|
june
2001 |
|
OSTEOPOROSIS
Science Shows
Yoga Helps Build
Better Bones
|
MEDIA
CD
REVIEWS
BY DERK RICHARDSON
DIANA
ROGERS: Unveiled. Artemystic;
www.dianarogers.com
"ON HER DEBUT solo CD, Northern California musician Diana Rogers
joins the ranks of those vocalists who expand the practice of devotional
chant into a broader realm of world music. Having performed with such
contemporary kirtan innovators as Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, Rogers
proves to be one of the most compelling lead singers in the field.
Produced by frequent Uttal collaborator Geoffrey Gordon, Unveiled features
many familiar names from kirtan and Indian fusion circles: Jai Uttal
plucking the sarod-like dotar; Steve Gorn blowing bansuri (Indian flutes);
Hans Christian bowing sarangi; and Gordon generating percolating beats
on tabla. But Rogers and her musicians (also including multi-instrumentalist/
engineer Kit Walker and jazz violinist Charles Burnham) range beyond
the Asian subcontinent for instrumental sounds. Violin, banjo, guitar,
acoustic piano, electric keyboards, drums, and programmed beats introduce
a smoothly integrated blend of traditional and modern Western elements
into the dreamy pulsating mix on the albums eight tracks.
Repetition - both of such chant phrases as "Sri Ram," "Jai
Bhagavan," and "Hare Krishna" and of musical patterns
- is crucial to invoking the trance-like states of kirtan. But Rogers
chants hold up as purely musical performances as well. Her slightly
grainy soprano voice slides through pitches with grace and ease, bringing
gorgeous intonations to every syllable. And while the pieces range from
six to nine minutes in length and mostly hover in similar medium tempos,
the novel arrangements create varying textures and colors from track
to track.
As if to narrow the distance between the sacred and secular, Rogers
includes a compelling reading of "Black Is the Color (of My True
Loves Hair)," her intensely focused vocals penetrating to
the core of the lyric and embodying the essential longing of this traditional
love song.
-Derk Richardson,Yoga Journal-June 2001
|