Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Karsh Kale: Realize
Karsh Kale: Realize
ByRealize is Kale’s first full-length solo album. Calling upon a number of guest vocalists and instrumentalists, he combines drum-n-bass and other contemporary dance genres with Indian wind instruments, vocal styles, and forms. The results are often striking, although ultimately the record sounds too much like a grafting of one sonic world onto another, lacking an organic connection. It’s also a bit too ambient and washy: despite the hard drum grooves on tracks like "One Step Beyond" and "Longing," Kale’s aesthetic often veers close to new-agey territory. After a while, the ethereal sounds of the voices and bansuri (Indian flute) take on a generic quality. There are some good tracks, but on the whole it’s a bit too predictable. A fascinating, talented figure like Kale is bound to put out better work as he matures, however.
Track Listing
1. Empty Hands 2. Distance 3. Tour Guide 4. Anja 5. Home 6. Satellite 7. One Step Beyond 8. Saajana 9. Conception 10. Light Up the Love 11. Deepest Blue 12. Fabric 13. Longing
Personnel
Karsh Kale, tabla, drum kit, drum loops, keyboards, programming, electric santoor, acid lines and arpeggiators, low end; Shahid Siddiqui, vocals and guitar; Ustad Sultan Khan, vocals and sarangi; Pandit Ramesh Misra, sarangi; GiGi, Vishal Vaid, Falguni Shah, Vidya Shah, Lalitya Munshaw, vocals; Ajay Prasanna, Steve Gorn, bansuri; Kirk Douglas, guitar; Yosi Fine, bass; Gaurav Raina, drum programming
Album information
Title: Realize | Year Released: 2001
< Previous
Expositions of Freedom...Now!
Next >
Waterfall Cities