Search - Ravi :: Kora So Far

Surprise sleeper New-Age hit--incredibly good

Joanna Daneman | Middletown, DE USA | 02/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is as good as, say, "Deep Breakfast" by Ray Lynch (a platinum New Age album) or some of the albums by Kitaro. Yet "Kora So Far" is every bit as good as these best-sellers, so good that my non-New-Age music fan mate at home commented how much he liked this music. I played this album twice through when I got it. Ravi is a Londoner with a good cohort of musician friends. He combines his own considerable talents on electric kora and other instruments with the eclectic sounds of his colleagues--so this is a mix of soft jazz and Indian raga, and a blend all his own. Ravi's kora playing is in no way like Gambian or Mali style--he is possibly Britain's only non-African kora player, coming from a background of Celtic harp and guitar. His style is unique. If you like soft jazz, New Age or relaxation music, with a blend of kora (Mali harp-lute), plus Indian sounds and mellow, mellow saxophone, this is for you. Try this surprise album for a real treat. I just love it --in fact, off to go play it again."