Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sandeep Das and the Hum Ensemble: Delhi to Damascus

1

Sandeep Das and the Hum Ensemble: Delhi to Damascus

By

View read count
Patna-born and Boston-based tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das has had a long collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. For his debut as a leader, the mesmerizing Delhi to Damascus, he has put together a program of Levantine and South Asian tunes. The group, which includes Das and three colleagues, is called the HUM Ensemble and it explores themes and motifs common between the two eastern traditions.

Opening with a lyrical solo from oudist Kinan Adnawi, "Parvaaz-e Noor: Flight of Light" launches the album with dramatic poetry. Das' resonant percussion percolates as sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan performs a melancholic melody which simmers passionately within the undulating refrains. Khan and Adnawi engage in an intimate instrumental dialogue on the hypnotic "Virah: The Longing." Sitarist Rajib Karmakar and Das add to the tense cinematic backdrop of this sublime and meandering song. In addition to his skills on the sarangi, Khan demonstrates his haunting and expressive vocals.

Das and collaborators not only showcase cadence and tonal similarities between Arabic and Indian music but also emotive and contextual ones. The recording is replete with quarter tones, which all three string instruments are able to produce, and Das's complex rhythmic modes. In addition, they brim with a unique spirituality common to both the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. "Shiva-Shakti" for instance features a hypnotic and ethereal duet between Karmakar and Das which evolves with ever increasing tempo to a breathtakingly agile and mystical exercise.

The title track alternates Khan and Adnawi's yearning phrases with Karmakar's shimmering notes thus building a joyful and pastoral atmosphere. Das' lithe and acrobatic percussion creates textured polyrhythms which buoy the quartet's muscular and lilting collective performance. In contrast, the short yet poignant "Aafreen" is a meditative elegy which highlights Khan's mastery over his instrument with complementary support from his bandmates. Despite different moods, both pieces are definitely eastern in their intricacy and emotional sensibilities.

With Delhi to Damascus Das and the HUM ensemble have created a successful fusion of two cultural heritages. Aided by the incredible talent and brilliance of the individual artists, this enchanting release is a superb tribute to the unifying nature of music.

Track Listing

Parvaaz-e Noor: Flight of Light; I Came, I Saw, I Surrendered; Virah: The Longing; Delhi to Damascus; Shiva-Shakti; Aafreen; Come Hither, My Love; Usha.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Sandeep Das: Tabla; Rajib Karmakar: Sitar; Suhail Yusuf Khan: Sarangi & Vocals; Kinan Adnawi: Oud.

Album information

Title: Delhi to Damascus | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: In A Circle Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.