Go: Organic Orchestra - Ragmala: A Garland of Ragas (with Brooklyn Raga Massive!) - pretty sure this is the world jazz fusion album of the year; look at that lineup!
On the remarkable new album Ragmala – A Garland of Ragas, Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra and Brooklyn Raga Massive form a singular ensemble that vibrantly bridges musical and cultural distinctions. The result is a breathtaking set of music that carves an egalitarian and communal way forward while reverberating with echoes of the recent and ancient past. Drawing parallels with another ground-breaking and singular epic, Ragmala has already been referred to as a Bitches Brew for the 21st century (Ahmet Ali Arslan of Açık Radyo Istanbul). The members of the adventurous BRM collective are deeply steeped in the traditions of Indian classical music. They refuse, however, to be restricted by it; the idea behind the collective, birthed in 2012 in a Prospect Heights bar, is to open the often rigid and hierarchical culture of the music to experimentation and cross-cultural collaboration. This collaboration marks the collective’s most ambitious effort to date in the musical movement that the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and New Yorker have recognized as a “Raga Renaissance.” “This album feels like the culmination of everything I’ve been reaching for throughout my career,” says Rudolph, no small claim from someone who’s been a pioneering voice in jazz and world music for more than 40 years. “Through my music I want to hear the humanity of all these different musicians shine through, and with their voices bring forth something that’s never existed before.” According to BRM guitarist David Ellenbogen, who co-produced Ragmala, the possibilities offered by Rudolph’s music scratched the very itch that led many of them into BRM’s more exploratory fold to begin with. “I always had a theory that Indian Classical, jazz, West African music and so on could have a synergistic relationship,” Ellenbogen says. “But after spending decades looking through record libraries, I found very few recordings lived up to the potential of these great traditions. I've spoken to other musicians on this album and they said the same thing when they heard these tracks: This is the music we've been searching for.” Jay Ghandi - bansuri Arun Ramamurthy - violin Trina Basu - violin Samarth Nagarkar - vocal Neel Murgai - rhythm sitar, overtone singing Sameer Gupta - tabla David Ellenbogen - electric rhythm guitar Abhik Mukherjee - sitar Bala Skandan - mridangam Mari Tanaka - tampura Kaoru Watanabe - c flute, fue, noh kan Michel Gentile - c flute Sylvain Leroux - chromatic tambin, tambin, c flute Ze Luis - c and alto flute Mariano Gil - bass flute Avram Fefer - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet Sean Sonderegger - bass and contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone Sara Schoenbeck - bassoon Ivan Barenboim - b flat clarinet Charles Burnham - violin Julianne Carney-Chung - violin Sana Nagano - violin Gwen Laster - violin Richard Carr - violin Stephanie Griffin - viola Leco Reis - contrabass Graham Haynes - cornet, flugelhorn, kudu horn, bamboo vaccine Stephen Haynes - cornet, flugelhorn, solo alto, pocket trumpet, didgeridoo, conch, kudu horn Peter Zummo - trombone, didgeridoo, conch, kudu horn Libby Schwartz - french horn Mia Theodoratus - harp Marco Cappelli - electric and acoustic guitars Alexis Marcelo - keyboards Damon Banks - electric bass Harris Eisenstadt - bata (iya, itotele, okonkolo) Rogerio Boccato - caxixi, mineiro, temple blocks, bells, wood box surdo Hamid Drake - drum kit, okonkolo Adam Rudolph - iya, itotele Special Guests Hassan Hakmoun - sintir, vocal Abderahim Hakmoun - qarqaba, vocal Music composed and improvisationally conducted by Adam Rudolph (Migration Music BMI) Dedicated to our families: Those here, those gone, and those still to come. We are grateful to Yusef Lateef and Don Cherry who opened the doors to the world for us all.
