Karsh Kale

When discussing the best of fusion music, the name of Karsh Kale often comes up. Certainly from his work with Tabla Beat Science, and in his own albums, he seamlessly fuses his Indian musical roots with a variety of other styles. Broken English is Kale’s third studio release, and as with much of his material, the songs are incredibly danceable, but all interesting and diverse in their directions. "World” is a pretty lame descriptor usually, because it can mean anything that isn’t western, and doesn’t accurately describe anything included within it. However, Kale does actually fit the "world” category, mostly in an amazing balance between Western pop of various descriptions and Indian musical materials. One of the trademarks of Kale’s work is the collaborative effort each disc entails, with up to 20 musicians contributing. Missing this time are the big names like Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan, but nevertheless there are some amazing players on this one. It’s nice in a fusion to actually be able to appreciate the contributions of the individuals since you can pick out a wicked tabla solo or sitar introduction. Each part has its own place rather than just fading into some indistinguishable musical mass. It shows a true appreciation for the music and the musicians, rather than just trying to create an effect — or affect. Either way.