Search - Karunesh :: Global Spirit

Beautiful and well-grooved

Clarissa | Ontario, California | 06/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My God, this CD is amazing, and the quality of it is outstanding! I bought this used a long time ago but just now got around to hearing 'Global Spirit' all the way through and I am astounded, to say the very least. I don't listen to a lot of world music anymore because it's frankly hard to find artists that are able to reinvent themselves but Karunesh is proving to be an absolute favorite of mine. 'Zen Breakfast' was my first album by Karunesh, which was lush with calm, serene melodies, and while the rhythms here are extremely melodic the tempos are a bit faster and yet he's still capable of maintaining the beauty he so elegantly crafts to capture, timelessly, within his music. The many guest vocalists, ranging from Middle Eastern to Indian singers, elevate the level of intimacy these songs bring to the listener as many of the tracks are very passionate sounding, bringing to mind Enigma, but the approach here is more of an earthly celebration with exotic instruments such as the didgeridoo by Nicolas Kern, the violin by Don Lax, the sitar by Govi (he's often found collaborating with Karunesh), and many others. There's not one flop on here, and 'Global Spirit' will definitely appeal to those of you who are nomads at heart, like me, and long to experience many different cultures first-handedly, or simply take a liking to hypnotic world and/or chill out music. Every track is incredible but I especially enjoy the lighthearted feel to "Kubula Ma" with its ensemble of singers chanting to the rhythm, and "Bombay Pure" with its trance beats and Japanese overtones.You just can't go wrong with Karunesh."

A masterpiece !!!

Vikram Ramanathan | 08/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own 2 karunesh CD's up until now and I must say I am impressed. I delved into world music only recently, but I am happy I started with karunesh. "Beyond Heaven" was the follow up to this one. But Global spirit is the one which started the ball rolling for karunesh. This CD is pure Gold.



Call of tribes: Beautiful Indian tune on different kinds of flute with percussion, and African tribal chorus and shouts.



Punjab: Beautiful Hindi song. Its called Punjab as it has a Punjabi flavor as parts are sung in Punjabi. Punjab being a state in northern India. watch out for the beautiful twisty-turny violin solo which appears on this song. This made it to the Buddha bar series by Claude challe and was very successful on the Buddha bar series compilation.





Native ritual: African tribal chant with percussion and synthesized beats, This piece is beat driven. This beat will rev you up if you are feeling lazy. Also highlight, A woman/girl's voice singing a single line at properly placed intervals adds a neat touch to this piece.



Earthsong: Song with African tribal flavor. Feels like a learned old tribal is telling us about something. Nice synthesizers and beats. And of course nice synthesized flutes.



Bombay pure: Sanskrit sloka (sacred chants in Sankrit, Sanksrit being ancient language of indian subcontinent from which all indian dialects have directly or indirectly evolved) along electronic beats makes for beautiful fusion.



Ancient secrets: Africa tribal song again. Also the Australian didgeridoo makes its appearance here. Nice simple keyboard tune follows.



Kubula Ma: African Tribal flavor with a trendy dance floor rhythm. I swear this will make you get up and shake your booty if its not already shaking in the chair you have been sitting on. Beautiful oriental flute interlude also punctuates. you also have a nice table and African drums which get accentuated when we are well into the track.



Alibaba: This is a super super track. This piece also made it to the Buddha bar series by Claude Challe. Sensual flutes melodic passages and sensitive percussive percussive. After that we get an amazing breezy and fresh guitar solo where you feel you are among palm trees and in the vicinity of a waterfall only to be broken by beautifully rendered and periodic Arabic "allampanah" cries.

High-light are the flutes and the guitar solo here.



Solitude: fantastic track. A north Indian ghazal with beautiful percussive arrangement. The super highlight on this track is the irresistible Chinese flavor violin solo which although worlds apart from Indian fare seems to somehow mesh perfectly well with the Indian ghazal.



Earthsong (reprise): Repeat of earthsong albeit with only the vocal and then karunesh himself chanting some Sanskrit verse.



No bummer on this CD. Worth it's weight in gold.



Note: All the instruments except the violin and sitar are fully played by Karunesh himself. Also Karunesh is the co-producer of the Buddha bar volume 3.



Both Thumbs up !!!!





Vikram

"

Just My Opinion

Michael H. Wallace | Nashville, TN | 09/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD five years ago on a whim...knew nothing about Karunesh or his music. During the first year I listened to it several times a week. Now, five years later, it continues to be one of my all time favorite CD's. The music from this CD is 'transcendental'. I can't think of any other way to describe it. I get a deep spiritual feeling from the music each time I listen to it. I can always count on this CD to put my head and heart in the right place. I've shared this CD with friends and family. Almost every one has mentioned to me sometime later how much they enjoy this music. It seems to touch a part of ourselves that longs for a connection with something larger than our little egoic selves and confirms humanity as community, despite borders and distance. I wish I could personally thank Karunesh his work with this CD."