Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Hellborg, Lane, Umamahesh, Selvaganesh, Umashankar: Icon

Hellborg, Lane, Umamahesh, Selvaganesh, Umashankar: Icon

By C. Michael Bailey
May 7, 2003
View read count

Hellborg, Lane, Umamahesh, Selvaganesh, Umashankar: Icon

Last year's Personae was a fusion powerhouse, laying creative waste to all in its way. Not content to rest on his muse, ��ber -bassist Jonas Hellborg has set out after the polyphonic and polyrhythmic music of India. Hellborg and long term collaborator Shawn Lane apply their synthetic method, meshing East and West with Indian vocalist V. Umamahesh and two percussionists, V. Selvaganesh and V. Umashankar—who play the ghatam and the kanjeera, two types of hand drums used in the Southern Indian musical tradition.

The results of this union are four lengthy ruminations (save the last) that beautifully combine the chant-like droning of Hindustani music with the consonance and resolution of western music. Rhythmically and harmonically sophisticated, Hellborg and Lane navigate their way deftly around the nooks and crannies of the Indian musical psyche. Both string players bristle with ideas and make use of fluid musical technique to express them cogently.

In the same way that the movie Victor Victoria was a gender bender, Icon is an ethnic bender, proving that music is music and traditions can be successfully combined and artfully executed.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Anchor, Mirror, Vehicle, Escape

Personnel

Jonas Hellborg

bass

Shawn Lane

guitar, electric

V. Umamahesh, vocals; V. Selvaganesh, Kanjeera, Konokol; V. Umashankar, Ghatam, Konokol.

Album information

Title: Icon | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Bardo Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Passio
< Previous

Concord Jazz: Thirty Years and Goin...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.