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Sandip
Burman at the Rams Head
by Mike Joyce
The veteran
fusion players who teamed up with Indian percussionist Sandip
Burman at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis Sunday night had
their work cut out for them. Fiendishly tricky time signatures,
racing tempos, and raga-inspired motifs made the compositions
played by the East Meets Jazz ensemble extremely challenging.
Much of the
music was distinguished by densely woven patterns that Burman
played on tablas, as he pitted the rapid pulses of four dayan
drums against the deeper tones produced by a solitary, bowl-shaped
bayan.
The concert
opened on a deceptively simple note, with a tune introducing Burman's
tour mates: guitarist Paul Bollenback, trumpeter Randy
Brecker, harmonica-keyboard player Howard Levy, bassist
Victor Bailey, violinist Jerry Goodman, and drummer
Steve Smith. But, it wasn't long before the music became
more demanding and colorfully evoked the strong ties some of these
musicians have with groundbreaking bands. Goodman's rhapsodic
tone, for example, conjured memories of his work with the Mahavishnu
Orchestra, just as surely as Bailey's fluid bass lines recalled
his association with Weather Report.
Burman, for
his part, is nothing if not a catalyst. He engaged Bollenback,
who played a nylon-string acoustic instrument with remarkable
speed and precision, in a series of dazzling exchanges. The percussionist
also dared Smith to keep up with him as he searched for fresh
ways to sustain the band's intense rhythmic drive.
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