Mara
Aditya Prakash Ensemble

We say: A South Indian musical journey with Western flavors

Brother and sister duo Aditya and Mythili Prakesh may have been raised in the United States but they both grew up with a strong South Indian arts background, particularly the Carnatic classical music tradition. While Mythili went on to develop as a dancer her brother Aditya specialized in singing and it is he who leads an ensemble of musicians for this recording.

The eighteen tracks that compose Mara are contrived to create a musical journey, the voyage of the individual (Jeeva) as she negotiates the maze of the human mind (Mara). The conceptual focus is that of eastern (Hindu) spirituality yet the music manages to stand firmly on its own even without its spiritual message.

Musically, Mara is a fusion of both South Indian classical and Western traditions. In addition to the obvious Indian influences there are touches of jazz and flamenco, even a hint of Irish Celtic on "Vasheebhava." While tabla, flutes and Indian percussion are integral to the overall sound, a wide variety of instrumentation has been utilized to create a rich musical backdrop: most notably the piano and keyboards of Julian Le, along with saxophones, trombones and electric guitars. The pace is relentless at times: "Racing Thoughts" speeds along with fast saxophone and piano passages, while the jazzy "The Inner Battle" actually does bring to mind a conflict of sorts. In contrast to these more frenetic pieces, the tempo slows down for gentler offerings like "Dream 7.5," which is appropriately dream-like, and the sad lament "Jeeva's Sorrow."