination of smoky blues; a modern, upbeat piano holding front place with the deep pulsating beat of bass, a brush of percussion and there you have it, a moody and certainly colourful song.
Dancing daintily along is the delightful Jackson Street Waltz combination of piano and oud which creates a somewhat usual piece which compliments both the traditional style of Jazz while paying tribute to the Raga elements of the songs.
The final upbeat piece is Spring in New Orleans/Ode to Miles Davis which pays tribute to a master of Jazz improvisation and is a masterful sound of up-tempo rhythms that take you immediately to a Jazz club in, naturally, New Orleans.
Rags & Ragas is a perfect delivery of Fusion with the traditional sounds of India meeting the abstract elements of modern Jazz to deliver an album of seven amazing pieces that pretend to be nothing more or less than pure fun, delivered with panache.