Sivamani opens and Naveen aptly weaves a lovely, racy flute piece in the title track. The much celebrated Bombay Theme goes completely haywire to begin with and then we get the now-cherished flute piece again. The improvisations jar, though. Mohana is the pick of the album with excellent support by Rajesh Vaidya on the veena. Naveen’s rendition adapts very well in the carnatic scheme. Chennai rain is very Rahman’ish. The tune’s great and you kinda hum along with it! The guitar-based Jiya Jale is fantastic, with Rashid and Keith playing a major part! First light’s jazz’ish feel with a Bhoopaalam base is haunting. James ‘The man with the Golden Flute’ Galway’s influence is clear in the Symphony, but Naveen’s blending of some Indian notes is excellent. You & I is pretentious though, with very less of Naveen. And is that Gowri Manohari I hear in Essence? My knowledge is limited but from what I hear, the adaptation sounds beautiful. There’s a strong Rahman influence throughout the album. But Naveen’s debut proves that there’s life beyond film music and ridiculous remixes. That Naveen has managed to get a fabulous team spearheaded by Sivamani’s percussion lends extraordinary charm to this phenomenal album!
Keywords: Naveen, A R Rahman, James Galway
Note: 200 words here. This album deserves it!
