George Brooks • Lasting Impression

Album Review

East-West musical fusions are nothing new. The 7,000 mile Silk Road, which linked Asia and Europe by the second century A.D., brought musicians from contrasting backgrounds together. With the 20th century development of jazz and rock, electrified examples of East-West amalgams — from George Harrison's sitar dabblings to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's collaborations with Eddie Vedder — skyrocketed into pop culture consciousness. Sax man George Brooks is regarded as an innovator in this cross-cultural genre. A skilled jazz and blues musician who reveres such legends as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Brooks began developing an appreciation for Indian music at an early age. On his CD Lasting Impression, Brooks' devotion to jazz, blues, and Indian music comes across loud and clear. With "Taj Express," the CD's opening cut, Brooks blows warm and resonating tones over a backdrop of stinging syncopation. Brooks and his all-star band play with ease in the song's odd-metered choruses and post-bop inspired heads. As with the rest of the songs on the album, Brooks and friends make the complicated passages of "Taj Express" fly by without the slightest hint of strain. "Eagles Beak," one of the moodier tunes on the album, also showcases Brooks' rich tone and the superb playing of Zakir Hussain and sitarist Krishna Bhatt. Despite consummate musicianship and thoughtful compositions, Lasting Impression occasionally edges close to a sugary new age aesthetic. Also, the dominating tonality of Western instruments, particularly the piano, limits the melodic reach of the sitar. Nonetheless, Lasting Impression is a respectable addition to the time-honored legacy of East-West fusion, and one that may just stand the test of time.