CD Review: Masood Ali Khan's 'Hang With Angels'

Masood Ali Khan
Hang With Angels
White Swan Records

Masood Ali Khan is a meditative master of Sanskrit chants and instrumental repertoires. Masood is joined by various talents with vocals and instrumental accompaniment, including Go-Ray Duke, Steve Gorn, Monica Page, Lisbeth Scott, Visvambhar Sheth, Kamaniya Devi, Suzanne Sterling, Sheela Bringi, and others. The result is a very thought-provoking and relaxing album with eleven songs that will enrapture the meditational, new age, yoga, and world music crowds. Most songs range from six to eight minutes in length, though "Om Asato Ma" and "Bismillah" are both under four minutes. The angelic vocals may in fact be angels, but the music certainly spreads its wings throughout. This is not your typical driving beats, or electronic project, as the tunes are relatively sparse on instrumentation and embellishments. Hang...is actually pronounced 'hung' and it is a drum. This is perfect music for a yoga warm-down session. Recommended tracks: "Dharma Wheel," "The Breath of Krishna," "Jai Bhagavan," and "Sat Yam Shivam Sundaram." ~ Matthew Forss