Thursday, April 5, 2012

CD Review: Stevin McNamara's 'Shanti Guitar'

Stevin McNamara
Shanti Guitar
White Swan Records

Ragas of Indian music are inspired and improvised on Stevin McNamara's latest incarnation, Shanti Guitar. Based on traditional Indian scales, Stevin adds his own touches of brilliance on the nylon-string guitar, sitar, and various percussion. Stevin is joined by frame drum, dumbek, madal, udu, djembe, cymbals, clay urn, gourd, shakers, bells, tabla, violin, tamboura, and other instruments. The entire album only contains six tracks, however, the album's total length of over 70 minutes makes up for the few songs. As one can imagine, the serene and meditative musings of instrumental music with an Indian influence create calming worlds of peace and tranquility. Stevin knows how to create these worlds with a commanding passion and sincere delivery. "Anam," "Song of the Sun," and "Doorway to Eternity," and "Journey to the Crystal Mountain" are also available on his earlier release, Yogitar. Still, Shanti Guitar is a great, instrumental recording for the inner being of everyone. ~ Matthew Forss 

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