Not Predictable Music...Delightfully Imaginative!
5
By atrainent
"Garaj Mahal is a strange and colorful bird. It's music draws heavily from '70s fusion, with elements of everything from the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever to Weather Report, as well as progressive rock bands in the broadest sense of the term. To this already potent mix where, needless to say, high octane musicianship is par for the course, are added elements of funk, jazz, and a certain melodic quality vaguely reminiscent of the Grateful Dead... Haque is a versatile player: on the catchy 'Uptown Tipitina's he tosses off ragged-edged blues lines on electric guitar; on the excellent 'Pundit-Ji' his accelerated runs on moog-guitar blur the line between guitar and keyboard; on several other notable interventions he displays a very keen jazz sensibility.
The playing and interplay, is first-rate and there are plenty of imaginative touches throughout which mean the music never becomes predictable... The slowest track on Woot is also the most beautiful; 'Corner Piece' stems from a simple yet delightful melody of the sort guitarist/composer Frank Zappa conjured up. The track features Haque's most electrifying playing, not on electric or moog-guitar, but on acoustic, where his phenomenally fast playing and Indian flavor evokes comparison with John McLaughlin's playing in Shakti." -Ian Patterson / All About Jazz
