Spirit Voyage

James Asher's new album is a welcome surprise; it honors the richness of Indian classical music and weaves it with variations on Western rhythms. Enhanced by the quality of its excellent production, Tigers of the Raj stands out as an original album of world music with broad appeal. From the haunting themes of Red Desert to the majestic finale of the last track, its melody, groove, and atmosphere make it an all-absorbing experience.

Never has Indian fusion sounded this good before!

Reviews

"Following the success of 'Feet in the Soil', James Asher returns with a new album inspired by the magical power of Rajasthan, the ancient Indian " Land of Kings."

The ten pieces in TIGERS OF THE RAJ trace a journey to Rajasthan, the land of princely dynastic rulers, elegance, and stark beauty. Rhythmic elements, also used in 'Feet in the Soil', underpin the wider range of themes that characterizes the album. The power, splendor, color, and epic sense of adventure found in the ancient palaces of Rajasthan made a profound impact on the author who here attempts to orchestrate moods and feelings evoked by his journey, weaving together modern techniques with ancient sounds in a musical score fit for a maharajah.

State-of-the-art hard disk recording techniques are tastefully and expertly combined with magnificent musical productions by Indian artists. The santoor play of Kiran Pal Singh (who is one of only five disciples of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma) is enhanced by the infectious conga playing of Miles Bould (who has frequently toured with Sting). World renowned frame-drum player Glen Valas here joins guitarist Volker Grun, who flew especially from Germany to contribute more of the unique swing that previously enriched 'Feet in the Soil'. Twenty musicians in total join here to co- create this impressive tribute to Indian culture and art and evoke in music the experiences of a traveler journeying through the "Land of Kings." The album is further uplifted by acoustic percussions, sitar, santoor, sarangi, flute, and the voices of several Indian singers used to create a magical musical atmosphere.

Like in Feet in the Soil, James Asher uses drums as the base of his musical composition TIGERS OF THE RAJ. Rajasthani drumming rhythms were created in consultation with Sandeep Raval, a remarkable table player and expert of Indian folk music. Contemporary Western dance sounds were added and also melody, contributed by Craig Pruess, both a keyboard player and an expert in sitar, tambura, and swarmandala instruments with twelve years of experience in the study of Indian music. Pruess wrote the music for motion picture Bhaji on the Beach, and also produced Cliff Richard's Silver album.

The trance-like opening piece Temple Gates is characterized by a hot and driving tempo, enriched by the duj-djun's of Peter Lockett (who is the percussion player on the musical score of Tomorrow Never Dies, the latest James Bond feature) and the dhols of Johnny Kalai (whose Dhol Foundation was the opening act in the concert given by the BBC in honor of India's soth anniversary of independence featuring Ravi Shankar.) A haunting and ethereal female voice opens the temple gates of this mesmerizing piece, leading the listener into the heart of the composition and beguiling one to join the dance. Who is She? Is She a Rajasthani Temple Priestess? Her enchantment is an invitation to enter the hypnotic sway of the dance that climaxes with the sounds of guitar and sarangi.

James Asher's new album is a welcome surprise; it honors the richness of Indian classical music and weaves it with variations on Western rhythms. Enhanced by the quality of its excellent production, TIGERS OF THE RAJ stands out as an original album of world music with broad appeal. From the haunting themes of Red Desert to the majestic finale of the last track, its melody, groove, and atmosphere make it an all-absorbing experience. Never has Indian fusion sounded this good before!

-NAPRA June 2000

James Asher has had a long and varied career in the music business--his first single was produced by Pete Townsend in 1979, and he went on to return the favor by playing drums on Pete's Empty Glass album. After writing and recording 23 albums of library music, as well as gaining a clutch of production credits, he has gone on to explore the wider horizons of world music, releasing a series of very well received albums. In 1990, his first commercial album release, The Great Wheel, reached number 13 in the Billboard New Age chart, staying there on and off for about two years. His second album, Globalarium, featured world artists such as Hossam Ramzy on Egyptian percussion and Joji Hirota on shakuhachi. The most recent, Feet in the Soil, is "an uplifting celebration of danceable energies centered in the earth," drawing inspiration from Aboriginal and African lifestyles, and has sold over 100,000 copies since its release last year.

Although James started his professional career as a drummer, he now considers keyboards his main instrument, albeit from a highly rhythmic standpoint. "I started learning violin when I was seven, and experimented with keyboards when I was 12. I always had a sense of self-expression on keyboard that I never had on violin, because nobody really taught me anything on keyboards, so it was wide open to interpretation. Playing drums has made me very rhythmically oriented. I always build things up from rhythm--that's my starting point."