The Afro-Brazilian Project

A nice album from ARC's resident über-cross-culturalist Ravi, The Afro-Brazilian Project is a mix of African and Brazilian influences, with the Brazilian side dominating the affair thoroughly and the African side taken up primarily by the use of the kora, Ravi's main instrument. The album starts out with "21-String Samba," a basic samba that incorporates the kora into the structure. Following quickly is a kora adaptation of the old "Coracao Brasileiro (Brazilian Heart)" and a romping number about a nearby beach resort based on some electric bass bounce — a very modern Brazilian sound. "Paranagua" uses a pair of acoustic koras and an electric over the top of some fine percussion to evoke a train coming into station, and "Berimbao" gives Ravi an excuse to work out on the berimbau for a stretch. "Bird of Paradise" is a tropical-esque piece making good use of Guta Menezes, a young harmonica virtuoso who brings out a Stevie Wonder sound in the process of her accompaniment. "Moino" is a basic guitar-based track, which is followed by the rather grandiose "Amazon Journey" suite, featuring the kora along with some throat singing, Tibetan bowls, and the flute and vocals of Marlui Miranda, mixing the Brazilian and the decidedly non-Brazilian aspects of music together over a series of movements that explore the boundaries of a music culture and its context quite well. Ravi isn't necessarily playing his kora at the level of a Jali Musa Susso here, but then again, that's not the point of the album. The mixing of cultures is somewhat prominent here, especially in the "Amazon Journey" suite, but foremost there's a basic expression of sentiment for Brazil through the eyes of a foreigner taken into the culture through the music.