This album represents the collaborative efforts of Sparhawk, here, playing the lever harp and Carbonara, who commands the upright chaturangui. The instrumentation suggests an exoticism yet sounds completely contemporary. Its success lies not only in the natural, intricate modal overlaps of the instruments but more through the players own American perspective expressed through them. The results yield a western influenced raga that organically moves at its own pace. In two side long pieces the performances by both players becomes their own dynamic without surrendering to overplaying or false mysticism. With sixty strings between them the pair never seems to hit an unnecessary note. Their dedication to restraint shows in the ease of the records duration, the album evolving by constantly unfolding on itself. Like the early Sandy Bull/Billy Higgins collaborations, Sparhawk and Carbonara explore Americana through eastern figures to provide a remarkable musical viewpoint.

by STEVE LOWENTHAL on 9/1/2011 in Reviews | Tags: Eric Carbonara, Jesse Sparhawk, VHF