I’ve been a big fan of Shambhu’s uplifting music for a long time now… my last review of him was for “Soothe“, where he got very high marks, and this new album is even more enchanting. The best way to understand what he’s doing on this release is to first watch the trailer created for the album, featuring the title track & opener, “Lilac Skies“…
There’s also an excellent trailer for the recording of the album that lets you get to meet the players (Kai Eckhardt on bass, Celso Alberti on drums/percussion, and Frank Martin on piano, as well as Premik Russell Tubbs on flute, soprano sax and wind synth, Kristin Hoffmann on vocals, and Alec Hamilton on keyboards) on a very intimate level…
…as you saw, there’s much more of a “jazz & blues” orientation on this go-round; be sure to SUBSCRIBE to his YouTube channel, too, so you can see the wide variety of his musical wizardry.
Shambhu’s guitar on the beautiful “Unspoken Words” is exactly what he means (in my mind) when he says “This music is dedicated to lifting us up inside“… it’s a short piece, so I will be hitting “replay” on this one often… simple, but beautifully realized and played! I predict this tune will be getting MAJOR airplay on stations ’round the globe!
The deeply moving “Blue Whispers” is among my personal favorites for 2019, and immediately earned a spot on my iPhone player… you’ll hear influences all the way from the “Delta” to the “House of Blues” on this excellent (& very well-recorded) gem… the changes are executed with pure perfection… this one shows guitar mastery that few other players can equal… I LOVE it.
A splendid jazz feel courses through “Seeing You Again“, the 4:45 album closer… Kai’s bass work on this one is nothing but amazing, folks… I wouldn’t be surprised (at all) to see this tune picking up an award!
As often happens for me, it is one of the longer songs (in fact, the longest on the album, clocking in at 7:34), “Inspired by the Night“, that is my personal favorite of the ten enchanting tunes offered up… as it emerges, you will feel a sense of “floating”, & then “soaring”… each instrument shines brilliantly on this superb celebration of life & the living thereof!
I give Shambhu and his excellent players a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) score of a (perfect) 5.00 for this totally unique release… meaning it also gets my “PICK” for “most transcendent album”. Get more information on Shambhu’s website.