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Badal Roy / Perry Robinson / Ed Schuller: Raga Roni
ByRoy's self-released Raga Roni, with Robinson and bassist Ed Schuller, was recorded not too long after the trio's memorable week-after-9/11 gig at the Cornelia Street Café. The tablaist treats both his tablas more like a drum kit and even percussion set than is commonly found in the more traditional manner of tabla playing. At times the session recalls Tony Scott's Eastern-influenced recordings, though the music truly crosses all music borders with Roy and Schuller's consistent funky bass lines and Robinson's occasional Jimmy Giuffre-inspired folksy mid-range playing as well as Klezmer-rooted blowing and general mastery of all ranges.
"Mountain Soup," in particular, is a splendid Eastern-influenced take on Giuffre's "Train and The River." Schuller's pizzicato contributions (of the famed Schuller familyThird Stream pioneer Gunther being his father, and very active East Coast drummer George his elder brother) complement Roy's bass tabla in an echoing fashion, while his arco playing likewise resonates the trio's meditative tones. Dave Baker, the mastermind who documented the outstanding Roy-Perry Robinson-Nana Vasconcelos collaboration from the late '70s, Kundalini (IAI, 1978), exquisitely recorded this session at Roy's home in Jersey. And with it, Raga Roni represents another chapter in jazz-inspired universal music.
This review first appeared in the August 2002 issue of All About Jazz: New York.
Track Listing
Prelude; Mountain Soup; Harem Dance; Tale of the Trolls; Interlude Jam; Touch of the Strange; Ladab Ladoo; Raga Roni; 'Nuff Said.
Personnel
Badal Roy
tablasBadal Roy: tabla; Perry Robinson: clarinet; Ed Schuller: bass.
Album information
Title: Raga Roni | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Geeta
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